While attending college in the US, far from his native Lebanon, Jihad Fakhreddine immersed himself in his new environment. He mingled, got involved and tried to understand American culture. That experience lives on in his work - conducting surveys of the perceptions of Muslims and Americans in an attempt to build bridges between cultures. He tells Sarah Sayed that the people surveyed have more in common than you might expect.
Jihad Nagib Fakhreddine is a warrior, but not in the conventional sense He is a warrior whose work helps to break down barriers put up by ignorance and intolerance and in its place builds bridges with the bricks of collection and dissemination of information.
He's on a quest for information that can be used as a decision-making aid by political and business leaders, educators, the media and interested bystanders.
Former speaker in the US House of Representatives Newt Gingrich once said, "Those who can communicate don't know and those who know can't communicate."
In partnership with Gallup and the Coexist Foundation, Fakhreddine, market research manager at the Pan Arab Research Centre (PARC) in Dubai, intends to find out what "those" people don't know and pass on this knowledge to "those who can communicate" - the leaders.
In his work, Fakhreddine surveys the attitudes of people in the Muslim world and the US - their perceptions of each other, their views of each other's governments, their
dreams, aspirations and, ultimately, their values.
It's a job uniquely suited to his own life experiences. Raised in Lebanon, educated in the UK and the US and having worked in the UAE for 15 years, he has an insight into the Western and Muslim worlds.
Indeed, as a student in the US he chose to mingle with Americans and get involved rather than restrict himself to befriending people from his own community.
He found the experience empowering and he even began identifying himself with some of the American values. It's an experience that finds a place for itself in his present work.
Fakhreddine explains how the ball was set rolling in October 2001.
"We (PARC) received an e-mail from Gallup. It was a month after September 11 and they were concerned about the Muslim-bashing going on in the US at the time. Gallup and the Coexist Foundation wanted reliable facts about what Muslims really think about the West, democracy, American values, beliefs, actions, etc.
"In addition, they wanted real information about Muslims - what are the dreams, hopes and aspirations of people in the Muslim world? Do all Muslims … envy the wealth, lifestyle, rights and freedom of Westerners? It may sound silly, but at the time this was what some of the popular media, politicians and 'Middle East experts' were claiming," says Fakhreddine.
"It was a tall order, to say the least. There are a billion Muslims in 130 countries around the world. No two people have exactly the same dreams and aspirations.
"But we embarked upon a huge project to sample the mind-sets and thoughts and opinions of Muslims in all 130 countries, revising questionnaires and interviews in accordance with cultural and language differences and facing many surprises, pleasant and unpleasant, along the way.
"That was a turning point in my life. I had spent 10 years in the US, working and going to school in North Carolina and had maintained contact with my friends in the US, mainly by writing letters. This was an opportunity to do something important and have a more vivid and dynamic discourse with people in the US."
As it turned out, Muslims and non-Muslims surveyed in the West and the Middle East in subsequent polls had a lot in common, says Fakhreddine.
"Despite the wars, continuous turmoil and overt media bias, we found that people on both sides care about improving relations and actually have similar views on many issues. I believe that these commonalities between people are a great place to start."
I
I didn't know what to expect in the US. The reality was that I went there out of desperation. But soon the unknown became the known and I realised that I could make it. I had never experienced such a culture … one that focused on the positives, the opportunities.
I learned to focus on what I was good at and avoid what I was not good at. The environment (in the US) motivates you to work hard and do your best. You have choices and you learn that failure is not permanent. You can pick yourself up and start again.
I can't say that I have ever experienced discrimination in the US as a student or an employee. I was appreciated by my employers, had lots of friends and spent a very good 10 years there. It is a matter of being engaged. Why not get to know the culture you are in? It is empowering.
I think if you are interested in something and enjoy it, working is not a burden, it is a pleasure. I learned that in the US. If I didn't have that experience I think that the social pressures, expectations and limitations that exist in Lebanon (where I later worked) would have gotten to me.
I also found a sort of freedom from social expectations and a road towards openness and free thought while I was there (in the US). This actually helped me here (in Dubai), as I was enabled to see different perspectives, views and methods more objectively and with more appreciation.
ME
Me and my home in the mountains:
I grew up in Ain Anoub, in the province of Allay, Lebanon. Ain Anoub is a pretty mountain village close to Beirut and boasts the largest number of springs of any village in Lebanon: 365, one for every day of the year.
My father, Najib, had a country store and was also the barber and deputy mayor of the village. In the 1930s he graduated from high school with honours, but would only be accepted into university if he changed his religion.
He refused to do so and lived his life in the village, unable to reach his full potential as an academic. He passed away in 1969, when I was 11.
My mother, Layla, went to tailoring school when she was 15. She was 35 when my father died and at that time she decided to become a ladies' tailor. She didn't really have time to mourn, since she had to make a living.
She became a dressmaker for the stars and would eventually design clothing for many famous people in the region. She is now in her seventies and her designs are just as creative and unique as they were 35 years ago.
We were blessed in Ain Anoub to have a very impressive school built by British missionaries in the late 1800s. I finished high school in 1976, but could not get a diploma because of the civil war.
My mother feared that I may get involved in the fighting, so she and my uncle in Liberia sent me to get my A-levels in England.
My relatives insisted that I focus on science and maths, but I could not develop an interest in these subjects. My interest had always been in the humanities. The response was always, "What kind of a job can you get by studying literature or sociology?" Education was about survival, so you enter fields which are in demand.
I tried to go with the flow in the science stream but it was like fitting a square peg in a round hole. Impossible! So I decided to try my luck in America.
Me and the US:
The US opened so many doors for me. There were more choices and prospects than I could ever imagine in Lebanon or the UK. I achieved things I never thought I could achieve.
I worked full-time in a restaurant owned by a friend of the family while attending the North Carolina Technical and Agricultural State University. There I completed an MSc in economics.
I was influenced by the positive values (of) American culture. I learned that if you are living in a community, you need to integrate, you need to get to know people and get involved.
You don't go to a foreign country and live in a cocoon, never understanding the culture or the people. Many Arabs and Muslims in the US do exactly that and they don't allow themselves to see the positives of the culture.
While it is natural to stick with people who share your culture and language, I don't think people appreciate their new home unless they make an effort to understand their neighbours.
The same thing goes for expatriates here who don't make an effort to understand the culture and language of the UAE.
Me and my return to Lebanon:
As much as I loved living in the US, I longed to go back to Lebanon. So after completing my Masters in 1987, I returned. Then I was accepted for the PhD programme at the University of Kentucky and applied for the Hariri Scholarship in Lebanon.
I was rejected at first because, I was told, the University of Kentucky was not accredited. When I provided proof that it was accredited, I was rejected anyway! The great thing was that I met my wife, Leila, on my trip back to Lebanon in 1988.
She had just graduated with a degree in public administration from the American University in Beirut. I proposed to her, but the problem was it would be a mixed marriage. Our families had a problem with us venturing out of our social and religious circles.
But we persisted and eventually they approved. I went back to the US for two years to work and save some money. Then in 1991 we got married and today we have two sons, Wajd, 12, and Ramz, 14.
At the beginning, we decided to build a life in Lebanon, but compared to the US the wages were ridiculously low. I had earned $2,400 per month in the US and was making $150 a month as a researcher in Lebanon.
But I learnt a lot working at the Center for Arab Unity Studies and editing the monthly publication, Al Mustakbal Al Arabi (The Future of the Arab World). I later got a better job working at a newspaper Al Diar, making a whopping $400 per month!
This job introduced me to journalism and the media. In 1992, I came to the UAE and worked briefly with a newspaper until I got a research position at Pan Arab Research.
While I was in Lebanon, I realised that a person's wages were not the only benefit of employment. I learnt a tremendous amount while I was with both employers there and I enjoyed what I was doing.
I had chosen to come back to my country of birth to contribute, fully realising that some sacrifices had to be made. So I look back fondly on the years I spent there.
At Pan Arab Research, we mainly do data collection for media, feasibility studies, market research and also data collection and surveys for government bodies. I worked hard and a whole new world opened up to me. I really felt like I had found what I was meant to do.
Me and my surveys:
Gallup clearly wants genuine engagement and interaction between the people of the US and the people of the Muslim world and is committed to improving relations through reliable and valid information gathering, analysis and dissemination.
The first survey we did was in December 2001. We surveyed 11,000 people in Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco and Iran.
The questions were about value systems, attitudes towards religion, social issues, economic issues, media-related issues, attitude towards violence, aspects of their value system, as well as demographics and other questions.
It was the first international social survey done in the Muslim world and was very politically and culturally sensitive. We had to weigh the ramifications of each question using language understood by the average person in the given country.
There were some very surprising results. For example, conventional wisdom stated that Muslims hated the West.
The reality (based on the survey) was that Muslims in general admire the freedom, equity, and innovation of the West, but believe that the West does not appreciate Islam - and that bothered people. They also felt that the Western powers do not treat Arabs or Muslims fairly.
The most contentious issue is the Arab-Israeli conflict, which is perceived as an extension of colonialism and an unjust occupation.
MYSELF
What are the outcomes of your surveys?
One of the great things that we found in the 2005 poll was that the divide between Muslim countries and the West has little to do with an irreconcilable conflict between people (from different parts) of the world.
About 88 per cent of Americans surveyed would like to see improved relations with Muslim countries. Among Muslim countries this figure varied from 89 per cent in Indonesia to 63 per cent in Turkey.
But get this, we found that 58 per cent of Americans believe that Muslims don't care about improving relations. In fact, the surveys revealed other facts that challenge conventional wisdom.
(For instance,) the majority of people surveyed in Muslim countries can distinguish between the results of American foreign policy and the acts or intentions of American citizens. So the result was: "We don't hate Americans but we don't like what their government is doing … especially in our backyard."
We still have a long way to go to create peaceful relations and real understanding. When people here (in the Middle East) were asked what they admire most about the West, only 2 per cent answered "nothing".
When Americans were asked the same question about the Muslim world, 32 per cent said "nothing". That's why this initiative is so important. People have told us that they want to understand, but the reality is not being communicated effectively.
Our goal is to get this information and spread the news as far and wide as possible, so the reality that we are not so different will become common understanding.
There are many common elements between various Muslim societies and the West. Iranians and Americans share many of the same ideas … (such as) their contempt for moral and ethical corruption. Now is the time to stress (what they have in common).
It may avert a conflict, or at least make it more difficult to sell. What I found particularly interesting about this work was the common message relayed by Muslims around the world; they want the West to "respect Islam" and "stop interfering in the internal affairs of the Muslim states". I think that we can do a lot of good with this knowledge.
What other surveys are you doing?
Research is starting to flourish in the UAE. I teach public opinion polling part-time at the American University of Sharjah (AUS). We are conducting a survey on Emirati women's empowerment.
The study is designed and conducted by AUS students who will poll female students at Zayed University, AUS, Higher Colleges of Technology and Sharjah University.
In time, social, political and economic research will be more common here. We are now collecting the largest ever pool of data in the World Poll. I think this (poll) will make a difference. It all depends on how we market and expose the information to decision makers.
The surveys will be available to hundreds of people who influence public behaviour. How soon policies change is debatable. But we can put it into motion with information that opens their eyes and will eventually make an impact.
For more details on the Gallup surveys, go to www.gallupworldpoll.com
