Abu Ubaida…the honest voice in the time of false images

In an era where everyone is chasing fame, full stardom came to a masked man who did not ask for it and only his eyes were visible from his face. A man whose popularity throughout the Arab world today cannot be rivaled by anyone, even though no one knows his true face and perhaps we will never know him at all, except for a very few members of the resistance leaders in Gaza. Perhaps the man actually passes among the people in the Strip with his face without anyone recognizing him, just like the superheroes in the movies who in the evening wear suits and masks that hide their identities and fight the city’s villains, without people seeing their true faces, but only seeing their traces.

He is the masked Abu Ubaida, the official media spokesman for the “Martyr Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades,” the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement “Hamas,” in whom large sectors of the Arab people have come to see as their spokesman as well, as the man’s star has skyrocketed and waiting for his speeches has become a ritual. Essential in the Arab countries, with a clear emotional connection to him, he turned into the most famous icon of the ongoing war that began with Operation “Al-Aqsa Flood” on October 7, 2023.

In Egypt, popular songs were made for Abu Ubaida and played at weddings. In Amman, young people in gyms stopped exercising to follow his speeches, and mosques broadcast what he said over loudspeakers. In the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon, exam questions in schools included his name (1), and a picture spread in the streets of Beirut with the words It says “The spokesman for the nation” (2), while children in Algeria compete to play his role in their plays and games (3), and even in Turkey, imitating Abu Ubaidah has become a children’s game, in addition to hanging his pictures in some cafes (4). Pictures have spread on social networking sites of young children from various Arab countries watching his speeches or imitating him, as well as other pictures of elderly people standing in reverence despite their illness as they watch his speech out of respect for him.

Today’s exam paper at Al-Rowad School, Bekaa – Lebanon#Holocaust_Gaza #GazaHolocaust pic.twitter.com/Bz5Tmpusc3

– Palestinian Information Center (@PalinfoAr) November 8, 2023

Abu Ubaida was present in popular culture and Arabic songs beginning with the Battle of the “Sword of Jerusalem” in 2021 (5), but the exceptional and widespread status that he enjoys today in conjunction with the Battle of the “Al-Aqsa Flood” is considered a remarkable development. With that war, Abu Ubaida was no longer just a media spokesman for Al-Qassam to talk about the developments of events and the performance of the resistance behind him, but association with him became more like association with an inspiring leader in a country that had not chosen its leaders willingly for a long time.

The history of a man who captured the hearts of Arabs

“A permanent guest on satellite screens without people seeing his face. He conveys data, statements and positions to them, and then he soon returns to the shadows. He is a media spokesman and at the same time a fighter who is fluent in the language of weapons. This, in short, is Abu Ubaida’s identification card.”

Journalist Abdullah Al-Marzouqi in his introduction to an interview with Abu Ubaida in 2008 (6)

Many believe that Abu Ubaida appeared for the first time on screen in 2006, when he announced to the Arab public the news of the Al-Qassam Brigades’ capture of the Israeli soldier “Gilad Shalit” (7) (8), but the reality is that the man was appointed to the position of Al-Qassam spokesman following the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. Gaza in 2005. At that time, Abu Ubaida appeared in an old film filmed by Al Jazeera in 2005, but its broadcast was delayed until 2014, entitled “Al-Qassam Brigades hosted by Venice for the first timeHe appeared with his mask at the beginning of his career before he became a flag known to all the Arab masses. The features of Abu Ubaidah’s speech appeared in the film, which accompanied him for many years after that, and contributed to his overwhelming popularity today, the most important of which is accuracy, as the first goal of his speech was to accurately chronicle the operations that The brigades carried out it using tunnels, mentioning the numbers and dates very precisely.

This became clear when the Al Jazeera journalist asked him about the number of those who participated in the operations. Abu Ubaida paused for a moment and then said, “Let me not count the number.” When the journalist asked again whether they were dozens or hundreds, Abu Ubaida replied that they were “dozens,” preferring accuracy to exaggeration in inflating the number. Participants. This quickly became the key to Abu Ubaida’s communication with the Arab masses. His keenness to respect the Arab public and provide accurate and concise information as much as possible had a great impact in building credibility between him and the Arab street.

The real beginning of Abu Ubaida’s story with the Arab street was in June 2006, when it was announced that the resistance had succeeded in carrying out Operation “Shattered Illusion,” which led to the killing of two soldiers from the occupation army, the wounding of two, and the capture of soldier Gilad Shalit (9). Abu Ubaida’s speech came days after the video clip that made the Arabs cry of the child Hoda, who started running among the corpses of her family and calling “Oh Papa, Oh Papa” following the massacre committed by the occupying state on the beach of the Beit Lahia area (10), as a result of which Father “Issa” was martyred. Ghalia, his wife Raisa, and their five (11) children. Then came Abu Ubaida’s resolute voice, announcing the success of the resistance operation to respond to the occupation. It was like a consoling embrace and a clear declaration that Arab dignity had not died, as if his speech was saying: “The house has a master and the child has a father,” as stated by the Egyptian poet Amal Dunqul.

We do not know much accurate information about the truth about Abu Ubaida, and unlike the Commander-in-Chief of the Al-Qassam Brigades, “Muhammad Deif,” who is Israel’s most wanted man, there are not even old photos of the man at the beginning of his life (12). When Abu Ubaida first appeared and his popularity began to expand, Israel ignored him, but over the years he became one of the most important topics covered by Israeli television programs, and all his speeches began to be translated quickly in the Israeli occupation media, with increasing interest in his rising personality as he is one of the most wanted persons on the lists. The assassinations are due to the media and psychological war that he is leading. Tel Aviv began to weave its own narrative about him and claimed that it knew his name and picture, just as it said more than once in the years 2008, 2012, and 2014 that it had bombed his house (13).

The Israeli account also mentions that Abu Ubaida comes from the village of “N’Aliya,” which Israel occupied in 1948, and that his family was displaced after the Nakba to the Jabalia region, northeast of Gaza. The Israeli press said in 2014 that the man, in addition to his leadership work in Al-Qassam, is continuing his academic studies at the University of Gaza, where he is writing his doctoral thesis after defending his master’s thesis at the Faculty of Fundamentals of Religion at the Islamic University under the title “The Holy Land between Judaism, Christianity and Islam” (14). All of these details have not been proven true or accurate by any reliable Palestinian party, and may be part of the Israeli media’s attempt to weave narratives that they know his identity without proof of that.

Credibility is more important than charisma

Since 2005, the Palestinian resistance has given increasing importance to the media role, and Al-Qassam has been interested from an early stage in establishing the Military Information Department and has made great strides in this regard, whether by developing and formulating content, or by technical development and filming military operations, and so on. From the beginning, Al-Qassam military media chose to be characterized by accuracy, directness, and brevity (15). This is what made the appearance of military spokesman Abu Ubaida something expected by the Arab masses, because they do not feel that he comes out except when the need arises.

However, the overwhelming popularity that Abu Ubaida achieved this year cannot be explained by his communication skills alone. Where the “Al-Aqsa Flood” army mobilized the feelings of the Arab street until they overflowed and wanted an outlet for them, and so the masses waited for a “messenger” who would convey their longings to the resistors and convey to them their news and victories on the ground. When they found Abu Ubaida conveying news to the resistors of the occupiers, they considered him a symbol of resistance without knowing his person directly, and they considered his love and honor to be love and honor for the resistors.

But the matter does not stop at linking to a means of communication with the resistance, as Abu Ubaida was able to play an active role at the media level that goes beyond simply conveying Al-Qassam’s messages. If bad news about the crimes of the occupation in Gaza continues, many on social media describe Abu Ubaida as a “nervous tranquilizer,” as he is able to absorb anxiety and instill hope in people without claiming fake or fabricated news. Despite the difficult situation under the fire of occupation, Abu Ubaida always takes into consideration how his words deal psychologically with Arab listeners, mixing emotional charge with sober language. Perhaps this is one of the important keys to understanding the exceptional relationship that was formed between the masked person and the street. It is respect consisting of two parts, the first of which is concern for feelings, and the second of which is honesty.

In recent decades, Arabs have long been accustomed to their leaders’ long speeches, which are often filled with propaganda that is not supported by facts. As for Abu Ubaida, he has another way of addressing his Arab viewers. He is completely realistic in his speech and does not tend to exaggerate. For example, in an interview in 2012, Abu Ubaida spoke clearly about the weakness of the military resistance’s capabilities compared to the capabilities of the occupation army, but he also spoke about the great difficulty imposed by the nature of the geographical environment of Gaza, as an environment that constitutes a challenge to the occupation army, which aims to subjugate the resistance militarily. On the other hand, Abu Ubaidah’s speeches are brief and do not exceed ten minutes (16).

The speeches of the man, who is described as the spearhead of the psychological war on the occupying state, usually include objective education about the course of the battle, and carefully worded rhetorical messages to the various parties. His words are also not devoid of messages of a sarcastic nature, the most famous of which is when he said: “To the leaders and rulers of our Arab nation.” We say to you from the heart of the battle, the details of which you are undoubtedly watching on your screens, that we are not asking you to take action to defend the children of Arabism and Islam in Gaza by moving your armies and tanks, God forbid, nor to defend your most sacred sanctities, in which sanctities are being violated by outliers. Until the word “God forbid” became widespread across social media sites and became a proverb in contexts of failure.

Finally, and most importantly of all, as analysts say, Abu Ubaida does not lie to the Arab citizen as leaders’ speeches are accustomed to. Throughout his career speaking in the name of Al-Qassam before the “flood of Al-Aqsa,” Abu Ubaida rarely mentioned information that lacked accuracy (17), until Some Israeli commentators on social media have begun to indicate that they trust Abu Ubaida’s speeches more than those of their army. Thus, “The Masked One” became the world’s mediator for knowing the positions of the resistance in Gaza and the course of the battle, whether in Israel, or the Arab world in which he became the direct mediator, whether through his televised speeches that are usually published on the Al-Aqsa channel affiliated with the Hamas movement, or through his channel on the Telegram application, His speeches were quickly broadcast on various satellite channels immediately after their issuance.

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Sources

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2. “Abu Ubaida” in Beirut…a natural or strange phenomenon?
3. Abu Ubaida.. steals the hearts of Algerians.
4. He turned into a symbol and role model.. The “Abu Ubaida” phenomenon is spreading in Turkey and the world (video).
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6. Interview with Abu Ubaida.
7. Abu Ubaida…the voice of the Palestinian resistance in light of the conflict.
8. The previous reference.
9. Abu Ubaida…the “phenomenal” man whose face everyone wants to see.
10. Who is Abu Obeida, Al-Qassam’s Famous Military Spokesman – PROFILE.
11. A photographer of the Gaza Beach massacre tells the details of the crime.
12. Who is Abu Obeida.
13. Abu Ubaida…Al-Mulatham: Symbol of the Gaza Battle.
14. Previous site.
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17. Who is Abu Obeida. Abu Ubaida.
18. Al-Mulatham: Symbol of the Gaza Battle.