• Ramadan ad for a kuwaiti telecom company goes boom
    37 replies, posted
[video=youtube;U49nOBFv508]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U49nOBFv508[/video]
Why does everything sung in Arabic sound so catchy?
[QUOTE=lonefirewarrior;52281022]Why does everything sung in Arabic sound so catchy?[/QUOTE] [URL="http://youtu.be/U49nOBFv508?t=92"]1:32 probably the catchiest part[/URL]
[QUOTE=lonefirewarrior;52281022]Why does everything sung in Arabic sound so catchy?[/QUOTE] Tbh it is a pretty great language. Fairly pleasant to listen to in general, too. Nice and melodic.
Very powerful choice to include survivors of different attacks. The ideals behind this video are how you overcome terrorism, not by ostracizing all Muslims.
for slightly hypocritical Gulfie propaganda this is pretty good
[QUOTE=Turing;52281473]for slightly hypocritical Gulfie propaganda this is pretty good[/QUOTE] Even if it's propaganda, it's still better than nothing. This will at least cause some turmoil within ISIS.
[QUOTE=sharknado;52281514]Even if it's propaganda, it's still better than nothing. This will at least cause some turmoil within ISIS.[/QUOTE] this will literally do nothing to ISIS
[QUOTE=Turing;52281523]this will literally do nothing to ISIS[/QUOTE] now you obv wont be seeing any isis commanders going "shit we're defeated. this is it. we cannot compete with a voice this beautiful" but in the grand scheme of things, isis IS waging a cultural war, and this is very much relevant to perpetuating a culture that opposes them
[QUOTE=Turing;52281523]this will literally do nothing to ISIS[/QUOTE] ISIS relies on recruitment, which is heavily affected by ISIS's popularity.
[QUOTE=sharknado;52281776]ISIS relies on recruitment, which is heavily affected by ISIS's popularity.[/QUOTE] I think a quote from the /r/syriancivilwar subreddit sums my opinion up quite well [QUOTE] This is what good propaganda looks like. The ostensible target audience of this video is Kuwaitis who might consider becoming extremists, but the real target is *you*, the Western viewer. Radical jihad inherently represents a rejection of mainstream religious and political authority. The people who are considering going down that path are not going to be swayed by a song-and-dance number. In fact, jihadists are likely to see this as a reaffirmation of their belief that their societies are westernizing and that their leaders are corrupt. Rather, the target audience of this is westerners – that's why it has English subtitles. The gulf states know that they have a negative reputation in the West, due to their illegitimacy and financing of Salafist mosques and insurgent groups. This is an attempt to restore their tarnished image by portraying themselves as moderate and somewhat secular. The video also touches on a major goal of the gulf monarchies, which is to link democratic opposition to their rule to terrorism. The video accomplishes this by suggesting that civil unrest is the consequence of terrorism. Overall this video is excellent propaganda.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE=Turing;52281523]this will literally do nothing to ISIS[/QUOTE] You may be misunderstanding the situation in the middle east. The root of the problem goes to Saudi Arabia. The Saud family is using a classic monarchy trick - cultivating a very rigid, conservative, fundamentalist religion in order to keep their populace from revolting. Same trick every king in Europe used in the middle ages. In their case, it's the Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam - an inherently combative sect, believing Islam needs to be "purified" and infidels converted or killed, and advocating physical jihad (believe it or not, most sects of Islam favor non-violent jihad, stuff like mass prayer, not blowing people up). This bit them once - the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure, where some members of an extreme sect of Wahhabism, led by a pair of rich kids, occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca, declaring the end times were upon us. The Saudi response was not to lighten on their religious indoctrination, but double down on it - and then ensure that troublesome youths were exported to other countries, which not only keeps the mess out of their backyard, but lets them fight against the other big player in the Middle East, Iran. Most Islamic terrorist groups can be traced back to that. Al Qaeda? Osama bin Laden was the son of a rich Saudi family, who got sent to go jihad somewhere else. ISIS, also, is a Wahhabist group, and they get most of their funding from Saudi citizens. It's sort of like how the IRA got a lot of funding from Americans of Irish descent - they recruit mainly from the locals, who are usually extremely impoverished and thus easy pickings for a cult, but they get their money from devout Saudis who bought too much into the government propaganda. And of course, if you're an upper-class Saudi with a kid who got a little too into Salafi and wants to jihad, you're going to buy him a one-way ticket to Syria and hope he comes to his senses before he either blows himself up, or gets blown up by a Russian missile. Is this ad going to do anything to ISIS recruiting? Probably not - I doubt many people who would join ISIS will even see it. But if you can erode that financial backing, or that stream of educated Saudis who form the command structure of ISIS, that would do a lot. And this ad is pretty well designed to do that. ISIS can't recruit people if it can't house them, feed them, supply them with weapons and ammunition. There's another knock-on effect: a lot of ISIS recruiting is based on how "infidels" want to destroy Islam and kill all Muslims. The more Islamophobic the rest of the world seems, the stronger that argument is. The English subtitles make it pretty clear that the West is a secondary target audience for the ad - with a message of "most Muslims are against terrorism too, let's work together and not against each other". This ad alone probably won't do much, but as a secondary effect, it's a nice bonus.
[QUOTE=gman003-main;52281937]You may be misunderstanding the situation in the middle east. The root of the problem goes to Saudi Arabia. The Saud family is using a classic monarchy trick - cultivating a very rigid, conservative, fundamentalist religion in order to keep their populace from revolting. Same trick every king in Europe used in the middle ages. In their case, it's the Wahhabi sect of Sunni Islam - an inherently combative sect, believing Islam needs to be "purified" and infidels converted or killed, and advocating physical jihad (believe it or not, most sects of Islam favor non-violent jihad, stuff like mass prayer, not blowing people up). This bit them once - the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure, where some members of an extreme sect of Wahhabism, led by a pair of rich kids, occupied the Grand Mosque in Mecca, declaring the end times were upon us. The Saudi response was not to lighten on their religious indoctrination, but double down on it - and then ensure that troublesome youths were exported to other countries, which not only keeps the mess out of their backyard, but lets them fight against the other big player in the Middle East, Iran. Most Islamic terrorist groups can be traced back to that. Al Qaeda? Osama bin Laden was the son of a rich Saudi family, who got sent to go jihad somewhere else. ISIS, also, is a Wahhabist group, and they get most of their funding from Saudi citizens. It's sort of like how the IRA got a lot of funding from Americans of Irish descent - they recruit mainly from the locals, who are usually extremely impoverished and thus easy pickings for a cult, but they get their money from devout Saudis who bought too much into the government propaganda. And of course, if you're an upper-class Saudi with a kid who got a little too into Salafi and wants to jihad, you're going to buy him a one-way ticket to Syria and hope he comes to his senses before he either blows himself up, or gets blown up by a Russian missile. Is this ad going to do anything to ISIS recruiting? Probably not - I doubt many people who would join ISIS will even see it. But if you can erode that financial backing, or that stream of educated Saudis who form the command structure of ISIS, that would do a lot. And this ad is pretty well designed to do that. ISIS can't recruit people if it can't house them, feed them, supply them with weapons and ammunition. There's another knock-on effect: a lot of ISIS recruiting is based on how "infidels" want to destroy Islam and kill all Muslims. The more Islamophobic the rest of the world seems, the stronger that argument is. The English subtitles make it pretty clear that the West is a secondary target audience for the ad - with a message of "most Muslims are against terrorism too, let's work together and not against each other". This ad alone probably won't do much, but as a secondary effect, it's a nice bonus.[/QUOTE] I agree with most of your points, this is a good alternative viewpoint. However, ISIS does not actually get most of its funding from Saudi citizens, it gets it from the oil trade and taxation both of which are extremely profitable for them. Things like artefact smuggling, private donations etc are also sources, but secondary ones. also one thing that way too many people do is conflate the actions of Saudi citizens with the entire Saudi Arabian state, just because Saudi nationals may be helping ISIS, doesn't mean the goverment is.
[QUOTE=Turing;52281473]for slightly hypocritical Gulfie propaganda this is pretty good[/QUOTE] you've never made a single good post Your rhetoric is consistently hateful and offensive. Frankly I just feel sorry for you
[QUOTE=Turing;52281806]I think a quote from the /r/syriancivilwar subreddit sums my opinion up quite well[/QUOTE] Is Kuwait a typical gulf monarchy though, with the same flaws as the others? I'm not hearing near as much bad stuff about them as the others.
I absolutely loved this. It's great to see. They didn't shy away from the existence of Islamic Militants who also say claim that "God is the greatest" (Allahu Akbar), but they also encouraged a full force rejection of it.
[QUOTE=Turing;52282067]I agree with most of your points, this is a good alternative viewpoint. However, ISIS does not actually get most of its funding from Saudi citizens, it gets it from the oil trade and taxation both of which are extremely profitable for them. Things like artefact smuggling, private donations etc are also sources, but secondary ones.[/QUOTE] I did a lot of research into ISIS when it was first starting, I guess their finances have shifted over the past several years and I never updated. I was aware of illicit oil and artifact sales, but I thought they were under attack by making it much harder to buy. I assume their command structure still has lots of Saudi brats? That would still be worthwhile to restrict, even if Saudi money doesn't provide as much funding anymore. [QUOTE=Turing;52282067]also one thing that way too many people do is conflate the actions of Saudi citizens with the entire Saudi Arabian state, just because Saudi nationals may be helping ISIS, doesn't mean the goverment is.[/QUOTE] I had a sentence to that effect, but I trimmed it for brevity. I think there's been unproven rumors of Saudi royals being involved, although whether that alone would make it an action of the Saudi government is debatable. They are essentially responsible for the conditions that created ISIS, though. Salafism was on its way out before the Sauds made it the effective state religion.
This is the right way to fight IShItS' video propaganda.
[QUOTE=RocketSnail;52282512]This is the right way to fight IShItS' video propaganda.[/QUOTE] I think we're past the point of namecalling with ISIS.
[QUOTE=God of Ashes;52282352]you've never made a single good post Your rhetoric is consistently hateful and offensive. Frankly I just feel sorry for you[/QUOTE] I'm sorry what??? Literally what are you talking about, are you confusing me with someone? The reason why I called this at least slightly hypocritical is for the fact that Gulf Cooperation Council countries provide and facilitate tons of support to terrorist groups who make use of exactly these types of tactics (suicide bombings et al.). Mind you I'm not talking about ISIS, but all the others. [QUOTE=Washington Post] Treasury Undersecretary David S. Cohen called Kuwait “the epicenter of fundraising for terrorist groups in Syria.” [/QUOTE] [QUOTE=Washington Post] Kuwait, a U.S. ally whose aid to besieged Syrian civilians has been surpassed only by the United States this year, is also the leading source of funding for al-Qaeda-linked terrorists fighting in Syria’s civil war, according to Obama administration officials. [/QUOTE] [url]https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/kuwait-top-ally-on-syria-is-also-the-leading-funder-of-extremist-rebels/2014/04/25/10142b9a-ca48-11e3-a75e-463587891b57_story.html[/url]
[QUOTE=Ott;52282530]I think we're past the point of namecalling with ISIS.[/QUOTE] Thanks, but I think it's safe to namecall when this video is sending a message to the scummiest cult on earth.
Glad to see that they are pushing these types of messages more in the middle east, they definitely need it.
[QUOTE=Zukriuchen;52281538]now you obv wont be seeing any isis commanders going "shit we're defeated. this is it. we cannot compete with a voice this beautiful" but in the grand scheme of things, isis IS waging a cultural war, and this is very much relevant to perpetuating a culture that opposes them[/QUOTE] Pretty much and to top it off ISIS or groups like them will just spring up again if their isn't a change in attitude towards radical Islamists. Too many native populations in the middle east sympathize with them without realizing what they're really about. You have to fight a war on multiple fronts rather than just bomb the piss out of them.
ayyyyyy hometown represent [editline]28th May 2017[/editline] y'all arguing about stuff instead of just appreciating the music video for the positive message it's trying to spread. also, Arabic music is dope, it's just super hard to find good shit cause all the artists / song names are written in Arabic, and you can't exactly google the lyrics "abrahmin gul agdad lyrics" doesn't really turn up much.
[QUOTE=Turing;52281473]for slightly hypocritical Gulfie propaganda this is pretty good[/QUOTE] so i'm getting sick and tired of people unilaterally referring to arabs as massive large groups of people. "kuwait was the largest funder of isis" "kuwait is the leading source of funding for al-qaeda." okay fine, but you implying that the entire population of the country is giving funds by reducing it to that level is manipulation and you know it. what the governments of these countries do, the people in power do, is by and large not representative of the average citizen of that nation. You really think Ali Abdulrahman who owns a sandwich shop is licking envelopes filled with dinars and mailing them off to old Uncle ISIS? Fuck no. Not even close. As someone with years of experience living in the Gulf, popular opinion DOES trend towards anti-ISIS sentiment, and peace with the west. The problem in these places is the lack of mobilization and the sheer amount of power the governments have to control news streams, police, money, whatever - reducing this to "propaganda" is an immature anti-progress view, because you are effectively ignoring the people just for what those above their reach are forcing upon them. Read a damn history book
all of you lot bashing gulf countries for funding terrorism, just an FYI: corruption in the gulf states is disgustingly high. billions of dollars worth of funds that are meant to improve infrastructure, education, the industry sector, it's embezzled and funnelled into the private accounts of MPs, the royal family, heads of state. nothing is ever done cause the system is so corrupt and there's not much that can be done. I can assure you, Kuwaiti citizens don't want to fund terrorist groups. I can't speak for the other Gulf countries, but Kuwait is by and large very liberal.
[QUOTE=loopoo;52282949]all of you lot bashing gulf countries for funding terrorism, just an FYI: corruption in the gulf states is disgustingly high. billions of dollars worth of funds that are meant to improve infrastructure, education, the industry sector, it's embezzled and funnelled into the private accounts of MPs, the royal family, heads of state. nothing is ever done cause the system is so corrupt and there's not much that can be done. I can assure you, Kuwaiti citizens don't want to fund terrorist groups. I can't speak for the other Gulf countries, but Kuwait is by and large very liberal.[/QUOTE] Lived in Qatar, can confirm the same sentiment
thing that gets me down the most about Kuwait is going to certain parts of Salmiya and just being overcome by smells of sewage from open drains, the general shitty upkeep of the roads, the dishevelment of the shops / buildings. you've got some areas that look fantastic and totally belong in the 21st century, then you've got archaic sections that haven't changed since the 1920's. then you fly over to Dubai and everything is brand spanking new (albeit it was done with copious amounts of slave labour) and I can't help but have it get under my skin cause Kuwait loaned a shit tonne of money to Dubai and basically let it build up it's infrastructure to fit the 21st century standards, yet so much of our own country is still stuck in the old ages cause assholes would rather steal the money set aside for the betterment of the country to line their own pockets so they can fuck off to the West and barely ever set foot back in Kuwait.
pretty much word for word what's happening in qatar as well, there are built up sections that look like dubai and sections that still look like they're from the early 80s in terms of development. shit's weird
[QUOTE=lonefirewarrior;52281022]Why does everything sung in Arabic sound so catchy?[/QUOTE] It has a musical structure to begin with.
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