Amazing Egyptian Boy

[Ellipsis]

Is this clip genuine? If so, I do hope the lad is well protected ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeDm2PrNV1I

[Sharingan]

Fabulous, the voice of common sense. I wish everyone there was so fair minded and sensible. I hope you don't mind ellipsis but i've borrowed this video to make a point on another thread as well :)

[ummmm]

If it's real then he is a well read articulate boy.

It also offers some hope.

[Peter Pedant]

.

Even if the child is coached
it is a remarkable document.

Very common political sentiments - Morsi's govt was govt for itself
and was going around demolishing the checks and balances in the constitution. Specifically passing a decree saying his decisions could not be challenged in court - and then appointing muslim brothers to be regional governors.

Problem in Luxor, is that the governor was therefore of the party which had shot 26 tourists 20y ago. The tour parties were asking - do you want us to bring tour parties into Egypt ?

and now there are none - tour parties I mean

as the standard Egyptians were telling us: we dont deserve this !

[Ellipsis]

Of course, Sharingan, borrow away. :)

[Lie-in King]

Good grief, some common sense at last from a region mostly full of nonsense.

[jim360]

Call me a cynic but I find it hard to believe that a 12-year-old can construct an argument like that with such vocabulary. I don't speak Arabic so don't know what he's actually saying. Are we sure it isn't just that he's arguing about toys and then someone has put a decent political argument in the subtitles? Or, perhaps more reasonably, he's been coached or is repeating what he has heard his parents/ family say.

Either way it's an important argument and I hope that Egypt can work its way through the current mess.

[gness]

Jim! You young cynic you! Could be that growing up where and how he is has brought a maturity that we don't see here....perhaps...x

[jim360]

I suppose, and if he really is as articulate as this video makes him look -- then I can only hope that there are far more young children like him.

[Sharingan]

That's really cynical jim, I and my brothers and sisters had in depth concersations about politics ever since I can remember. You'd be surprised how many 12 year olds can debate at that level I think, it's just not encouraged in mainstream schools and usually comes form parental interest in politics and social affairs.

[237SJ]

I wish I`d seen this yesterday as I could have got one of my Arabic colleagues to check the translation. I`m not sure that the child is just reciting what he has read on the internet, and the man with him (who is out of sight of the camera) is coaching him. I`m am a bit sceptical as well.

[jim360]

Well if it comes to that, so did I -- but, well, was I really that good at arguing and debating? Not sure I'm all that much better right now.

Even if he, and you, and perhaps even I, were good debaters at the age of 12, most young children aren't that good. How can they be? Lack of experience for starters. Still developing, still so much to learn, and so on. So even though I'm probably wrong to be cynical I don't see that I'm wrong to be surprised.

[Ellipsis]

Jim, hence my "Is this clip genuine?"

But it at least appears he's saying what the subtitles say he's saying. 700K views, doing the rounds in news channels, and nobody's saying the subtitles are wrong ...

This video was filmed in Cairo on 19 Oct. 2012, and published to Youtube on 21 Mar 2013 - all well before the recent coup.

It's hard to see what would be gained from faking it, so my conclusion is that it's genuine.

[Bazile]

I too was initially a bit sceptical that this was his own views being articulated spontaneously , as opposed to being coached .

However the interviewer asks him-
'' so you see that the country is not doing well and has to change ?''

He replies immediately without looking away at anyone -

'' you mean politically or socially ?''

Little instances like that makes me now think that he is ,more than likely is articulating his own thoughts

[jim360]

I suppose, on balance, it's better than this:

[gness]

Bazile...that is what made me think he was genuine.

Jim...I was going to have a wine free evening til I saw that....god help us.

[Bazile]

I've just watched the video again .

now i'm not so sure again - lol .

If he has not been caoched , then he is certainly articulate , well read and has a mature angle on the subject matter .

When i was his age , my political awareness was limited to coming up with excuses , for the mums of girls , whoom i was chasing , trying to plant kisses on ; when they told thier mummies .

[Bazile]

ok- i think he is genuine ( unless the interviewer is part of a staged interview )

[Bazile]

' muslamic infidel '

Lol - he is probably like that, even when he is sober - i assume he had downed a few pints

[Ellipsis]

I think he's genuine too. He's living in a country where these issues are very raw, and IMO he's a bright young lad taking a strong interest in his country and his future.

If it is fake for some reason then it hardly matters. He's saying the right things, and if the words were spoken by an adult they would still be good words.

[LazyGun]

If it is fake, you would soon hear about it from all of those who might oppose his point of view. If the english subtitled do not match the arabic text, there would already have been many mentions about it.

I do wonder a bit about editing - there look to be a couple of edits in there - but a fairly objective view about whats happening in Egypt right now.

I think I could watch him talk much more than I could watch this guy :)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2013/jun/18/william-hague-pint-sized-politico