Recently this powerful image was spread around Twitter showing the solidarity between Coptic Christians and Muslims in their fight against the Mubarak regime. As the Christians protected Muslims during their prayers in Tahrir square, it was clear to the world that on this issue they stood together.

However today I spoke to three Egyptian Coptic Christians about the protests in Egypt and they all questioned the motives behind this solidarity. They explained to me that they felt the only reason they protected each other and stood together in this issue was out of fear for their own position.

Both Christian and Muslim feel that once the Mubarak regieme is gone, the other group may have a very real chance of getting into office and compromising the other’s standing in Egypt. It is apparently for fear of what the other might do that they stand together for now, and I stress that ‘for now’. Once the revolution has taken place there will be a power vacuum to be filled and many are already scared of what is to come.

This certainly brought the issue of ‘what next?’ to the forefront for me. My initial concerns in the early days of protest was whether there would be something sustainable in place to replace Mubarak. As the days went on the issue fell out of my mind, but it seems it is still a consideration on the streets of Egypt where everyone may be strengthening up their own position whilst the President dithers over when he will leave.

~Wail