’IS’ Group Becomes Target of Arab Satire
Local Editor
The bumbling young militant first drops the rocket launcher on the toes of his boss before taking aim and firing toward a military checkpoint outside of an Iraqi town - not realizing he's fired it backward at his leader.
The "Looney Tunes"-style cartoon targeting the so-called "Islamic State" [IS] group comes after its militants have swept across large swaths of Syria and Iraq, declaring their own self-styled caliphate while conducting mass shootings of their prisoners. The group cheers its advances and beheadings in slickly produced Internet videos.
Meanwhile, in response to the IS extremism, television networks across the Middle East have begun airing cartoons and comedy programs using satire to criticize the group and its claims of representing Islam.
While not directly confronting the group's battlefield advances, the shows challenge the legitimacy of its claims and chip away at the fear some have that the militants are unstoppable.
Moreover, the IS group now finds itself challenged in a cultural war.
In Iraq, an animated program on state television depicted a slew of characters on the run from the Iraqi military, including young IS militants and old Saddam Hussein-era officials.
"We are all against these terrorist organizations," said Alaa al-Majedi of the state-run al-Iraqiya channel. "Comedy is one way to raise awareness."
Among those depicted in the cartoon is Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, as it is said that the kingdom supports the IS militants.
In Syria, comedic news programs also target the IS group, as well as Palestinian television channel al-Falastiniya in its airing of a skit that mocks IS extremism.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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