Tag Archives: Egypt

How Language Can Deceive

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PERCEPTION AND DECEPTION COVER FACE 3“We’re all coming to be like each other. While there’s some truth to that, it’s also truth that in coming together so rapidly—with technology, migration across borders—we are unprepared for the contact between people and cultures we know nothing about.”

Joe Lurie recently spoke to a sold-out crowd at the Commonwealth Club of California. In this two-minute excerpt from that presentation, Joe tells the sad story of a woman looking for a job who isn’t hired, at least in part, because of her name.

We’ve published about the importance of names previously on this blog. While Joe and Fadwa’s story is anecdotal, it echoes the experience of thousands of others worldwide. You may recall the widely reported story of José Zamora, who was hired only after he changed the name on his resumé to “Joe.” According to Recruiter magazine:

Job applicants with white names needed to send about 10 resumes to get one callback; those with African-American names needed to send around 15 resumes to get one callback. This would suggest either employer prejudice or employer perception that race signals lower productivity.

The book, Perception and Deception: A Mind Opening Journey Across Cultures, tells hundreds of stories like this one, in an effort to help the reader develop awareness and understanding, so they can then use Cultural Detective to build their skills and competence. If you haven’t yet read the book, be sure to order it now. Better yet, order a copy for Aunt Margret or your Cousin Vinny, too.

There is Nothing New in Egypt

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Egyptian mobile company Mobinil has found an extremely cheap and effective way to advertise itself in Cairo Airport. Shiny billboards welcome foreign tourists and journalists with provocative quotes from USA President Obama — “We must educate our children to become like young Egyptian people,” and former Italian Prime Minister Berlusconi — “There is nothing new in Egypt. Egyptians are making history as usual.”

On the eve of the new government here, the Obama quote echoes one of my favorite sayings: “When people fear authority, we get dictators. When those in authority fear the people, we get democracy.” Although the young Egyptian people that Obama honored are those who started the revolution and ended up empty handed, it is now clear that the new President — be it Shafiq, the ex-regime candidate, or Morsi, the Muslim Brotherhood candidate — must take its people into account. In short, the people don’t want another Mubarak.

For Berlusconi, he (for once, thank God) has a point. Being one of the three oldest civilizations in the world and still standing after 5000 years, making history seems to be the 9 to 5 job of every single Egyptian. Together with the recent court ruling to dissolve the parliament, Egypt is more than ever at a crossroads and is wide open for surprises.

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Thán phục hết nước công ty Mobinil của Ai Cập với chiêu quảng cáo vửa rẻ vừa ngon ở sân bay Cairo. Khắp tường trên kính dưới lấp lánh hai câu nói của Tổng Thống Mỹ Obama “Chúng ta phải giáo dục con em mình để chúng giống như những người trẻ tuổi Ai Cập” và của cựu Thủ Tướng Ý: “Có cái gì mới lạ ở Ai Cập đâu. Người Ai Cập chỉ vẫn đang bận bịu với việc tạo dựng lịch sử như chuyện thường ngày ở huyện thôi mà”.

Cái ý của Obama khiến tôi nhớ tới một câu nói tôi từng rất thích (bây giờ thì nhìn với vẻ soi mói hơn là thích): “Chế độ độc tài là khi người dân sợ chính quyền. Chế độ dân chủ là khi chính quyền sợ người dân”. Mặc dù những người trẻ mà Obama vinh danh khởi đầu cách mạng rồi kết thúc trắng tay, có một điều chắc chắn rằng chính quyền mới dù là thân chế độ cũ Shafiq hay Muslim Brotherhood – tổ chức đã cướp diễn đàn của Mùa xuân Ả rập, đều sẽ phải dè chừng người dân hơn.

Về câu nói của Berlusconi, ơn Chúa là ông ta dẫu sao cũng được một lần phun ra vài từ có ý nghĩa (nhận xét có phần hằn học vì bản thân không ưa Berlusconi J). Là một trong 3 nền văn minh lâu đời nhất thế giới, hơn 5000 năm tuổi và vẫn đứng vững vàng, người Ai Cập quả là đáng nể phục. Trước thềm một chính phủ mới, lịch sử Ai Cập lại đứng giữa ngã ba đường, tiếp tục trò chơi ú òa cho thế giới thót tim với vô số điều bất ngờ dấu trong tay áo.

Tahrir Square at 3 am

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Tahrir Square (Cairo) at 3 am. Thousands of protesters still occupy the ground. They want a new revolution as dictator Mubarak may get away with his crimes in the Supreme Court and his ministers walk free from all charges.

I spent the whole night with the protesters, being introduced to everyone by none other than the leader of one of the most important revolutionary movements in Egypt: The Free Forum for Change.

In this picture, you see Layla and her brother wide awake. At 3 am children their age are supposed to be dreaming about Disneyland. Tonight they are here learning to support a democratic land. Not sure if they understand it, but I am certain they are the youngest protesters on the ground.

Egypt on the Brink of a New Revolution

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You want to know about the real Arab Spring? Look at this picture. These young people, both Muslim and Christian, are those who started the revolution in Egypt in 2011, demanding dictator Mubarak to step down. However, this spontaneous, penniless, and immature movement has been hijacked by the more organized Muslim Brotherhood who stole the spot light and became the prominent candidates for the new regime.

Yesterday, just a few hours after the voting box closed down, I found myself in a secret apartment in the heart of Cairo, the headquarters of the youth revolution. A dozen young activists were working like bees in a beehive on their laptops, updating thousands of tweets and Facebook posts, sending the results of every single voting spot, reporting to the people of Egypt every potential problem of the election.

“Yes, our revolution has been kidnapped by the Islamists!” admitted Ahmed. “I slept in Tahir square, protesting for days, to see a new regime with a liberal and democratic mind set, not someone from the Muslim Brotherhood who wants the country to be back in the stone age. The only thing we can do right now is to be keen observers to make sure this is a fair election. If the Muslim Brotherhood wins, we will have a new revolution, a real Arab Spring.”

Inside Egypt: Recent Gallup Poll Results

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We have all been captivated by the hope, strength, and commitment to democracy of participants in the Arab Spring. I’ve also long been a “fan” of Egypt, studying Arabic for two years while living in Tokyo, in hopes of relocating to that country (hasn’t happened yet). Thus, I was excited recently to be able to hear Mohamed Younis speak about Gallup’s research in Egypt.

Over the past decade I seem to quote more and more from Pew Research, so I was very happy to see that Gallup has made a major commitment to conduct 100% self-funded, independent polls regularly in 140 countries. This should provide invaluable data for the intercultural field.

The research on Egyptians’ opinions that Mohamed presented had been conducted just after the parliamentary elections, in December 2011. The top findings he shared with us included:
  • Despite recent challenges in the country’s transition, Egyptians are still optimistic that Mubarak’s overthrow will improve their lives.
  • There is overwhelming confidence in the transparency of the upcoming presidential elections and in participation — 86% of those polled plan to vote in the presidential election.
  • Most Egyptians believe SCAF will hand over power to a civilian government after the presidential elections.
  • Islamists and Liberals very much agree on the issues of most immediate concern for Egyptian households, including women’s rights and economic priorities such as inflation and jobs.
 Some other interesting statistics from the polling:
  • 63% of the Egyptians polled felt that protests and revolts in their country have been the result of an indigenous desire for change. Mohamed said he felt this reflected a “hyper-nationalism” and “hyper-distrust” of foreign intervention, which he said can also be seen in the fact that 46% of the Egyptians polled opposed NATO intervention in Libya (compared to just 18% who were in favor).
  • Our group of listeners was largely US American, so Mohamed shared that 41% of the Egyptians polled said closer relations between Egypt and the US would be a good thing. 40% said it would be a bad thing, for a fairly even split on the issue. His interpretation is that this split is closely related to the fact that 73% of the Egyptians they polled do not feel that the USA is genuine in supporting democracy (rather they support their allies and economic interests).
  • When asked “If drafting a constitution for a new country, which rights should be included?” the vast majority of those polled cited freedom of speech, freedom of religion, and women’s rights (ahead of others in the region). The people of Egypt are definitely envisioning a representative government.

During questions and answers, Mohamed told us how some of the Islamist parties had won seats because they had bankrolled local services such as providing burial services or pilgrimages to Mecca for those who couldn’t afford them. He did not feel the rise of these parties reflected a rise in Islamism per se, and definitely not in the desire for a theocracy.

When asked what foreign governments could do to support Egypt, the clear response was: trade not aid, due to the rising sense of independence, nationalism and regionalism he perceives.

Mohamed also talked about the need for education around democracy, and the fact that an overthrow of Mubarak is not in itself going to create jobs. He said many young Egyptians expect a government job, with high salary and a pension, but with 80 million people and much poverty, they can not expect what young people in Saudi might be able to expect.

When asked about the high price of gas sales to the Sinai, and the fact that many Egyptians blame the Camp David Accords, Mohamed responded that even though this has nothing to do with the peace accords, they are nonetheless blamed. Most Egyptians have no interest in re-engaging Israel.

When asked about security for the Coptic church, Mohamed reiterated that most Egyptians very much respect religious diversity, and that the decision to protect churches was not a government mandate but rather an organic, people-led effort.

If you’re interested in hearing Mohamed present the Gallup findings, they do have a video posted and you can also find a download of his slides. He mentioned there was also audio available on iTunes.

Please note that any errors in my report of the data and Mohamed’s comments are no doubt my own.

Other Gallup reports on related subjects available online: