Your Turn: House Negro

First, a few comments on the tape itself. As I explain on my blog, I think that rather than being intended for the Muslim world as a whole, it specifically targeted Black Muslims whom al-Qaeda had been hoping to win over, but who have been having very serious second thoughts since Obama’s election redefined racial dynamics in the United States. This is (much of) the reason for al-Qaeda’s co-opting of Malcolm X, and for Zawahiri’s use of the purely American epithet “house Negro”.
Given all that, I do not think that as-Sahab’s composition here works. It does succeed in some places; the panel on the left, for example, not only calls to mind Obama’s support of Israel, it also, by bringing up the issue of his religion, reminds the viewer of Obama’s rejection of Rev. Wright, which probably did not endear him to the Black Muslims al-Qaeda would be targeting. However, the accusation that Obama is a Jew also calls to mind the accusation that Obama is a Muslim, which was viewed as an implicit smear of Islam by many in the Muslim community, and which, in any case, was not exactly welcomed by his supporters.
More problematic than the images, though, is the text. The caption underneath the picture of Obama reads “Barack Hussein Obama”. The reason for the inclusion of Obama’s middle name is probably the simple fact that jihadists, at least from what I’ve seen, are amused by it, much as they are amused by the suggestion that this “soldier of Iblis(Satan), as one jihadist called him, is really a one-man al-Qaeda sleeper cell. As-Sahab does not, however, appear to realize just how irritating the whole “Hussein” thing has become. Worse, it further reinforces the similarity between al-Qaeda and those who had tried to destroy Obama during the primaries.
The biggest miscalculation, though, is the text that appears above Zawahiri. It reads, “the departure of Bush and the rejection of Obama”. They should not have forced the issue of whether or not to reject Obama on their quarries quite so forcefully, and definitely not this soon.
I have more to say, but unfortunately do not have time. I’ll give my take on Malcolm X later.

I’m surprised by the similarity of gray-bearded Zawahiri and the gray-bearded Israeli next to Obama. Otherwise it’s just ugly and amateurish. If that popped up on my screen I’d immediately close it.

The Rabbi, Zawahiri, and Malcolm are all facing the same direction. The arc of lights over Malcolm seques nicely into the books on the shelf behind Zawahiri, and the line of heads in the Obama photo. The red rays of the (no doubt generic) background pass behind the black and white photos and thus neutralize their difference from the color photo of Zawahiri. In short, there is remarkable a continuity between the three photos; the image has no impact.

without scrutinizing the screen, it isn’t apparent who is who–obama has a double chin in the left photo, and looks different (facially, not w/ respect to the yarmulke), while Malcolm X’s face is in half shadow, and, at first glance, i would guess that many people, especially if its shown briefly on TV, would assume that this is obama again, given that he is such a common face in media right now, and this also reflects a serious, slender guy. so, to me, this is an odd juxtaposition of apparently ‘not-obama’ in jewish setting with ‘likely obama’ in muslim setting.
the other interesting thing to me is the setting of each photo–the left one is perhaps at a wall (the wall?), surrounded by clergy, the right is totally isolated, yet very urban, and the middle picture is almost straining for relevancy, surrounded by authoritative volumes, which carry such weight in portraying one as ‘academic’ or ‘learned’…the left & right seem much more in touch with some sort of tangible outside world, while the middle one seems to be supported by, and surrounded by texts, not people, not an actual living environment, in an very cliche way. in this sense, the middle picture seems particularly damaging to the attempted portrayal (if i understand this right) of obama as not representing some sense of ‘the people’ worldwide, and instead, being a puppet, of sorts.

They seem to have some inside baseball irritation that fights with the perception of the Arab world in particular and the world in general. Rather than try to shape the narrative, they try to force it in a way at odds with the relief the rest of the world is feeling at the end of the Bush era. Big mistake, in my mind. But I’m not in their target group, I guess, unless this is designed to strike terror in my heart. It misses that goal. I have no idea how ready the rest of the world is to embrace the “change” mantra, but there must be some general weariness at present conditions.

I know nothing of the “Muslim World” as such, but if this imagery is speaking to the Muslim World, then the Muslim World must be quite similar to the Republican Party here in the U.S.A. Ali Z. = Bill O’Reilly, etc.

I normally refer to Juan Cole’s Informed Commment site [http://www.juancole.com/] for good insight on matters he is expert. In particular for mid-east translations, since I know not and suspect a lot. Here is an exerpt from his outstanding post on the 20th:
“The headline in most comments on the video was that al-Zawahiri used a racist slur against Obama, calling him a “house Negro” and referring to the distinction Malcolm X made between pro-white slaves who lived next to the mansion, and the “field Negros” who toiled beneath the whip and hated their master.
In the video, al-Zawahiri does pointedly refer to Malcolm X’s distinction. But he speaks in Arabic of “`abid al-bayt,” “the house slave,” and does not use the word “Negro” (which the al-Sahab translators are rendering ‘zinji.’) The connotations and implications are much the same, but it is not exact to say that al-Zawahiri used the phrase “house Negro” himself.”

Observing Powell’s UN charade and Condi soliloquy during the destruction of Lebanon I suspect Al-Zawahiri and many around the world considered them house slaves.
Al-Zawahiri might have delivered a better comparison and challenge by replacing Malcolm X with Martin Luther King:
~ “The United States government is the greatest purveyor of violence in the world.”
~ “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”
When Obama becomes C in C how much can he really reign in the Global hegemonic power of the US ?
We are all waiting.

This is just so silly. That dude has no clue. He’s just throwing stuff he read in a book out there to get some free pub. Reminds me of that stupid woman in Alaska or The North Vietnamese years ago commenting on US politics and repeatedly shooting themselves in the foot. Other than CNN and goose stepping pundits who is the target audience for this crapola. Ugly poster too.

Sergei — Thetest above Zawahiri, “dhahab Bush wa magi’ Obama,” means “the departure of Bush and the coming of Obama,” not “the rejectio of Obama.” So it’s just a parallelism asking viewers whether Obama is any different from or better than Bush. It is interesting that “Barack” is spelled as though transliterated into Arabic from English, instead of using the spelling of the Arabic word that it actually is.
Personally, I found the dignified photo of Malcolm praying in a mosque to be quite effective, and the way the photo of Obama at the Wailing Wall is used here to be cheezy and obvious (as a suggestion that Obama is a Zionist fellow-traveller if not actually Jewish himself). It may appeal to those who still believe in the “protocols of the elders of Zion.”

“He’s just throwing stuff he read in a book out there to get some free pub.”
Actually, he has a pet American, whose name is either ‘Azzam al-Amriki or Adam Gadahn, depending on whether you ask him or his parents. However, it’s been so long since ‘Azzam was last in the States that he’s really beginning to lose touch. He’s even started developing a slight accent due to lack of practice with English.
“Thetest above Zawahiri, ‘dhahab Bush wa magi’ Obama,’ means ‘the departure of Bush and the coming of Obama,’ not ‘the rejectio of Obama.’”
Thanks. I specialize in Persian, not Arabic, and apparently it shows
“It is interesting that ‘Barack’ is spelled as though transliterated into Arabic from English, instead of using the spelling of the Arabic word that it actually is.”
That is interesting, though it may just be the form the media uses. Out of curiosity, what is the Arabic word? برك?

Barak, spelled with long vowels for both “a”s is the way the Arabic-language media have generally been spelling Obama’s first name (al-Jazeera, e.g.).So if there’s some editorial point to the way Barak is spelled here, it’s not al-Qaeda making it. That’s the standard way of transcribing non-Arab names: just spell them out with all vowels rendered long. Judith can correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t think “Barak” is a typical Arab or Islamic name, so there’s no standard Arabic equivalent that’s being rejected in favor of an “English” version. There really isn’t even a normal Arabic word that matches “Barak”, which is why it’s legitimate to consider the name a Swahili one, where the Arabic “Baraka” has been transformed into something new.
Now, “Hussein” is a different matter, which is here spelled like the popular Islamic name (Husayn). Most Arabic media I’ve seen hasn’t included it (though maybe it was more common on 11/5? I didn’t check), so maybe you could make something of the choice to include it, the kind of mockery Sergei suggested. But I think it would feel very unnatural to an Arabic speaker to write Husayn any other way.

It isn’t necessary for Al Queda to court the black man and woman in amerikkka. Ours has been a long and lonely struggle, much of it fought by those black victims within the united states who have been the target of the same white supremacist mindset that supports zionism. I am saddened by the attempt at manipulation, it is unnecessary. Where were the attempts to support the ongoing struggle of blacks in amerikkka before this election cycle. Obama’s election has not silenced those who truly want justice and balance. But stop with the manipulation, you never cared about us don’t pretend now.