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Trending: Parodies of Islamic State

Egyption Wedding _Ahmed Shehata_facebook.jpg

07/03/2015

Parodies of Islamic State

BBC World Service - Trending, Parodies of Islamic State

Post-Charlie Hebdo, the “baby rappers” wielding guns and causing outrage in France, and comedy parodies of Islamic State - are they diluting the danger or a defence against fear?

This week a video of an Egyptian wedding went viral when the groom staged a mock Islamic State kidnapping. It was meant to surprise the guests and make people laugh at the terrorist group. Surprising, yes, but it is not the first video of this kind to trend. As the internet fills with more and more comic parodies of Islamic State’s propaganda videos, do they dilute the danger or are they a defence against fear? We speak to Neil Durkin from Amnesty International, and Egyptian tweeter Mona El-Ashry.


Baby Rappers in France
Another viral clip caused outrage this week, this time in France. Children pose as gangsta rappers in a video, which shows them waving guns, wads of cash, making drug references and sexist remarks. Pretty typical of a gangsta rap? Possibly, but the young age of those rapping - estimated to be between 8 and 13 years - has shocked many in France and generated an intense debate about the banlieue (the suburbs), where the children are from, and where the Charlie Hebdo attackers lived. 

(Image: Facebook video of IS parody posted by Ahmed Shehata. Copyright: Ahmed Shehata)

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