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Hamas puts out album to celebrate "liberation" of Gaza
They may be Islamic radicals but even Hamas values a catchy pop tune, cranking out 10 new victory songs about Israel's historic pullout from the Gaza Strip.Isn't music Halal? Shouldn't there be a fatwa against this? Notorious for its use of suicide bombers in Israel, the extremist faction has now released "Gaza Victory News", its latest weapon in its propaganda war with Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party. Seeking credit for the end of Israel's 38-year occupation, the album, with a sinister masked man and an Israeli soldier's boot in flames on the cover, boasts songs by the Yassin Band, named after the late Hamas founder Sheikh Ahmed Yassin. The songs are generally drum machine and Bah. I'll take Dick Dale any day. The message is clear: that Hamas's military wing forced Israel out of Gaza. The music has scored with Gaza's youth, weaned on a culture of guns and "martyrdom". "These songs encourage us to fight the settlers in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and Jerusalem, everywhere," says falafel seller Ziad Abu Taha, 26. A recent poll found 40 percent of Palestinians attribute the most credit for the pullout to Hamas, with only 11 percent putting the withdrawal down to the endeavours of Fatah. Self promotion or not, Hamas knows what it wants. The party has no hesitation writing violence-fueled melodies that score with the people. "Hamas is the strongest party, so it makes the best music," opines 20-year-old Mahmud. In an impromptu survey, kids, who have heard the song on the tape or Hamas's Aqsa radio station, raved about "Gaza, it has come." "The victory flags fly and the wounds are on it, but the brutal army withdrew and the independence fighter cries: "Our people achieved victory by Jihad," go the lyrics. I bet Time-Warner is working on a recording contract as we speak. Posted by: Jackal 2005-09-13 |
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