- (may 2008)
Report from Egypt.
While Egypt has lost most of his geopolitical power in the age of oil, it remains the cultural center of the Islamic world. It has more intellectuals, bookstores and universities than any other Islamic countries. In fact, it is the only Islamic country i have visited in which bookstores are not a rarity. Therefore Egypt is still important to weigh Arab public opinion.
Generally speaking, this is a country of very friendly, generous and hospitable people.
A stroll through the narrow alleys of cairo, away from the tourist areas, is the best way to realize how nice the average Egyptian is. Hardly a person does not say "welcome" or offer to help. Ripoffs and scams are rare. the hassle is reduced to what you normally experience in a large market. People seem to genuinely appreciate a foreigner walking through their streets and shopping where they shop. Best is that you purchase something like bread or clothes and carry it visible, so you look like a normal person, not the usual tourist escorted by guides and body guards.
There are very few fanatics. It is a country that has two souls: they are proud of being the descendants of the ancient Egyptians, who were as un-Islamic as it gets, and they are proud of being the "true" Arabs (the people of the Magreb being too European and the people of the Arabian peninsula being too primitive). They have always had strong minorities of Christians (Copts) and Jews, although most of the Jews left after the wars against Israel. Churches and synagogues are respected. Egypt has sent immigrants to both Europe and the USA. The vast majority of people who live in Cairo (one third of the Egyptian population) speak some English. In other words, this is not an isolated society.
Egypt is also a country of strong family values (especially if you are coming from Western Europe). It is also a country where drugs and even alcohol are still rarities (especially if compared with Europe). This makes Egyptian generally moree stable and happier. Europe is notably a bleak society with no strong values. Egypt is a relatively modern society that is still retaining strong values.
Educated Egyptians like many aspects of the Western lifestyle (from videogames to more freedom in talking and hanging out with women) but show little desire to import the hedonistic excesses of Western Europe.
The political thinking is significantly different from Western thinking. The contrast between the Western idea of freedom and the Arab idea of freedom is nowhere more striking. An Egyptian is, in many ways, more free than a Westerner: you can break just about any law, as long as you have a good reason to justify it. Police officers and traffic guards will have a conversation before they punish anyone. One routinely sees drivers who ran a red light and have a discussion with a traffic guard to explain why they did it. In the USA no justification would be accepted: a crime is a crime is a crime. In Egypt, a crime is something that you did, but it is debatable whether it has to be punished or excused. Of course, a great advantage is that "real" crime (as in theft, rape and murder) is virtually inexistent. The average "crime" committed by a citizen is to break a regulation (such as traffic rules). Generally speaking, one gets a feeling of "freedom" while walking around Cairo that one does not get in Hamburg or Dallas.
Of course, when a Westerner talks about "freedom", s/he means that freedom of speech and freedom of the press, which in Egypt are virtually inexistent.
While most Egyptians would welcome more openness, this kind of (political) freedom is not as important as it is for a Westerner. My feeling is that Egyptians would be much angrier if the government tried to take away the other (ordinary) kind of freedom (the freedom that Westerners don't have in Western countries).
Therefore the choice between dictatorship and democracy is not so obvious here.
Another reason why the USA has a very hard time to explain why a democracy is a better system than what they have is that there is also a different concept of government. In the West the government is mostly about making laws. But laws are limitations of freedom. Here the idea is that government should be mainly about taking care of things, such as bread, roads, electricity and schools. A government that gives free bread and free electricity to its citizens is a good government (whether it is a tyranny or a democracy), whereas a government that makes citizens pay for it is not good, period.
Westerners are used to a different kind of government, that is less invasive when it comes to personal freedom but much more invasive when it comes to regulating society.
This misunderstanding is probably the cause of part of the widespread anti-USA sentiment: the USA is trying to give this people something that they never asked for and possibly don't even want.
It would be wiser for the USA to hold referendums in these countries on what they want from the USA, rather than force on them the USA view of what is good for them.
The fact that Mubarak is despised by most Egyptians does not help publicize
the USA's view of democracy. People remember that Nasser stood up for the
rights of Egypt against the world powers. Nasser built the dam, built
railways, built schools. Mubarak has precious little to show for all his years
in power.
The other two big problems for the USA are, of course, Israel and the USA.
Even though Egypt formally signed a peace treaty with Israel and is formally an ally of the USA, the average Egyptians resents both.
The hatred for Israel and the USA is not religious or ideological. It has to do
with the plight of the Palestinians (that is widely publicized by the media) and with the civil war in Iraq (ditto). The regional media rarely blame Muslims for what Muslims do. Therefore one rarely hears that more Palestinians are being killed by Palestinians than by Israelis. One rarely hears that in Iraq it's Muslims killing Muslims (and the USA is actually trying to stop the killing).
They hear the exact opposite.
No wonder therefore that the masses are widely sympathetic to Osama bin Laden,
and even Western-educated intellectuals see the "war on terrorism" as a
grotesque exaggeration and a largely self-inflicted problem of the USA.
Which is not to say that they are all fans of Osama, but certainly they would rather vote for Osama than for Bush.
I asked around which USA president they remember favorably, and i consistently heard the answer "John Kennedy" (a few mentioned Jimmy Carter and one mentioned
Bill Clinton).
Short of repudiating Israel and leaving Iraq, it is not clear what the USA could do to change its image in this part of the world.
The mother of all problems is, of course, that international politics is used as an excuse to ignore the real problems.
First and foremost, overpopulation: what is Egypt going to do when it reaches 100 million? I had a preview when an Egyptian asked me for money because he has seven children, which translates into: "now that i caused my own misfortune, you Westerners have to help me and if you criticize the culture (Islam) that made me create my own misfortune i will get offended".
Second, women: 50% of the country's brainpower is still wasted.
Third, the Arab tendency to create dynastic rules, both at the top of the pyramid and across the ranks, which leads to a feudal corruption-based world in which free enterpreneurship is virtually impossible.
Fourth, religion: Islam is still the main obstacle to any kind of reform, and probably the main cause of poor education, notably the appalling lack of
knowledge of foreign cultures (which explains, for example, why the "moderates" did not protest at all when the Taliban destroyed the Bamiya statues of Buddha:
there is very little knowledge of anything non-Islamic here).
Fifth, the tribal mentality: while not as strong and pervasive as in the Arabian peninsula, it still exists and would cause the same problems that is causing in Iraq if Egypt granted democratic elections.
Sixth, geography, a problem shared with fellow Muslims: most of the Islamic world inhabits one of the most hostile landscapes/climates in the world.
The language barrier prevents us even from having a regular discussion
at the cafe. They are brainwashed by Al Jazeera (if not by their government's
propaganda) and have trouble following
our logic. It is difficult even to explain why Osama is a bad guy.
to them he is a good Muslim who is fighting against Israel and the USA,
and to them the crimes of the latter are much more clear than the crimes
of the former.
The only way to match their media is to have Arab-language media that
provided the other version of the facts. For example, that the crusades of
the Christians were bad, but the Arab invasion of the Mediterranean was no less bad (if Israel is an "occupied territory" then the whole of North Africa and
the Middle East is also an "occupied territory", occupied by the Arab invaders).
For example, that Mohammed is the only founder of a religion who personally
killed.
For example, that Mecca was a model of religious tolerance before Mohammed,
and became a model of intolerance after Mohammed (and remains a model of intolerance today: non-Muslims are not even allowed to enter the city, let alone the mosque).
For example, that Israel is often used as a scapegoat by the Arab politicians.
For example, that Israel today is largely the result of Arab actions.
If they could hear in Arabic a different version of the facts (just like we
hear in English all sorts of different versions of the facts), they would be
more likely to understand our reasons and to trust at least a bit of what we
do to them.
TM, ®, Copyright © 2007 Piero Scaruffi All rights reserved.
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