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Terror Networks | ||
'Terrorism has no religion' ad campaign | ||
2006-10-12 | ||
Packed with special effects, the graphic commercial uses the time-suspension technique made popular in the Hollywood film Matrix. The 60-second clip opens with a young boy watching a man walk through a crowded market. The man stops and exposes yellow explosives strapped to his body. He detonates the bomb seconds later, sending cars flying and people crashing through the windows of a cafe. The advert then shows victims weeping amid the fires and wreckage, before ending with the words "Terrorism has no religion" in Arabic. The identity of the commercial's backers is shrouded in secrecy, prompting speculation that the US Government is attempting to deter potential terrorists away from violence. The Amercian Government has refused to clarify whether it is linked to the commercial, which hit television screens this summer on Al-Arabiya, Lebanese Broadcasting Corp and several Iraqi channels. Filming for the advert took place in a Los Angeles warehouse district earlier this year, according to California-based 900 Frames, which helped produce the commercial. Its intention is to deter Islamic extremists from terrorising Israel and the West, but critics believe the clip will not have the desired impact on young Arabs. Lawrence Pintak, the director of the Adham Center for Electronic Journalism at the American University in Cairo, said: "When this kind of advertisement is sandwiched between footage of Lebanon and Iraq, it's going to fall on deaf ears." Blogger Raed Jarrar, an Iraqi-Palestinian who currently lives in the United States, is equally sceptical. "Dealing with suicide bombers is way more complicated and is usually linked to fundamentalist religious beliefs that have political implications," he said. "Portraying it as a loony tune who goes into a market to kill civilians - I don't know if this will work. "The assumption is it has to be made by the Americans or the Saudis."
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Posted by:Steve White |