Egypt 2011: Human Chains of Protection Around Prayer
EVERYDAY COURAGE
Takeaway: Public worship is safer when citizens refuse indifference and stand guard for one another’s sacred moments.
Just after midnight on January 1, 2011, a bomb ripped through the Church of the Two Saints in Alexandria. Twenty‑three worshippers were killed and dozens were wounded. One week later, on January 7, Coptic Christmas, something different took shape. Across Egypt, thousands of Muslims went to churches, attended Christmas liturgies, and stood outside the doors as human shields. The message was plain enough to read without a caption: you will not pray alone.
Local and international outlets recorded the scenes in real time. Ahram Online wrote that Muslims “offered their bodies” as shields. Al Arabiya described crowded church entrances on the Friday of Christmas services. Other reports echoed the same idea from cities around the country. Egyptians crossed a line that extremists wanted to harden and, at least for a night, they refused to let fear win the street.
The solidarity did not flow only one way. During the Tahrir Square protests that winter, photos and dispatches showed Christians linking arms around Muslims during midday prayers. Later, Muslims stood guard while priests celebrated Mass in the square. Reuters summed it up simply: protesters joined hands to protect one another while they prayed. Banners pairing the crescent and the cross appeared next to demands for change. It was messy and hopeful at once, which is likely why those images still circulate.
Context matters here. The Christmas services fell days after the Alexandria attack and just as the uprising gathered momentum. Memory of sectarian violence ran deep. Even so, the instinct in that week was not to retreat into separate corners. Neighbors, youth groups, clergy, and plenty of ordinary citizens chose presence over distance. No grand bargain. Just people saying, we will stand with you while you speak to God.
The year did not stay gentle. In October 2011, a peaceful Coptic march at Maspero, near the state TV building, met lethal force. Twenty‑four people were killed. That tragedy exposed a hard truth many already understood. Moments of interfaith unity can be real and powerful, and still be fragile in the face of rumors and armed power. Holding both facts together seems necessary if we want to tell Egypt’s story honestly.
What remains from January is a usable memory. Human chains around churches and prayer lines in a public square did not solve Egypt’s problems. They did something smaller and, perhaps, more portable. They set a civic standard that people can reach for again when fear starts to outpace trust.
Sources (selection)
Carnegie Endowment; Wikipedia on the January 1, 2011 Alexandria bombing and death toll
Parliament of the World’s Religions (citing Ahram Online); Al Arabiya English; DIMMID on Muslims guarding Coptic Christmas services
Reuters; The Christian Century on mutual protection during Tahrir protests and crescent‑cross banners
The New Yorker on the Maspero killings in October 2011
