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To the sound of bombs exploding in the background, drowning
out the cries of women and children, a famous Egyptian movie
star carefully reads out her lines deploring the devastation
wrought by war and appealing for the safety of civilians.
This scene is from one of 33 episodes of Humanitarian
Positions (Mawaqif Insaniya), the second of
five highly successful ICRC-produced radio series broadcast
annually to the Arab world in a renewed effort to spread knowledge
of international humanitarian law.
In this radio drama, renowned actress Nadia Lutfy shifts
her skills away from the silver screen to convey strong messages
about the rules of war. The other four series, also featuring
professional movie and theatre stars, serve a similar purpose.
Presented as mini-dramas and vignettes featuring legendary
figures drawn from folk tales and medieval Arab history, the
programmes cover such topics as the treatment of prisoners
of war, special dispositions for the wounded and sick on the
battlefield, and the protection of civilians during armed
conflict. They also address the illegal use of anti-personnel
landmines and the treatment of political detainees, among
other issues. |
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Success
story
The series was so popular that, in July 1998, the ICRC was
awarded the Golden Prize for best production at the Cairo
Festival for Radio and Television, in which 45 countries competed
with almost 200 Arabic-language works. The prizes for best
scriptwriter and best director went to Tarek Youssef and Ahmed
Selim for their work on the series. Khaled el Dhehabi won
the award for best actor and Ehsan el Kala’awy for best
actress. A bronze statuette of a pharaoh in a long gown holding
aloft a television satellite dish sits proudly in the ICRC
Cairo office.
“I never expected the series to be a prizewinner,”
says Roland Huguenin, head of the ICRC’s Middle East
regional promotion office, the first of its kind. Huguenin
initiated the series in 1993, inspired while recording ICRC
television spots with local directors in Cairo.
As part of its mandate, the ICRC generally instructs humanitarian
law through more traditional channels, such as universities
and military academies, and through media interviews. Its
dissemination activities are especially valuable in countries
in the throes of conflict, but it is also important in peacetime
to raise awareness of humanitarian issues. The new radio series
have the clear advantage of reaching the public at large rather
than just a select few.
“Of course,” says Huguenin, “Listening
to a radio programme won’t necessarily persuade torturers
to change their ways. But it does serve a purpose. There are
some principles that are so evident... but who will tell the
man in the street of his rights?”
A key to the series’ enormous success – they
are now broadcast on the BBC Arabic service and Radio Monte
Carlo among many other stations – lies in its timing.
Played daily during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan just
minutes before the sundown call to prayer, the programme enjoys
the attention of millions of faithful as they await their
first meal of the day. The series is also rerun at different
hours and later in the year. |
Cautionary
tales
The series imaginatively blends popular folklore with music
by top Arab singers and composers, such as reputed talents
Ammar el-Shirii and Shawki Hijab, who composed one of the
shows’ introductory songs.
The ICRC’s first attempt drew on the famous ancient
Arab tale to create A Thousand and One Days, broadcasting
it on one of Cairo’s main radio stations, the Voice
of the Arabs (Sawt el Arab), and on Radio Monte Carlo.
In a twist to the fable, Scheherazade returns not to her chambers
in the royal court at the end of her evenings with the caliph,
but to the outside world. There, a war is raging and, as she
witnesses the caliph’s men forcibly recruiting youths
to the front line and ill-treating prisoners of war, she returns
to him with new stories of horror. Following the original
line of suspense and intrigue, Scheherazade deftly advises
Caliph Chahryar on the laws of war.
The second series, Humanitarian Positions, was inspired
by real-life situations that ICRC delegates encountered in
conflict zones such as Bosnia-Herzegovina, Azerbaijan and
Afghanistan. It was the first ICRC work to be broadcast on
the BBC Arabic service, taking the organization’s media
productions further into the world of Arabic-language radio
stations and to thousands more listeners, both across the
region and in Europe. Humanitarian Positions was
so convincing to some people that they called up the BBC and
enquired anxiously whether the events were real and taped
live.
Undoubtedly, the choice of actress was a determining factor
in that particular series’ credibility. Lutfy was selected
as much for her dedication to political and social causes
as for her talent and fame. She is currently involved in numerous
development programmes in Egypt. “Her personality fits
very well,” says Huguenin, noting that when he offered
her the role in Humanitarian Positions, she replied
firmly: “Don’t you dare think of giving it to
anybody else.”
After Humanitarian Positions, the ICRC Cairo promotion
office moved away from real-life situations and settled for
lighter Egyptian folk tales and Arabic literature, as it had
done with its first series. In one, the ghost of Ibn Iyass,
an early Egyptian historian, appears to a modern-day scholar
to deplore man’s progress in the manufacture of weapons
and war machinery. In the 1997 Ramadan programme, Kalila and
Dimna, two jackals at the lion king’s court, escape
from their fairy-tale into a world of death, destruction and
wanton acts of violence. Underlying themes are selected by
the Cairo office and other ICRC Middle East delegations to
reflect political events and conflicts in the region.
The number of radio stations playing the series has been
steadily increasing, and now includes the Voice of Lebanon,
Radio Palestine, Medi-Un in Morocco and Radio Orient in Paris,
which beams Arabic-language programmes to Europe. Abu Dhabi
and Qatar have also signed on, and as more deals are in the
making, the ICRC Cairo promotion office has set up its own
team of some 12 actors, all of whom are dedicated to keeping
the humanitarian message on the air waves.
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