Can a Video and a Catchy Tune Change the Middle East?

 

This video seems to me to be something we’ve been waiting for — a voice within Islam to shame and expel the violent extremist. To celebrate life and love instead of death. There’s no hiding the bomber’s religious motivation; he recites the Muslims’ creed. But the others counter what he says with positive messages from Islam. They point to the misery bombers have caused with images of destruction and the presence of people — Muslims — who have been hurt by them.

Maybe the images of children in school, young people getting married, the positive messages, and this very catchy tune will resonate with people more and more, and the ideas of martyrdom less and less. It’s been viewed over 3 million times. It’ll be interesting to see how high that goes.

Published in Islamist Terrorism
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  1. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Wow. That’s wonderful. I’ll pray that it does some good.

    • #1
  2. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    The juxtaposition of the mercy and death is clear.  Truly, G-d is greater than all of our human sin and stupidity.

    Is it me, or did the woman’s wedding attire seem particularly Western?

    • #2
  3. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Jules PA (View Comment):
    The juxtaposition of the mercy and death is clear. Truly, G-d is greater than all of our human sin and stupidity.

    Is it me, or did the woman’s wedding attire seem particularly Western?

    I thought so too. Interesting. And puzzling.

    • #3
  4. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Jules PA (View Comment):
    The juxtaposition of the mercy and death is clear. Truly, G-d is greater than all of our human sin and stupidity.

    Is it me, or did the woman’s wedding attire seem particularly Western?

    I thought so too. Interesting. And puzzling.

    Maybe they are looking to win over a certain subset of the faithful?

    • #4
  5. MarciN Member
    MarciN
    @MarciN

    Jules PA (View Comment):

    MarciN (View Comment):

    Jules PA (View Comment):
    The juxtaposition of the mercy and death is clear. Truly, G-d is greater than all of our human sin and stupidity.

    Is it me, or did the woman’s wedding attire seem particularly Western?

    I thought so too. Interesting. And puzzling.

    Maybe they are looking to win over a certain subset of the faithful?

    I wonder. When I Google “Muslim wedding gowns,” the pictures that come back seem more in keeping with the hijab and gowns that cover most of the body.

    It’s funny. Her gown caught my eye too.

    • #5
  6. Jules PA Inactive
    Jules PA
    @JulesPA

    And at the end the contrast of a smiling older woman in a dark colored hijab…

    • #6
  7. Judithann Campbell Member
    Judithann Campbell
    @

    This is awesome; thank you so much for sharing it!

    • #7
  8. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    This is a good start.  Public campaigns by the governments and religious institutions may start turning the tide.  There is a mindset that needs to be changed and it must be done within the religion and not outside.  I am not a Muslim and will never be able to explain to a Muslim anything about their religion that they will listen too.

    • #8
  9. Susan Quinn Contributor
    Susan Quinn
    @SusanQuinn

    I loved it, too. Unfortunately those voices are few, subdued and hated by many more than love them.

    • #9
  10. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    The message is great.  I don’t know how much these videos affect people.  Have the anti smoking videos made a difference?  I don’t know the answer to that but it seems to me they haven’t.  The price increases on cigarettes and the prohibition on where to smoke have made the difference.  Still I appreciate the effort on this video.

    • #10
  11. Fake John/Jane Galt Coolidge
    Fake John/Jane Galt
    @FakeJohnJaneGalt

    Manny (View Comment):
    The message is great. I don’t know how much these videos affect people. Have the anti smoking videos made a difference? I don’t know the answer to that but it seems to me they haven’t. The price increases on cigarettes and the prohibition on where to smoke have made the difference. Still I appreciate the effort on this video.

    I actually doubt it would stop a suicide bomber.  But it may stop or diminish the support he gets from his community.

    • #11
  12. Matt Bartle Member
    Matt Bartle
    @MattBartle

    Over 4 million views now. Not Gangnam Style numbers, but not bad.

    The New York Times covered it today:

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/30/world/middleeast/zain-ad-ramadan-terrorism.html

    That’ll drive some more traffic. That article was reprinted in the Buffalo News (where I saw it) on their World News page. Probably a lot of other papers did, too.

    • #12
  13. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    From the NYT, the words:

    Let’s bomb violence with mercy,

    Let’s bomb delusion with the truth,

    Let’s bomb hatred with love,

    Let’s bomb extremism for a better life.

    • #13
  14. Ansonia Member
    Ansonia
    @Ansonia

    It’s really lame. I mean, except for the beginning, the music doesn’t move me. Musically, it’s insipid.

    It looks like propaganda for the suckering of the U. S..

    Also, the face of the lead singer gives me the creeps.

    • #14
  15. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    It’s a telecom ad’.  So basically the Arab World’s equivalent of united colours of Benneton.  I don’t think it’s groundbreaking or controversial in the least, but its heart is in the right place.

    • #15
  16. Ansonia Member
    Ansonia
    @Ansonia

    Re: 15

    “….but its heart is in the right place.”

    I suppose.

    • #16
  17. Zafar Member
    Zafar
    @Zafar

    Ansonia (View Comment):
    Re: 15

    “….but its heart is in the right place.”

    I suppose.

    Thank you. I snuck back and edited hoping nobody had noticed but alas….

    • #17
  18. Manny Coolidge
    Manny
    @Manny

    Fake John/Jane Galt (View Comment):

    Manny (View Comment):
    The message is great. I don’t know how much these videos affect people. Have the anti smoking videos made a difference? I don’t know the answer to that but it seems to me they haven’t. The price increases on cigarettes and the prohibition on where to smoke have made the difference. Still I appreciate the effort on this video.

    I actually doubt it would stop a suicide bomber. But it may stop or diminish the support he gets from his community.

    Maybe yes, maybe no.  I just don’t know.  I can’t say any public announcement has persuaded me of anything.  Have you been persuaded by any Liberal public announcement?

    • #18
  19. Ansonia Member
    Ansonia
    @Ansonia

    Re # 17

    Yeah, the picayune viciousness over a typo that Trump corrected really comes across as desperate.

    Speaking of wanting to sneak back and correct something, I wanted to sneak back and add that the words to the song—at least the words of the English translation—are good.

    • #19
  20. Ansonia Member
    Ansonia
    @Ansonia

    For some reason, I rewatched the video. To me, the music and video are good up until 1:38 or 1:39.

    And I wasn’t right to have made that comment on the singer’s face, or to have said what I said about the purpose of the video.

    • #20
  21. TooShy Coolidge
    TooShy
    @TooShy

    I remember a song from a number of years ago. I think it was a Pakistani group, and the song came out shortly after the Mumbai attack. I think the song title, translated to English, was something like “We Are Not This” or something like that.

    I can’t find it now. Does anyone else remember it?

    • #21
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