Job Discussion Forums

[basiltherat]

hi
something that has become more and more obvious over the year or so i've been in syria is the total disdain of egyptians workers here shown by the local population. this is not just the odd few but rather a feeling shown by the vast majority of syrians. Clearly, they would never tell them directly but they don't hide their hatred for them from me.i gather that is has something to do with the fact that egypt pulled out of the conflict with israel leaving the syrians with no arab support for their efforts to regain lost territory and the alleged arrogance of egyptians here.

i'd be interested in knowing what other peoples around the world have a particular dislike for another, especially in cases where there are a lot of expatriate workers from the latter in the former's country. what do you believe are the motives for this disdain. there are obvious ones such as americans in iraq but i'm more interested in cases that are not highlighted in the media or common knowledge. example; how are japanese expats in korea looked upon by the majority of koreans.
regards
basil

[jud]

We've got a French teacher from Lebanon who looks down on Moroccans and Egyptians. She's a lovely girl, but I think it's really snobbism more than any politics, though I couldn't give you the reasons.

Aside from Italians' general dislike of people of Arab descent (they're really not used to immigration here, and the result is horrible racism), many Italians dislike Germans. I think it probably goes back to the occupation of Italy during World War II (there's a lot of revisionist down-playing of the role of Italian Fascism in that period, see Berlusconi). It's also because Italians feel they are treated badly when they travel in Germany, which in my experience is an accurate impression.

[Roger]

Italians being treated badly by Germans? I don't believe that! Really, I can't believe it! And, Germany did not occupy Italy at any time in history.
Italians have for centuries been an isolated people much like Americans too. Many of them emigrated, and it was unthinkable until maybe twenty years ago that anybody would emigrate to Italy, but this has begun to happen. Germans actually make great efforts at befriending Italians.
The problem you alluded to may stem from the South Tyrolian issue. South Tyrolia used to be an Austrian province but came under Italian rule after the first WW. German is still commonly spoken there. While the current state of affairs seems pretty settled for all purposes and intents, it is clear that German-Tyrolians don't exactly feel as Italians, and Italian speakers remain wary of their German-speaking subjects.

[jud]

Roger,

I haven't confused the issue of people who consider themselves Austrian being technically Italian citizens and resenting it. This has little to do with Germany.

I don't know where you live, but I live here, and a lot of Italians feel that they are looked down upon by Germans.

The German army did in fact occupy Italy. That is when the resistance here became strong. There were also large numbers of Italians soldiers slaughtered by Germans, particularly towards the end of the war. There is in fact a famous Italian song about being effectively invaded by Germany, Ciao Bella.
Have you ever heard it?

[jud]

Questa mattina mi son svegliato
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,
questa mattina mi son svegliato
e ho trovato l'invasor.
Oh partigiano, portami via
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,
oh partigiano, portami via,
che mi sento di morir.
E se io muoio lass� in montagna
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,
e se io muoio lass� in montagna
tu mi devi seppellir.
Seppellire sulla montagna,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,
seppellire sulla montagna
sotto l'ombra di un bel fior.
E le genti che passeranno,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,
e le genti che passeranno
mi diranno: " Che bel fior ".
� questo il fiore del partigiano,
oh bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao,
� questo il fiore del partigiano
morto per la libert�.

[grahamb]

Jud's quite right about the German occupation. When Italy surrendered in 1943, the Germans remained as occupiers, resisting the allied advance every inch of the way. German commandos rescued Mussolini and installed him as leader of the puppet Republic of Salo.

[Phil_b]

I think there's often some kind of disdain between neighbouring countries.....

From my experience in Paraguay, Argentinos are not very popular.... this does seem to extend to most of the rest of South America as well.

[been_there]

Going back to the original question:

I think everyone knows that the Serbs are not too well liked (ok, hated) by the ethnic Albanians here in Kosovo, but the Roma (people of Romanian decent) that live around here are "looked down upon" by the ethnic Albaninas AND Serbs alike.

They are seen as lazy, dirty, and shiftless theives. This is because they are marginalized and have fewer options than the dominant class, but I don't know how or why this started. Chicken and the egg: they are discriminated against because they cant get jobs because of the prejudice against them because they are poor because they cant get jobs...

[khmerhit]

In my country we look down on the ridiculous Ruritanians. They're a whimsical, gullible, peculiar people with a strange dress code that calls for gold sequins and brass buttons on everything they wear, and they worship an ailing monarch named Ed the third. As soon as we can invade and take over their pathetic little kingdom, the better.
http://www.google.ca/search?q=cache:fDh6VaCShdAJ:ssmu.mcgill.ca/literacy/ruritania/+ruritania&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

[Steiner]

[guty]

EFL teachers are given a fairly wide berth here in the Gulf

[leeroy]

Here in London I have students from all over the world - what joins them together, though, is their common hatred/mistrust of black people. While the Chinese students will be openly vocal about it, most are a bit more subtle.

[guty]

Anti Romany sentiment in Czech Republic is so endemic its taken for granted.

[dmb]

In Qatar there is an obvious (and accepted) pecking order. In order of preference it is.
1) Qataris (don't know the tribal order)(only 20% of the population)
2) Other Gulf arabs.
3) Other moslems
4) westerners(non EFL)
5) westerners(EFL)
6=) Asians( (philipino mainly)
6=) Sub continent(majority of the population)

[yaramaz]

kurds kurds kurds kurds kurds.... and a lot of turks around here have some feelings of contempt for Arabs because apparantly they are dirty and lazy...

I had no idea....