Zain telecom group releases Ramadan ad in solidarity with Palestine

Zain Group, a major telecom service operator in the Middle Eastern and North Africa region, has released a powerful video supporting Palestinians.

The ad associated with Ramadan is in solidarity with the oppressed population in Gaza and rooted in the hope of liberation.

Handala, a Palestinian cartoon character and national symbol created in 1969, takes center stage in the video. In the ad, Handala is walking into what symbolizes a UN Security Council meeting with a group of Palestinian children and sings a song of protest against Israeli occupation.

Handala is a 10-year-old refugee boy whose face is never revealed as a sign of the universality of the Palestinian struggle. His back is turned to the world as a protest against the world's inability to recognize the Palestinian struggle.

With body language conveying determination and defiance, Handala along with the children of Palestine is singing a song that is calling out the UN body, a permanent member, and the process of veto.

The keffiyeh, a symbol of Palestinian identity that has been popularized all over the world in the past few months, is also seen in the video. It highlights the children's helplessness and determination to hold on to their culture.

The song ends with the promise that the displaced Palestinians will return to their land and visuals show families indulging in picnics among olive trees and celebrating at night by singing and dancing.

The Zain Group's video starts with the words "When adults remain silent, children's voices will plead. And if the political scale tips, people's justice will lead." The beginning is accompanied by a woman's cry reminiscing about a presumably dead child.

Once the children walk into the symbolized UN body meeting, the song starts. The visuals show children in refugee camps and the Handala says the world has no excuse in God's sight.

It then goes on to address the Security Council and say the children want to veto it. The song also calls out the international laws being bypassed for occupation and genocide.

The video shows a certain permanent member of the UN body walking out.

The children then ask the council to shut up and ask "Do you hear me now". The song says since the world won't see the bombs and deaths, a new life will arise from the rubble. They also carry small bloody body bags to the Council and countless shoes of children are left on the floor.

The song ends with the promise the children will return to Palestine to restore the olive trees, revive wheat with grace, eat traditional foods, dance, and raise prayer calls at Al-Aqsa.

The video ends with the Handala walking away with the words "I shall return, no land is yours, no promised fate. For each death certificate sealed, a thousand birth certificates I will create."