Carleton University student Anas Marwah was mocking ISIS well before famous comedians took aim at the terrorist army – and now his increasingly popular YouTube videos have landed him in the New York Times.
While Saturday Night Live made headlines recently with a skit satirizing the jihadi army’s female U.S. recruits, Marwah and his two co-founders, Nader Kawash and Maher Barghouthi, launched their YouTube series, “The Weekly Show,” six months ago. Marwah, a Syrian-Canadian, poked fun at ISIS previously on a YouTube product called “Full Stop Show” but that was directed mostly at the Syrian community and delivered largely in Arabic – with the exception of an episode in English poking fun at Russian president Vladimir Putin.
“ISIS sympathizers have threatened me to stop. There are comments on the videos – but I don’t think they’re credible.” – Anas Marwah
But poking fun at ISIS hasn’t come without repercussions, said Marwah, “ISIS sympathizers have threatened me to stop. There are comments on the videos – but I don’t think they’re credible,” he said.
One of Marwah’s favourite episodes, and one that has gained a lot of attention, is called, “Introducing iPhone ISIS 9 Air: The New Terrorist-Friendly Device.” In the video, Malek Barghouthi, one of the series’ volunteer actors, plays the role of “Adam bin Apple, senior iSis developer.”
“Usually we face many difficulties in creating the products that match the needs of everybody in the world. So we created the new terrorist-friendly device that meets their needs,” explains bin Apple.
“Suicidal bombing has never been made any easier. There is something impeccably soothing about knowing that heaven is only a click of a button away.” – Excerpt from video
The phone features a log book – so terrorists can keep track of the number of people they’ve killed, continues the video.
“Suicidal bombing has never been made any easier. There is something impeccably soothing about knowing that heaven is only a click of a button away,” concluded the video.
Marwah’s team produces videos – like the advertisement for the ISIS iPhone – and then Marwah will make fun of the advertisement in another video where he sits at a desk as a host, much like Jon Stewart. Marwah said that someday, he hopes to pitch his YouTube videos to TV networks.
Re-published in partnership with iPolitics.ca
