propaganda

To keep the men away, just cover up

Sophie — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:03:00 +0200

"You can't stop them. But you can protect yourself. Your creator has your best interests at heart."

One of our Observers in Egypt received this image in a forwarded email. The message to women: Cover up to protect yourself. We ask our Observers if whether covering up really deters unwanted attention.

According to observers in Egypt, the hijab has crept up in popularity in recent years. It's not obligatory to cover up in the Arab republic and the government does little to promote the concept, but many Muslim women choose to cover their hair and bodies. This viral campaign, spread via forwarded email, suggests that women go one step further to "protect themselves". One of our Observers for Egypt told us that the person behind it is promoting the adoption of the niqab — a garment which covers everything but the eyes. Where the email originated, however, nobody seems to know. Despite efforts by some to track it through various sources, its origins remain unknown.

Stop dreaming, Mugabe's here to stay

Sophie — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 14:54:24 +0200

A campaign poster for Mugabe's party

Hopes for a fair election are over in Zimbabwe after opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai pulled out of Friday's planned run-off on Sunday. But while expectations have been quashed, repressive government violence and spiralling food prices seem to be unstoppable.

After months of waiting, the Zimbabwean people will not get a run-off election between opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai and dictatorial leader Robert Mugabe. Tsvangirai pulled out of the race on Sunday and is in hiding in the capital's Dutch embassy. Yesterday, the UN Security Council said that a free and fair election would be "impossible". Over 70 Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) supporters are presumed dead and more than 3,000 people have been hospitalised, along with sky-rocketing food prices and inflation heading towards 120% percent week on week (according to the country's daily The Herald).

"Anonymous" Israeli propaganda on YouTube

Julien — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 15:01:37 +0200

Just under a month ago we published a post about a terrorist shooting in a Talmudic school in Jerusalem. Now, daily Israeli newspaper Haaretz has revealed that the government used YouTube, under an anonymous guise, to broadcast these images as a provocative reminder of the event.

The video, which has an amateur appearance, was published on March 10 under the name of "AtiyaRachel". But The Marker, the business supplement of Haaretz, revealed that it was actually the Prime Minister's office behind the videos, entitled "Emergency call" and "Act NOW. Stop the terror, stop the bloodshed". Warning, you may find some of the images upsetting.

Assoud, the Hamas 'holy war' rabbit

Julien — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 14:45:02 +0100

The Hamas TV channel Al-aqsa has been broadcasting an "educational" programme for 7-13 year-olds called "Tomorrow's Pioneers" for almost a year now. Watching young presenter Saraa Barhoum talking to a big teddy animal on a colourful set, you'd think it was like any other children's programme. But if you understand what she's saying, you might find subject topics a bit different from those going on on Button Moon. That's because the content of the show is saturated with Hamas ideology. The result? Endearing cuddly characters with squeaky voices conveying anti-Zionist and anti-occidental messages, hailing Muslims and conversion to Islam and encouraging the holy war and martyrs.

The KGB goes into cinema

Julien — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:01:00 +0100

In 2006 the Federal Security Service of Russia (ex-KGB) set up a prize for ‘arts and literature'. Last year, the blockbuster ‘Apocalypse Code' was the winner of Best Film category. Not unique in its message, the film is one of many cultural products that glorify the Russian security agency released each year, some of them requested to be made by the FSB itself.

North Korea’s propaganda goes online: terrifyingly funny

Julien — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 23:49:00 +0100

Despite the acclaimed ‘IT revolution' in North Korea, there are still very few people with access to the Internet. So few, that studies gauging national percentages of Internet users, simply list North Korea as ‘not applicable'. Despite this, Pyongyang has created what can only be described as an online propaganda machine. Available in Korean, Chinese, Russian, Japanese and English, the site is an online compendium of a particularly North Korean form of cult worship centered on the ‘Dear Leader,' Kim Jong Il. It may be a serious cyber effort from Pyongyang, but for the rest of the world, it's downright hilarious. From horses and Chow Chows (little Chinese dogs) presented to the North Korean dictator, to paeans a new dam, it features everything on North Korea you always feared were true, but were too terrified to contemplate.