Google Cloud Speech-to-Text API (Chirp) + Gemini 2.5 Flash Non-Thinking. Treat it as a searchable index of what was broadcast, not a quotation record.
00:00:00to the viewers of Jordanian translating the language
00:00:02them, the issue of the Television and our Arab viewers
00:00:05through
00:00:07in Palestinian Television and Egyptian Television
00:00:10and Iraqi Television. I think that
00:00:13this program has gained popularity and
00:00:17a triangle. attention among Arab audiences because it is certainly
00:00:20an idea to bridge
00:00:24the
00:00:27mere fact that Arab relations between Arab viewers. Today
00:00:29we are talking about
00:00:32So I give them documenting
00:00:32he talk about in the second part?
00:00:33and cinema director, history, and we in Jordan this
00:00:36look at the camera. year have worked hard on the issue of
00:00:40and you are an expert in today? For example, the Jordanian narrative. This means documenting history so that our youth and new
00:00:44What worries me is that we are not living in generations can read and learn more about
00:00:49So he keeps you in an Iraqi their history, the history
00:00:51including destruction from within, a roadmap, let's of our personalities, the history
00:00:52Arab generations. and I am honored by your of our land, our country. Can
00:00:56he forgot to tell us and to say in This is on the Arab cinema and drama document history, or
00:00:57about me that I am we talk about a very is documenting history only confined to historians?
00:01:01Madam, I believe
00:01:02its political that one of the most important means of documenting history is
00:01:06Jordan was able to preserve drama and cinema,
00:01:08easily. We must answer this in
00:01:08sure that the coming day will bring because the door for Palestinian academic documentation and
00:01:14this type of Egypt will be raised on archival documentation are usually we bring silent information, information that is concerned
00:01:17with dates, numbers, and historical events
00:01:20directly.
00:01:22that from? From However, drama, through cinematic drama
00:01:26There are many or television drama or other types of drama,
00:01:28we can reach the largest segment of
00:01:32the audience by
00:01:34meaning they lost working Joseph Goebbels in on the collective
00:01:37Many consciousness
00:01:39is prominently present of society and to bring history out of its
00:01:42silent, rigid molds
00:01:46to inject life into it. Therefore, I believe
00:01:49And dreams made of that drama is an effective and successful
00:01:53means of documenting history. I also believe that
00:01:56we in Jordan have important experiences in this field. 100%.
00:02:00We have documented many of the events that Jordan
00:02:03went through in modern history
00:02:06relied on humanization through Jordanian drama.
00:02:06to a certain extent. An example of this is the series "Jerusalem
00:02:10Gate," which recorded the heroics
00:02:14sometimes say, of extreme of the Jordanian Army
00:02:16message through what Palestinian and the solidarity between the Jordanian
00:02:24and do many things in the life of the Palestinian there are specialists, and Palestinian people during the years 1946 and 1948, and the battles of Bab Al-Wad. I believe that, as we said, there are other attempts
00:02:28by Jordanian drama, such as the series
00:02:31"Sultani," which dealt with the development
00:02:34of Jordanian society in the last half century,
00:02:38through the novels of Ghaleb Halasa, "Sultani" and "Bedouin,
00:02:43And a determination that Farmers, and Blacksmiths," and many other experiences. The series "Al-Saqaya," the series
00:02:47"Umm Al-Kuroom," many series
00:02:51about his daily the Jordanian environment must talk about the have documented modern Jordanian history. However, I say that Jordanian history is vast
00:02:54and a field for research, specifically. And we still have a long
00:02:59take you back a little in way to go to publish many and great details
00:03:01in Jordanian history, whether modern or ancient. We,
00:03:05Jordanians,
00:03:06It was working on inherited the Ammonites,
00:03:08the ground in the drama of the Edomites,
00:03:10and the Nabataeans, and the Moabites.
00:03:12They tried to pressure Therefore, we have a deep-rooted history.
00:03:18wars in the press, and wars on
00:03:18They would go to just wars on region began from We were the first people
00:03:19to the youth segment to make bread 4500 BC. We were the first
00:03:24No path it caused a big organized human gathering, as evidenced by the discoveries
00:03:26of Ain Ghazal and the statues found in Ain Ghazal. Therefore,
00:03:30piece of news. This we are the heirs of the kings of this land, kings who
00:03:34ruled it and no one else. Therefore, we are an extension
00:03:39Preserves the narrative and preserves of the Great Arab Revolt and the heroics of Sharif Hussein with his Arab
00:03:42Revolt, and an extension to King Abdullah, King Talal,
00:03:47Through cinema and theater, this and King Hussein the Builder, and ending with His Majesty
00:03:49King Abdullah. Therefore, we
00:03:53have a long way to go to document Jordanian
00:03:57history through drama and cinema about a homeland that is a year old.
00:04:05through what is presented in I just want to comment on the fact that we in Jordan are among
00:04:07the first to work on historical and Bedouin
00:04:12quick highlights, but God willing, in works, and we have very creative actors,
00:04:15very creative,
00:04:17and good morning to important names, and some of
00:04:20them have done dramatic television
00:04:23works in beloved
00:04:26Security Expert. And I am honored on Egypt. From the historical aspect, historical works
00:04:30usually don't get a lot
00:04:35talk from of, let's say, back and forth between historians
00:04:38or history keepers on social media.
00:04:43the event that Why? Because some of the works that are shown
00:04:45generally sometimes have an error in narrating
00:04:48history, or even the
00:04:52narration is suitable dramatically or cinematically.
00:04:56They change the composition a little bit to suit them
00:05:00better, and thus they change
00:05:03history. Is it permissible for drama to
00:05:06to attend the show. change history,
00:05:08Let's start before we go on or is it permissible for the historian
00:05:10to modify history or historical
00:05:14stories that are narrated dramatically or cinematically? Madam,
00:05:18it is not the role of drama to document history
00:05:21in detail, in a precise
00:05:25way. As I said in the introduction
00:05:28to my speech, the function of drama is to
00:05:32enter human and emotional feelings and flirt with
00:05:35emotions, and thus create a parallel history
00:05:38to the original event. Therefore,
00:05:41this receives this interaction and sympathy
00:05:44from the audience. The danger of drama, as you said,
00:05:48is that there may be an omission
00:05:52of history through drama or a distortion of the image
00:05:55of a certain individual in dramatic history for the sake of a
00:05:58certain political statement. And because the danger
00:06:02of drama is that it enters homes,
00:06:05it reaches people, it reaches ordinary
00:06:08people who, by human nature,
00:06:12believe what they see. Therefore, the game of drama,
00:06:16especially international cinema, to create
00:06:19a stereotypical image of certain peoples,
00:06:22and therefore the recipient believes
00:06:26what he sees, or human nature believes what it sees. Therefore,
00:06:29this detail has been exploited by many drama and cinema producers
00:06:33to market a certain ideology
00:06:36or to focus on
00:06:39certain characters or distort them or
00:06:42create some fake heroes in one way
00:06:45or another. However, I believe that
00:06:48the recipient's
00:06:52task is to search for information, especially
00:06:55historical information, to find the truth.
00:06:59Many dramatic television works have promoted
00:07:02some rumors or conflicting information. We are not just talking
00:07:05about the history of countries; we are talking about the history of individuals.
00:07:09There is information that was mentioned long ago,
00:07:12mentioned incorrectly, or to promote a certain idea.
00:07:16And thus, it creates a kind of
00:07:19conflicting information or builds information
00:07:23based on a rumor. And unfortunately,
00:07:26you know, when I watch a drama and a complete
00:07:29work, this rumor is passed down
00:07:33from generation to generation, it becomes established,
00:07:36is, when I go back to the archive, I find
00:07:40old information or information that corrects
00:07:43some false news or conflicting information
00:07:46that drama spreads. Madam, you said something important
00:07:49related to the
00:07:52issue of another narrative for true history. What
00:07:55if we take an example? Now we have
00:07:58major events happening in the region
00:08:02and on the global stage. If you look at the different
00:08:05viewpoints, you will find two different
00:08:08narratives. Therefore, the issue of documentation
00:08:11requires great efforts. I believe that
00:08:15the efforts of official institutions are what
00:08:18should seek to document information,
00:08:21especially in the presence of digital
00:08:25abundance, the digital abundance and the information
00:08:28that pours in, especially
00:08:32who always like to access information easily through
00:08:35reels or short posts. This
00:08:38issue is very dangerous, and therefore
00:08:41we must enter through this door,
00:08:44by narrating our Jordanian narrative and our story
00:08:48and the story of the Arab world, away from
00:08:51distortion and away from historical fallacies that many
00:08:54people have fallen into. Therefore, the issue
00:08:58of accessing digital information and making it easy to search
00:09:02for, because not everyone can go to a written
00:09:05reference, a reference or written volumes
00:09:08to search for the truth, especially in this age of speed
00:09:11and the presence of artificial intelligence, which
00:09:14many may manipulate to spread false
00:09:17information. Therefore, I believe that there
00:09:20must be a follow-up
00:09:23to events, meaning that we document these events
00:09:27constantly, because our story... If I tell you a story
00:09:30about my grandfather, I might tell it today
00:09:34in one way, and a year later, I might forget
00:09:37the details and tell it differently. Therefore, recording
00:09:40and documenting it, whether
00:09:42audibly, visually, or in writing, or through a document,
00:09:46and saving it digitally as well, to make
00:09:49it easier for ordinary people to access
00:09:53information. Today, the new generation,
00:09:56you mentioned two important pieces of information, but
00:10:00I want to ask you an additional question about them: the information
00:10:04you mentioned that the archive should be documented digitally so
00:10:08that young people have easy access to it,
00:10:11they can access
00:10:14the archive and read it and view different
00:10:17information. And from another perspective, if we talk
00:10:21about the youth, what work do you recommend
00:10:25that truly narrates history correctly
00:10:28100%? A story of a family, a story
00:10:31of a tribe, a story of a person who built
00:10:34something? Which of the works do you truly recommend
00:10:38our youth to follow strongly? I talked a lot about
00:10:42the importance of drama in enhancing belonging
00:10:46among citizens.
00:10:49Therefore, they should have confidence in themselves,
00:10:52their homeland, and their history. I believe that
00:10:56drama is an effective tool in this direction.
00:10:59I may have given examples related to narrating
00:11:03our Jordanian history, which many
00:11:05have tried to distort, especially in our modern
00:11:09history and what is related to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
00:11:13Jordan managed to preserve, during its long
00:11:16wars, if we count, more than 70 battles
00:11:20fought by the Jordanian Army in our struggle
00:11:24with Israel over the Palestinian issue.
00:11:26Therefore, our Jordanian history, in short,
00:11:31the remaining part of Palestine, which is the West Bank,
00:11:34which we are negotiating over now.
00:11:37Therefore, this is what the Jordanian Army did.
00:11:40Jordanian drama documented it through
00:11:43the series "Jerusalem Gate," which are the battles
00:11:46of Bab Al-Wad that I mentioned in the introduction to my speech.
00:11:51works, such as the series "Sultani," which documents
00:11:55the social transformations of Jordanian society during
00:11:59the mid-last century.
00:12:02works, even Bedouin works, because we are painted
00:12:05with many Bedouin works, are based
00:12:09on true stories, and many writers relied
00:12:12on the stories of Roks bin Zayed Al-Azizi from
00:12:15his encyclopedia "Heritage Teacher" to produce many
00:12:19Jordanian series that tell the story
00:12:22of Jordan, such as "Nimr bin Adwan" and other series
00:12:26that depicted the honorable history of Jordan in one
00:12:29way or another. Therefore, of course, I also believe that
00:12:33the task of young people, specifically,
00:12:36if we talk, we are talking about the detail of the
00:12:40ordinary recipient, but
00:12:43specialists in drama, cinema, television,
00:12:46and theater. Their task is to uncover the true
00:12:50history and the Jordanian narrative that we mentioned
00:12:53historically.
00:13:03They search for topics, topics
00:13:07through modern methods to convey our topics
00:13:10and stories to their generation. Therefore,
00:13:15be present in the dramatic, cinematic, and television
00:13:19and theatrical scene. What role do
00:13:22you dream of playing in presenting
00:13:25history and the narrative? I told
00:13:28you, our modern Jordanian history is still oppressed.
00:13:32Therefore, the story of Jordanians
00:13:35and their struggle against the Zionist
00:13:38presence in the Arab
00:13:41the very beginning. And if we refer
00:13:44to the settlements that tried, in one way or another,
00:13:48to be established at the end of the 19th century
00:13:51on Jordanian land, Jordanians were able to dismantle
00:13:55these settlements overnight through the meetings
00:13:59of the village of Sakib, which is well-known.
00:14:02However, there is a figure in modern Jordanian
00:14:06history, Kayed Al-Mufleh Al-Obeidat.
00:14:10He gathered the Arabs and was martyred.
00:14:13He is considered the first martyr for the Palestinian
00:14:16cause on Palestinian land. Kayed Al-Mufleh
00:14:19Al-Obeidat held the conference in his village
00:14:22and was able to gather Jordanians,
00:14:25Jordanian tribes, and Arab mujahideen
00:14:29before there was
00:14:32a declaration of a state. Therefore,
00:14:36I believe that Kayed Al-Mufleh Al-Obeidat is one of the provocative
00:14:40figures that I hope will see the light and
00:14:43have a dramatic Jordanian epic
00:14:46as much as possible
00:14:49and as much as it deserves. Thank you for
00:14:53joining us, director and actor Abdul Karim Al-Jarrah.
00:14:57Thank you very much. Our discussion on this topic
00:15:00is lengthy, especially since we are discussing
00:15:04it in an Arab program that is a home for everyone.
00:15:07So, I believe that what we are suffering
00:15:11from and discussing is the same goal and message
00:15:14of every Arab country participating with us in Beit Lil Kul.
00:15:18So, thank you very much and
00:15:30have a happy day. Have a happy day.
00:15:33Oh, going to Aqaba, going to
00:15:37Aqaba brings back the soul. It has the
00:15:41sea, it has nightlife, it has adventures,
00:15:44and the sweetest memories. It has restaurants and
00:15:48markets and the largest water park, and its prices
00:15:51suit all budgets. Every corner tells
00:15:54you stories. Go to Aqaba, going to
00:16:18Aqaba brings back the soul. Director George Ibrahim,
00:16:21director of the Qasaba Theater and Cinematheque, is with us
00:16:25in the studio. Welcome,
00:16:27presence with us at Beit Lil Kul this
00:16:30week. And when
00:16:34difficult situation for the Palestinian cause,
00:16:37for Palestinian citizens in all
00:16:40details, in the genocidal crimes, in the economic
00:16:44issue, all these issues are sensitive, but
00:16:47we are talking about an Arab theater,
00:16:49about cinema,
00:16:52about different visions from writers and artists
00:16:56regarding this issue. How
00:16:59is the treatment today? To what extent do you
00:17:03think the Palestinian issue is also present
00:17:06among our Arab brothers in these different
00:17:09issues for Palestinians? And it is important.
00:17:12I believe that the Palestinian issue
00:17:16among our Arab brothers.
00:17:20In the past, the Palestinian issue
00:17:23was the
00:17:26central issue. It was a national
00:17:29and humanitarian liberation issue.
00:17:33It began in stages. The first stage
00:17:36at that time was
00:17:40the discourse of sympathy, the discourse of
00:17:43enthusiasm at that time. Then gradually
00:17:46it became the culture of resistance,
00:17:50the cinema of resistance, the drama of resistance.
00:17:53And after that, they started to delve into the details of
00:17:59human. The Palestinian human became a hero
00:18:02in the news. They started to cover him in more
00:18:06depth. For example, in 1948,
00:18:09as far as I remember, there
00:18:11were films that talked
00:18:15about the Palestinian issue. What
00:18:18can I say? For example, a film like "A Girl from
00:18:22Palestine" by Zulfiqar, in 1948.
00:18:25Or, for example,
00:18:27a film
00:18:31like "Land of Heroes" also by Niazi Mustafa.
00:18:34A film like "Land of Peace" also by
00:18:37Kamal El Sheikh. All these films talked about
00:18:40the Palestinian issue with excessive
00:18:43sympathy and enthusiasm. They did
00:18:47not delve into the depth of things.
00:18:50Then when the
00:18:531967 setback
00:18:57happened,
00:19:01earthquake in the Arab world. Films
00:19:03and dramatic works no longer just talked
00:19:07about Palestine. They started to ask legitimate
00:19:11questions: Why did we lose? What was
00:19:14the reason? What did we do? These
00:19:17questions produced
00:19:20in the Arab world
00:19:23a desire to search for the truth
00:19:26more, not sympathy.
00:19:29The search for the truth became more
00:19:32prominent. The camera, for example, at that
00:19:36time went to the refugee camps,
00:19:40to the fedayeen, recording military
00:19:43activities. It went to the refugees,
00:19:47it started to talk to people, to get
00:19:50testimonies. And this
00:19:53specifically opened the door for the new
00:19:57generation to talk about the Palestinian issue.
00:20:00It was an emotional issue for them, but
00:20:04today it has become a tangible issue that
00:20:07needs questions.
00:20:10Then you have the Israeli. Arab drama
00:20:13and Arab cinema produced
00:20:16a different story from
00:20:20the Israeli narrative. To what extent
00:20:23did
00:20:25Arab productions succeed in what they presented
00:20:29to refute the Israeli narrative? To what extent
00:20:33did they have a receptive audience compared to the
00:20:36Israeli narrative that is based on distorting
00:20:39facts, fabricating history, presenting
00:20:43what serves the Israeli political agenda based
00:20:47on denying the other, expelling them, killing
00:20:52refugee camps, all the way to this. Even
00:20:55in the last period, we see that it is
00:20:59necessary to have an Arab-Palestinian narrative,
00:21:01primarily, and an Arab narrative present in
00:21:05the face of this Israeli narrative through
00:21:09theater and cinema. I
00:21:12believe that the
00:21:17drama and Arab cinema placed the Palestinian
00:21:21issue in the popular Arab consciousness was
00:21:24in itself a new development, because the
00:21:27modern generations did not know much about
00:21:31the Palestinian issue. So these works
00:21:34highlighted and charted
00:21:38say, for the
00:21:43level, and on the international level,
00:21:47what Arab culture or Arab drama
00:21:51and Arab cinema did was to open
00:21:55filmmakers to participate in Arab festivals
00:21:58with their artistic works. And in that
00:22:01period, they produced Palestinian filmmakers
00:22:05such as Elia Suleiman, Michel Khleifi,
00:22:08Hany Abu-Assad, Mai Masri. These
00:22:12are the ones who
00:22:14produced our late dear friend Mohamed Bakri.
00:22:18Mohamed Bakri's film "Jenin, Jenin"
00:22:21shook the world at that time, and
00:22:25Israel fought him in every way possible.
00:22:28The important thing is that it opened the
00:22:32door for the Palestinian artist, the Palestinian
00:22:35director, the Palestinian writer to participate
00:22:38in these festivals, and thus, when he
00:22:42participates in international festivals, people abroad
00:22:45started to want to know about Palestine
00:22:49and the Palestinian cause and the story of the Palestinian
00:22:53people. This story
00:22:56Was this approach the ideal
00:23:00and best way to convey the
00:23:06and Arab productions offer, in your
00:23:10opinion? To what extent did it
00:23:13achieve the desired success? This issue
00:23:16is very complex,
00:23:23So, in other
00:23:26words, the field was not open
00:23:30for us to do what we wanted regardless
00:23:33of some Arab ideas or some global
00:23:37ideas or some practices related to Israel,
00:23:41related to the Zionist lobby in the world.
00:23:45I remember when we tried to
00:23:49produce our theatrical work in Europe, for
00:23:53example, or in America. It's a good experience.
00:23:57Jewish communities tried to fight us in
00:23:59every way.
00:24:02theaters not to invite us.
00:24:08our advertisements and put red
00:24:11crosses, distribute leaflets in front
00:24:14of the theater, at the theater door, saying
00:24:17that these people blow up buses, these
00:24:21people kill children, and so on. They
00:24:23tried to deter the audience from watching
00:24:26our plays. And I personally witnessed
00:24:29this when we were in England,
00:24:33when we were in France, when we were
00:24:36in Belgium. Jewish communities would threaten
00:24:39their leaders and theater managers, saying that
00:24:43these people are not allowed to come. To
00:24:45the extent that when we went to America, for example, there
00:24:50was a special team to guard us
00:24:54with guard dogs, fearing any attacks,
00:24:57because of how much Israel. But this
00:25:01is evidence that your presence itself
00:25:04and what you offer in different shows
00:25:08and productions have an impact, and there
00:25:11are receptive ears. So there is
00:25:13a fear that this
00:25:16narrative will sweep away and change prevailing
00:25:20concepts. Otherwise, they wouldn't have cared. I'll
00:25:24tell you, for example, there were incidents in
00:25:27a country called Singapore. Once we went there
00:25:31to perform the play "The Wall," which
00:25:34was about the apartheid wall. I was
00:25:38surprised. I was preparing for the show, and
00:25:41the person in charge of the show came,
00:25:45and she was trembling. I asked her what
00:25:47was wrong. She said the Israeli ambassador
00:25:51and his wife were coming to buy tickets
00:25:56What should I do? I told her to let
00:26:00them in. So imagine
00:26:04that because they care so much
00:26:07about the political discourse or the Palestinian
00:26:10cultural discourse, they follow it everywhere.
00:26:14On the political level too,
00:26:16and at the end of the show, there
00:26:20would be a discussion with the audience,
00:26:24and the Israeli ambassador would try
00:26:27to sabotage us with his different
00:26:30narratives about Palestinian life.
00:26:33As a theater
00:26:36what kind of work do you feel
00:26:41I have a play, and even though it
00:26:45was written by
00:26:49young man, I appreciate
00:26:53him. He wrote it
00:26:56about the war in Iraq.
00:26:58So when I
00:27:01read the play, I found that war,
00:27:04whether in Iraq or in Palestine
00:27:08or anywhere else, is war. So,
00:27:11when you take a play like
00:27:14this, that talks about a young
00:27:18man and a young woman who
00:27:22got married, and on their wedding
00:27:25night, the bombing happened, and their
00:27:28bedroom was bombed, and the play started
00:27:31from there. So, what could they
00:27:34talk about? What could they talk
00:27:38about? For example, in the play, they talk about
00:27:42the future, about the children they
00:27:45will have. What will happen to the children? Will
00:27:49this son die this way or
00:27:52that way? What will happen to
00:27:55this daughter? Will she become this
00:27:59or that? The whole play talks
00:28:03about the bombing that happened on
00:28:06the wedding night. And this is painful.
00:28:10And what is more painful is
00:28:14that Al-Zaidi, the author
00:28:18of the play, talks about this
00:28:21with great sarcasm. It's a play
00:28:25that provokes laughter because it is so
00:28:29shocking. So, I believe that
00:28:33plays of this kind
00:28:36have a greater impact on the
00:28:39audience than any political
00:28:42play. We are not allowed to
00:28:45talk politics today. Today, we must
00:28:49Palestinian human,
00:28:53life, about the simple things
00:28:57he has lost Let me
00:29:02the Second World War. The films,
00:29:05stories, and plays that were written about the war were made ten years
00:29:09after the war, by which time people
00:29:11had come to terms with what happened. We are unable to comprehend what
00:29:15is happening because things are happening daily.
00:29:18In our daily lives, there are events. Just now, you
00:29:22and I were outside, and we mentioned that there was a martyr in Al-Bireh. I told you
00:29:26that this is next to my house. So, how am I supposed to deal with these things? It's
00:29:30just a fleeting
00:29:33man who was martyred today in Al-Bireh, doesn't he
00:29:36have a family? Isn't it possible that he was married, and has a wife
00:29:39and children, and a father and mother? Our stories
00:29:43are many and deserve to be paused for with more
00:29:46detail.
00:29:49situation is very difficult. Uh-huh. So that
00:29:53our message reaches the world more, in one way or another. And there are those who
00:29:57strongly support and advocate for the Palestinian right, and are concerned with
00:30:01following these daily details
00:30:04of Palestinian life
00:30:07theater, as well as cinematic works. I want to thank you, Professor George
00:30:11Ibrahim, for participating with us in such
00:30:15the coming days, more opportunities will be available for us to
00:30:18talk about this important and vital topic within more
00:30:21specialized programs. Director George Ibrahim, director of Al-Kasaba Theater and Cinematheque,
00:30:25thank you for being with us in Beit Al-Kol. You're welcome. But what
00:30:28I said does not mean that we will not do it. We will definitely do it.
00:30:32Thank you very much. Welcome. And back, dear viewers, to our studios in the Egyptian
00:30:36capital, Cairo, and the follow-up to Beit Al-Kol.
00:31:01Action. Ready?
00:31:05Let's go. That's it. Okay.
00:31:10air. Here everything
00:31:12starts.
00:31:16An idea turning into a voice, and a voice that will reach
00:31:20every
00:31:20home.
00:31:24Voices with stories. Our energy is from you, and our story
00:31:28is for you.
00:31:31From the heart of the street to the closest details
00:31:34of your life.
00:31:3796 is not just a number. This is our voice
00:31:41with which we chant the name of Jordan every day.
00:33:21In fact, shaping the awareness of the viewer or
00:33:24receiver is a matter, as we
00:33:29difficulty. But shaping awareness with ideas.
00:33:32In fact, today's episode is a very important episode. Why?
00:33:36We all love cinema and watch many different works,
00:33:40and cinema is called soft power because it has power
00:33:44but also softness, because it has the frame,
00:33:47it has sound, it has image, it has music, it has
00:33:50a story, it has us telling stories. So when we come
00:33:54to talk about history and talk about military
00:33:57matters, what does military mean? It means matters that concern
00:34:00the homeland, or sometimes, and more importantly,
00:34:03concern national security. That's why we thought at Beit El-Kol,
00:34:07"Oh, we need a national security expert,
00:34:11a military one, to talk to me." And I also need a significant
00:34:14critic. Tell me what to do. Should I let the enemy's cinema say whatever
00:34:18it wants? If I respond, where do I respond? Do I respond in the same place,
00:34:21or do I respond locally in my country and just talk to myself? Or do I respond
00:34:25internationally? What should I do? How do I act? Wars now are not
00:34:29the ground. They are wars in the media,
00:34:33platforms, even TikTok and your social media. I also
00:34:36need to respond there and respond with many things. That's why at Beit El-Kol,
00:34:40I ask you all to share the viewing
00:34:43today. Let's watch, talk, and think together
00:34:47with a voice and convey all our opinions to the experts,
00:34:50whether they
00:34:53are protecting our country, our honor, and our homeland all
00:34:56the time, or those who form soft power
00:34:59and think about many cinematic works.
00:35:01And we demand more. It's not an
00:35:05easy episode. It's a difficult episode, but I
00:35:08see that the beauty of this episode is that we
00:35:11open up and talk. Let me start.
00:35:16Or let me say, let's be ready
00:35:19on our homeland and see what
00:35:21is happening. I am honored in this episode, which
00:35:25will extend for two weeks, because we really want to talk
00:35:29in detail about many examples. I am honored by the presence
00:35:32of Major General Pilot Dr. Hisham Halaby, advisor to the Military
00:35:35Academy for Advanced and Strategic Studies and National
00:35:41the other side, from the side of cinema and art
00:35:44and so on, by the film critic Ahmed Saad
00:35:47El-Din, so that we can
00:35:50both sides. Good evening and welcome.
00:35:52And I am happy that we are talking while
00:35:56we are on the verge of celebrating
00:35:59October, God willing. The topic is not easy,
00:36:03but it may have personally provoked me because I
00:36:06was watching a film. In fact, the film was talking
00:36:09about the Battle of the Fortress, and the film
00:36:12was actually talking about a specific battle
00:36:16that was taking place, that is,
00:36:20in the 1973 war. But as you watch the film,
00:36:24you know it's the 1973 war, or it's mentioned that there's a war going on.
00:36:27But the film conveys to you that the conflict
00:36:31is changing, and this battle, of course, is well-known,
00:36:34and Major General will certainly talk about it. But the Israeli
00:36:38side specifically spoke here about
00:36:41a story between a commander of the Israeli
00:36:45army and a doctor, and the issue was about
00:36:48humanity. The commander wants to continue and keep defending.
00:36:52Of course, defending where? He is fighting our army and defending,
00:36:55meaning he wants to defend his position at the fortress, and this fortress
00:36:59is already occupied. This is our country. He is occupying a part
00:37:02of it. And at the same time, the doctor saw
00:37:06that, of course, because we are trying to regain
00:37:09the homeland, so we are fighting and we want to liberate the fortress. So he saw that
00:37:13the soldiers were starting to die and so on.
00:37:16this conflict and assures you that the enemy is defending
00:37:20and the enemy is determined. But
00:37:23the film that the land is not his and that the country is not his and that
00:37:27the fortress that you are defending humanely is not yours at all.
00:37:31But he exploits his presence on international platforms, exploits
00:37:34his presence in local cinema, exploits his presence in American
00:37:38cinema. Major General,
00:37:41film, I first want to talk to you as a person. Your great
00:37:45experience, and you are a fighter first and foremost. When
00:37:49you see this film, how do you feel?
00:37:51First, when I see this film, I will feel that
00:37:55they are in some
00:37:59way,
00:38:02the war, and therefore he does not want to break the generation he has. He does not want
00:38:06to break it. I mean, are we expected, in a
00:38:09commemoration like the October commemoration, or any commemoration
00:38:13of victories, that any other side
00:38:16will break the generation it has and say
00:38:19that we were defeated, and say the truth? Of course not. Let's be
00:38:22realistic. Therefore, we entered here into
00:38:25a type of war called the war
00:38:28of narrative. He tells a narrative
00:38:32that is true.
00:38:36But it looks at the event from a very small
00:38:39perspective that changes the thinking
00:38:43and vision of other parties. But when I talk about a huge event
00:38:46like a war, with victories and sacrifices and a prominent landmark
00:38:50in the history of a nation, therefore, I will not
00:38:53come to this event as another party and say
00:38:57the truth. I will tell a narrative. The narrative
00:39:00is true, but it takes the event
00:39:04in a completely different direction. That's why it's called the war of narrative. This is a very complex
00:39:08science, and the very important point is that this war of narrative can be done in several
00:39:11ways. It can be written,
00:39:14written on a page on social media,
00:39:16a literary story. The danger is that
00:39:20it can be made into a film or a drama, because people
00:39:23always love films, especially
00:39:32I say cinema and drama are national security. National
00:39:35security because they do several things.
00:39:38First, they shape public opinion and within it, the war
00:39:41of narrative. The second point is that they record history. We have
00:39:44historians and everything, but they document in books and references
00:39:48and a correct and excellent situation. But if I take an event
00:39:52and make it historically in the form
00:39:55of a film with its correct documents
00:39:58with all its correct events,
00:40:01that lives for many years and documents.
00:40:06the narrative. I will ask your permission here, Major General,
00:40:09our film critic.
00:40:12Cinema always tries to
00:40:16find a voice. Cinema is the voice of freedom, the voice
00:40:19of humanity in general. So I can't blame cinema.
00:40:23I mean, I can't say, "Why
00:40:26did the Israeli side make this film?" The film, for example, that
00:40:30you talked about was produced in 2023. So in
00:40:332023, you are still going to use, of course,
00:40:37Major General's term, the war of narrative. The narrative
00:40:40is still bothering you. How do you see this? This
00:40:44is very important, that I have many narratives,
00:40:48and these narratives lead me personally.
00:40:52How do I then issue them to the world, that
00:40:55I was overwhelmed or I
00:40:59was defeated or I did something
00:41:02wrong? But at the same time, there was a human dimension
00:41:06that I raised much higher than
00:41:10led to the defeat, especially with the passage of time, with
00:41:14the passage of years, from 1973 until today, we
00:41:17are talking about 53 years. The generation that
00:41:20lived through 1973 and the generation after it
00:41:24are now years old.
00:41:28In another stage, who am I targeting?
00:41:30From 15 to
00:41:3335 years old. That segment,
00:41:36if I look at it and study it
00:41:40psychologically, it basically doesn't read much.
00:41:43Okay. It doesn't research or look for history.
00:41:47So I have a void here. How do I fill this void
00:41:51in my favor? I will now turn to art. Art
00:41:54is based on
00:41:57Each side of this triangle has a
00:42:01function. There's the entertainment
00:42:04part, to entertain myself and the viewer.
00:42:07Then there's the educational part.
00:42:12a kind of culture. Right. And the awareness
00:42:15part. The awareness here
00:42:18is different for me than it is for you, and different from the enemy.
00:42:21Why? Because my awareness is about how to get out of the story I
00:42:25saw, to derive the truth and resist it.
00:42:29But for him, awareness is about me twisting
00:42:32the truth to present it to others, and people will say
00:42:37with the human dimension.
00:42:39Here lies the danger of art. The danger of art is because cinema
00:42:43is history. Today, when we ask
00:42:46people, or even if we talk about the 1919
00:42:48revolution,
00:42:53shots from the trilogy,
00:42:57right? And we talk about it. they came together, when they marched together. Where did we get
00:43:02cinema. We watched many films,
00:43:05and the best, I can say, the father
00:43:08of this soft power
00:43:11and its danger was
00:43:14Germany. He was the one who invented this
00:43:17war and succeeded in it.
00:43:20When he died in World War II in 1945, when
00:43:22it ended, American cinema took
00:43:26it over. And I remember
00:43:29the beautiful artist Omar Sharif, once I met him, and I was talking to him
00:43:33about a film called Che Guevara,
00:43:36which he starred in. Of course, his first sentence
00:43:40to me was, "Do you know who produced it?"
00:43:44So of course, I said, "Hollywood." He said, "The CIA
00:43:46produced it." Yes, the
00:43:50CIA produced it. When did Che Guevara die? In 1967.
00:43:53This film was produced in 1968.
00:43:56Why? To whitewash
00:43:59America's image, of course, and to promote
00:44:04the script that were wrong in favor of
00:44:08America against Che Guevara.
00:44:11And the rest, if I bring it to this region,
00:44:15I have the 1973
00:44:17war, which is doubted. But the military
00:44:20victory exists, right? You doubt it, but I have what I can
00:44:24respond with. How? Through soft
00:44:27power. I want to convey the message, for example, to other generations.
00:44:31We in Egypt also used
00:44:34the idea of the narrative war. We used the narrative war very
00:44:38well in the film "The Corridor."
00:44:48"The Choice." "The Choice" was also documentation,
00:44:51important documentation of terrorism. Terrorism, too, many
00:44:55people will play with this narrative and say things, but here there was
00:44:58a strong awareness that we documented at the same
00:45:02time. Terrorism was almost always present
00:45:06and still is. We didn't wait long after it. And here
00:45:09is the awareness of the time, which
00:45:12is no longer waiting. We waited for Raafat El-Haggan for files to be opened after
00:45:1625 years. But here, there was intelligence from the leadership, and at
00:45:19the same time, we presented the film "The Corridor." You saw, sir,
00:45:23how the film "The Corridor," and you are a leader and a pilot
00:45:27general, and you are doing the era of 1967, which is
00:45:31the psychological setback
00:45:33for the Egyptian citizen and for the soldier as well, right? And you are bringing
00:45:37that back with new generations. Right. Of course,
00:45:41I always say that documentation is of utmost importance, and documentation
00:45:44through films or drama in general is
00:45:48of utmost importance, and we don't have the luxury of not
00:45:51doing it. We have to do it. People love television and drama,
00:45:55and present the documentation
00:45:59through what they love. The very important point is
00:46:02that, in fact, when military films or
00:46:05any drama with military elements are made, the armed forces
00:46:08help. They help to
00:46:12adjust the scene from a military perspective, because if it
00:46:15wasn't accurate from a military perspective, its credibility would be low, even
00:46:19though it's correct. The way
00:46:22one holds a weapon, the clothes,
00:46:25as we saw Anthony Quinn in this.
00:46:29You see him performing ablution as if
00:46:32he has been performing ablution for years. So this is a very important
00:46:35point. Military events,
00:46:38military operations, all of this
00:46:42the armed forces help with greatly, so the work comes out excellent
00:46:45and lives on. These works live
00:46:48on because they became realistic, because the realism
00:46:52of cinema, especially in military films, if it wasn't there,
00:46:56and I'm not talking about realism
00:47:00the narrative itself, realism in the script. The time
00:47:03is up for this part. We will definitely continue in the second part, but
00:47:07I want to hear from you a message
00:47:10to our Arab viewers who are watching us, because
00:47:13the Arab identity and Arab national security, Egypt,
00:47:17Jordan, Palestine, Iraq are one. Of course, of course. What
00:47:21frightens Major General? What will
00:47:24What frightens you? What frightens you about
00:47:27cinema? What frightens you about the lack of good documentation,
00:47:33national security? What worries you?
00:47:36Utopia in the world, and anyone, and the region
00:47:40is exposed to many threats,
00:47:43targeting and using
00:47:46the components of the states themselves. Therefore, the most
00:47:49important thing,
00:47:52the most important thing is that these people are not, I mean, these
00:47:55people are targeted. So if I leave them, they will be taken from me very
00:48:00the second part. What worries you? That I am
00:48:03only a receiver and not
00:48:06a resistor. That I sit and receive Western
00:48:09cinema that comes to me, that destroys my narratives
00:48:12and facts, and I
00:48:15don't resist it with my cinema. Of course, this is
00:48:18the most important point that must be present. The solution
00:48:22is purely Arab, and national security is not just Egyptian,
00:48:26it's Arab. Cinema is good.
00:48:29We love it, but we must not be mere
00:48:31spectators. And that's it.
00:48:34We will continue the discussion next week on Beit Al-Kol.
00:48:38May you be in God's care.
01:00:17Die,