More International Political Videos
A few days ago I made a post about a Hamas video and discussed how many people think American politics is ugly, when in reality compared to many parts of the world, our politics is quite civil.
A great deal of my political interests (in the foreign realm) lay in the politics of the Middle East, so I’ll probably tend to keep most of my international political discussions on those topics, however if you have something you’d like to submit, I’d be more than willing to post it.
Today’s video comes from Lebanon. This is by no means a new video, but it is extremely powerful in showing how a little propaganda can make such a destructive organization like Hezbollah seem like it is only protecting the best interest of the Lebanese people.
There are some things that have to be pointed out about this video.
First, this video was featured on Al-Manar (translation: The Beacon), which is one of the Hezbollah propaganda networks (the other being Al-Nour, which is their radio arm).
This is important to note, because this isn’t just an internet video. Following the 34-day fight with Israel, this video was an extremely important tool for boosting Hezbollah’s credibility, making them appear to be the party that will stand up for the Lebanese people and take on the Israelis.
Second, take note of the Katyusha rockets displayed throughout their video. It’s quite interesting how they can take such a primitive piece of Iranian weaponry and make it appear to be the tool that under Hezbollah leadership, can protect them from anything.
There are a lot of messages within this video that could be elaborated on further, including the music, the location in Lebanon and even the people in the video. However, if people want to give their takes on those items, I’ll leave that to the message board.
However, the one thing I want anyone who watched this video to take away is an understanding of how terrorist organizations like Hezbollah are using these sugar-coated propaganda videos to promote their cause and gain credibility amongst their people.
Whenever I watch videos like these (I have watched well over 300 different propaganda videos from the Middle East alone) I cant help but reflect on how thankful I am that we have media that will challenge other media sources, without having to worry about getting killed.
But more importantly, this video should serve as a reminder of how dangerous Iran (who funds Hezbollah) already is. Just imagine how powerful Hezbollah will be, should Iran fully develop a nuclear weapon. Not only would our key ally in the region (Israel) be in danger, but I have no doubt that our ties with the more friendly Arab nations would be put in serious jeopardy.
I welcome your thoughts on this.
Around DC: Inside the New Newseum
One of the real treats about living in DC is the fact that there is always something new opening up around the city. Whether that be a new exhibit, or even a new museum, there is almost always something to do and/or check out.
Unfortunately, since I moved here in February of 2007, I haven’t taken as much advantage of the “touristy” attractions in the city as I would have liked, however this past weekend I was invited to check out the new Newseum, located on 5th and Pennsylvania a few weeks before it officially opened.
Right off the back, I strongly urge any and every blogger who is interested in learning more about how the media has progressed over the years and where it is going, to make the Newseum a stop the next time they are in DC.
The Newseum has 6 floors packed with hands-on exhibits, incredible archives and a handful of theaters, including a 4-D theater that in less than 10 minutes gives an extremely impressive depiction of how important the media has been in shaping our lives and more importantly, our country. The additional dimension makes it even more enjoyable for even those who are usually hard to please (like myself).
Even though the theaters were impressive, the one exhibit that I enjoyed the most was News Corporation’s “News History Gallery,” which had original copies of newspapers chronicling some of the most important events to happen in the history of the United States, dating all the way back to the 1700’s. It’s quite impressive to see how even in the last 10 years, newspapers have significantly evolved, but it’s even more impressive to see the evolution over the last 300 years.
Another exciting feature that the Newseum has is an incredibly large series of sections from the Berlin Wall. Unlike most museums, you could actually get up close to the wall, take pictures and examine the messages, which were surprisingly all in English. Aside from the Berlin Wall, the Newseum also has a 3 story guard tower that visitors can step into.
Finally, one of the more somber parts of the Newseum was their 9/11 gallery, which includes what appeared to be a large sculpture which was originally a 40? section of the broadcast antenna that was atop World Trade Center Tower 1 (thanks to DHH for the clarification), and along the walls are hundreds of newspapers from across the globe with their headlines from that day. Even though I’ve seen most of those front pages online previously, seeing them again takes you back in time to wherever you were when you first heard about the attacks. It’s definitely a powerful exhibit. Rightfully so, there is no photography allowed in this part of the Newseum.
I definitely recommend the Newseum to anyone who is interested in the media, it’s history and more importantly, its future.
The links below are some additional pictures I took at the Newseum (on each page, click image to view full-size image).
View from the top of the Newseum
News Corp.’s News History Gallery