Star Wars and Daesh

NOTE: Spoilers below. If you intend to see Star Wars: The Force Awakens, please do not continue reading

Apparently every other post on Daesh, I am asked who are they, so here is the link. Most people call them as ISIS, ISIL or just IS but Daesh is the correct name for them.

So we find out in this new movie that Kylo Ren is one of the main villians. Inspired by his grandfather, he is the new man in the iron mask. Even though his parents were instrumental in destroying Darth Vader and the evil Galectic Empire he chose the dark side over the light side.

In addition to his parents, Han Solo and Leia, probably telling him stories about how bad the dark side is and how they defeated the evil villians, he was taught the about the Force by his uncle Luke Skywalker. Luke, as we know believed in the Force whole heartedly and was the reason behind Darth Vader finally bringing the balance to the Force. I am sure he would have recounted hundreds of times how good triumphed over evil. Even after all this, how come a clever young man turn to being a monster and evil?

The Muslim world faces a similar problem. While Islam teaches about compassion, being kind, bringing harmony in the society, working for the greater good, etc., these young men and women are preferring to join Daesh and be merciless killers over being ideal role model in the society. Just blaming the Muslims for not doing enough is not a just reason. In fact many of these young men do not even understand Islam, they just think Google will help answer all their questions. A lot of the sites that Google shows are misleading and contain incorrect information.

Unfortunately there is no easy solution to the problem of young people joining the dark side. We all have to continue our utmost to enjoin the good and forbid the evil. I would like to end this with couple of verses from the Quran

...So whoever does an atom's weight of good will see it, And whoever does an atom's weight of evil will see it. - The Qur'an, verses 99:7-8

...Let there arise out of you a band of people inviting to all that is good, enjoining what is right, and forbidding what is wrong: They are the ones to attain felicity. - The Qur'an, verses 3:104

I Am a Muslimerican

While standing in line at the airport, it's no longer a question. I approach the counter and immediately tell them to call their manager because they'll need extra approval to allow me on the plane. When finally in my seat answering a phone call, the looks I get from surrounding passengers as I greet with "Asalamu Alaikum" is a type of fear that I've never seen, one that cannot possibly be sustained in the face of all that this nation is up against.

I was raised in Michigan, where I always attended public schools. I was a decent student, played sports, served on student organizations and was even homecoming king. I have always believed in the ideals of this country, and because of that, I beat the odds and followed my dreams of becoming a working film writer and director. But at some point, I and many others who share my faith became the Other. I became one of "them."

When I turn on the TV and see another broadcast displaying Muslim extremism or terrorism, it makes me cringe. This feeling persists primarily because there are people doing these terrible things in the name of Islam. They go against everything Muslims are supposed to represent and make the lives of many people here very difficult. We have to live in fear not only of terrorists but also of being associated with them. To make things worse, there has been an unyielding and unapologetic attempt to push it in our faces for the last decade. If we're talking real numbers here, Al Qaeda represents less than 0.1 percent of the world's Muslim population. How can the actions of such a small percentage serve as the representation of a group so large?

Now this idea has manifested itself in a crucial debate, and the issue on the table has the potential to deny American citizens their basic constitutional rights. There needs to be the recognition of the problem of this argument at its core: by going against the building of a mosque near Ground Zero, you're essentially associating the ideals of extremism and terrorism with every peace-practicing Muslim American. I am appalled by this association and disappointed that so many fellow Americans have taken that stance instead of believing in what this country has represented since its birth. If this freedom is defeated, I fear what's to come.

This is not a plea for sympathy; it is a call to character. It's not a question of whether or not we should or shouldn't. Once we get past the unreasonable debates fueled by emotions and illegitimate accusations, we know what's right. As the leaders of the free world, we cannot afford another embarrassment of this magnitude on our record. It will again, in a crucial time of rebuilding, question our validity for years to come.

When I wrote my film "MOOZ-lum," which speaks about the Muslim-American experience, I had no idea so much would be at stake; I simply wanted to give a voice to a generation that is often drowned out by the heavy volume of extremism. But alas, here we are. And I'm willfully submitting my film into the discussion, hoping that it will be able to shed some light and humanize a group of people who have been demonized for far too long.

When all is said and done, the compelling statement of freedom that the construction of this mosque represents can be an ultimate sign of our country's progression.

I hope you enjoy the trailer.

Salaam (Peace)

source

Defamation - A Yoav Shamir Film

A series of controversial Israeli films are provoking outrage and plaudits in equal measure at the London Film Festival.

The best documentary award has gone to one of the year's most controversial films.

Defamation is a polemic by Israeli filmmaker Yoav Shamir. In his expose of America's Anti-Defamation League (ADL), he claims anti-Semitism is being exaggerated for political purposes. He argues that American Jewish leaders travel around the world exploiting the memory of the Holocaust to silence criticism of Israel.

He gets inside the ADL, which claims to be the most powerful lobby group of its type anywhere in the world. With unprecedented access, he travels with them as they meet foreign leaders, and use the memory of the Holocaust to further their pro-Israeli agenda.

At one point, an ADL leader admits to Shamir that "we need to play on that guilt".

Shamir says his film, Defamation, started out as a study of "the political games being played behind the term anti-Semitism".

"It became more a film about perceptions and the way Jews and Israelis choose to see themselves and define themselves - a lot of the time unfortunately choosing the role of eternal victims as a way of life."

He wanted to find out how this mentality has become part of Israel's national psyche.
The film suggests that the attitude is thrust upon children from an early age. School trips to concentration camps in Poland run year-round.

From just 500 children in the 1980s, he claims around 30,000 are now flown to Europe every year.

He discovers that the trips are not designed to educate, but to provoke an emotional reaction. They fly out of Israel euphoric, and end their journey in tears, talking about their shared hatred.

They are accompanied by secret service agents who prevent them from talking to any locals - they are led to believe that most Poles are anti-Semites.

The end result is disturbing. The victim mentality is being used to justify Israel's occupation and colonisation of the West Bank and siege of Gaza.

In the film, one Israeli Jew tells Shamir that she refuses to get upset by Israeli aggression against the Palestinians because "we" faced worse. To her, the Holocaust justifies anything the Israeli army does.

And for Shamir, that is the real danger. "We are experiencing the most right-wing government we've ever had, and there is very little room for discussion. Putting so much focus on hate and the negative, I don't see it as a healthy thing."

In Israel, the film has received a mixed response. "It's kind of a love or hate type of response to the film," Shamir says. "It's very hard to get people to come and watch documentaries in the cinemas in Israel."

In the UK, too, there is anger towards Defamation.

Mark Gardiner from one of Britain's biggest anti-Semitism campaign groups, the Community Security Trust, believes the film could put Jews at risk.

"All of a sudden some bloke appears out of nowhere, oh he's an Israeli, oh he's a Jew, therefore what he says must have more credence than what organisations like my own and the ADL have said for years - I think that shows a deep-seated bias."

And he is furious at the suggestion that anti-Semitism is being used for political purposes.

"This assumption that people are saying it because they're being malicious, because they know that it's not anti-Semitic, but hey lets use anti-Semitism in order to win the Israel case, that's what I find really really offensive," Gardiner says.

Shamir is not surprised by reactions like that.

"Anti-Semitism is a very touchy subject and making a film about anti-Semitism is almost like walking on thin ice, you're going to hurt people's feelings."

Martial Kurtz from the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) believes the film can make a difference to activists like him.

He says all too often Israel's supporters label groups like the PSC as anti-Semitic.

"There are many Jewish organisations which campaign [with us] against the occupation, campaign against the siege in Gaza," he says. "So the whole argument falls flat."

Imad Aqel: Movie produced by Hamas

Imad Aqel is an action-packed movie of the life and violent death of a Hamas militant who topped Israel's most-wanted list

The film's hero is a young militant, blamed by Israel for the deaths of 13 soldiers and settlers, who was killed at the age of 22 in a firefight in 1993. Many of the actors are Hamas members and, since the movie was finished, four of them have been killed in an Israeli attack. This is Imad Aqel, the first feature film funded by Hamas.

The film began showing at a cultural centre in Gaza at the weekend. Shot on the grounds of Gnai Tal, one of the Jewish settlements evacuated in 2005 when Israel withdrew from the territory, it is a two-hour, action-packed thriller celebrating the life and martyrdom of Aqel, a commander of the Hamas military wing who topped Israel's most-wanted list.

According to newspaper reports, the line that elicits the biggest cheer from the Gazan audience is when one of the characters declares: "To kill Israeli soldiers is to worship God."The film's director, Majed Jendeya, says he hopes to screen Imad Aqel at the Cannes film festival.

The movie was written by senior Hamas member Mahmoud al-Zahar and produced by the interior minister, Fathi Hamad. It cost $120,000 (£70,600) and is the first film to be produced by the Islamist organisation.

"It's Hamaswood instead of Hollywood," said Hamad after the film's premiere last month at Gaza City's Islamic University. "We are trying to make quality art that is Islamic and about the resistance, without provocative (sexual) scenes."

The biopic is just the latest effort in Hamas's media campaign to instil a "culture of resistance" in the territory. It also owns a satellite television station, a radio network and websites, as well as sponsoring art exhibitions, plays and poetry which tell of the harsh conditions in Gaza.