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Pakistan Anti-Islam Video Protests – 19 Dead (22nd September, 2012)

People across Pakistan took to the streets on Friday to demonstrate their anger at the anti-Islam video that was made in the USA. Although the government declared a national holiday, "Love for the Prophet Day," and encouraged peaceful protests, 19 were killed in raging street battles between protestors and police. In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, up to 5,000 demonstrators gathered to vent their fury at the video and America. Many tried to storm the U.S. embassy but were fought back by police and the military firing tear gas and live rounds. Student Jawad Ahmed expressed his outrage, saying: "They should allow us to demolish the American embassy because they have blasphemed against our holy Prophet.

U.S. president Barack Obama took the unusual step of buying air-time on seven Pakistani television stations to run a specially made message that aims to dissociate America from the video. In the $70,000 campaign, subtitled in Urdu, Hilary Clinton states: "The United States has absolutely nothing to do with this video. We absolutely reject its contents. America's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation." Meanwhile, in France, security has been tightened after a magazine published drawings featuring the Prophet naked. Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Muslim Council, said the video and the cartoons were "acts of aggression" against Islam.

WARM-UPS

1. THE VIDEO: Walk around the class and talk to other students about the anti-Islam video. Change partners often. Share your findings with your first partner.

2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.

 

take to the streets / demonstrate / peaceful protests / fury / tear gas / blasphemy / U.S. President / dissociate / subtitled / religious tolerance / acts of aggression / Islam

Have a chat about the topics you liked. Change topics and partners frequently.

3. DEMONSTRATIONS: What would you take to the streets about? Complete this table with your partner(s). Change partners often and share what you wrote.

 

Why?

What would you do?

An attack on your religion

 

 

Your country going to war

 

 

Tax increases

 

 

Cuts in education

 

 

Immigration policy

 

 

To remove a dictator

 

 

4. PEACE: Students A strongly believe things will get better between the Muslim world and the West in the next 20 years; Students B strongly believe not.  Change partners again and talk about your conversations.

5. PROTEST: What's the best way to vent your fury? Rank these things and share your rankings with your partner. Put the best at the top. Change partners often.

  • protest peacefully in the streets
  • write a letter to the government
  • start a Facebook protest page
  • boycotting goods from a country
  • taking up arms
  • going on a hunger strike
  • start a petition
  • sit down outside an embassy

6. FURY: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with the word 'fury'. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories.

BEFORE READING / LISTENING

1. TRUE / FALSE: Read the headline. Guess if  a-h  below are true (T) or false (F).

a.

Pakistan's government declared a holiday for people to protest.

T / F

b.

Nearly 50,000 protested in the Pakistan capital.

T / F

c.

The Pakistan army helped the police against the protestors.

T / F

d.

A protestor said the police should let them demolish the U.S. embassy.

T / F

e.

A message from Barack Obama was aired on 17 Pakistan TV stations.

T / F

f.

The message included a statement from Pakistan's president.

T / F

g.

A French magazine also published material offensive to Muslims.

T / F

h.

The article says a Christian leader in France attacked the publication.

T / F

2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article.

1.

demonstrate

a.

totally

2.

declared

b.

let out

3.

raging

c.

action

4.

vent

d.

announced

5.

demolish

e.

dedication

6.

step

f.

show

7.

dissociate

g.

knock down

8.

absolutely

h.

angry

9.

commitment

i.

increased

10.

tightened

j.

separate

3. PHRASE MATCH:  (Sometimes more than one choice is possible.)

1.

People across Pakistan took

a.

and live rounds

2.

the government declared

b.

from the video

3.

vent their

c.

our holy Prophet

4.

tear gas

d.

tightened

5.

they have blasphemed against

e.

against Islam

6.

took the unusual

f.

to the streets

7.

dissociate America

g.

tolerance

8.

religious

h.

a national holiday

9.

security has been

i.

fury at the video

10.

acts of aggression

j.

step


 
 

WHILE READING / LISTENING

GAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text.

People across Pakistan (1) ____________ to the streets on Friday to demonstrate their anger at the anti-Islam video that was made in the USA. Although the government (2) ____________ a national holiday, "Love for the Prophet Day," and encouraged peaceful protests, 19 were killed in (3) ____________ street battles between protestors and police. In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, up to 5,000 demonstrators gathered to vent their    (4) ____________ at the video and America. Many tried to       (5) ____________ the U.S. embassy but were fought back by police and the military firing tear gas and (6) ____________ rounds. Student Jawad Ahmed expressed his outrage, saying: "They should allow us to (7) ____________ the American embassy because they have blasphemed (8) ____________ our holy Prophet.

 

 

 

fury
demolish
declared
against
storm
took
live
raging

U.S. president Barack Obama took the unusual (9) ____________ of buying air-time on seven Pakistani television stations to       (10) ____________ a specially made message that aims to dissociate America from the video. In the $70,000 campaign,      (11) ____________ in Urdu, Hilary Clinton states: "The United States has absolutely (12) ____________ to do with this video. We absolutely (13) ____________ its contents. America's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation." Meanwhile, in France, security has been            (14) ____________ after a magazine published drawings        (15) ____________ the Prophet naked. Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Muslim Council, said the video and the cartoons were "(16) ____________ of aggression" against Islam.

 

 

reject
featuring
run
nothing
acts
step
tightened
subtitled

LISTENING – Listen and fill in the gaps

People across Pakistan (1) ___________________ on Friday to demonstrate their anger at the anti-Islam video that was made in the USA. Although the government (2) ____________________ holiday, "Love for the Prophet Day," and encouraged peaceful protests, 19 (3) ____________________ street battles between protestors and police. In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, up to 5,000 demonstrators gathered (4) ___________________ at the video and America. Many tried to storm the U.S. embassy but were fought back by police and the military (5) ____________________ live rounds. Student Jawad Ahmed expressed his outrage, saying: "They should (6) ____________________ the American embassy because they have blasphemed against our holy Prophet.

U.S. president Barack Obama took (7) ____________________ of buying air-time on seven Pakistani television stations to run a specially made message that (8) ____________________ America from the video. In the $70,000 campaign, subtitled in Urdu, Hilary Clinton states: "The United States has (9) ____________________ do with this video. We absolutely reject its contents. America's commitment (10) ____________________ goes back to the very beginning of our nation." Meanwhile, in France, security (11) ____________________ after a magazine published drawings featuring the Prophet naked. Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Muslim Council, said the video and the (12) ____________________ of aggression" against Islam.

AFTER READING / LISTENING

1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionary / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words 'religious' and 'tolerance'.

religious

tolerance

 

 

 

  • Share your findings with your partners.
  • Make questions using the words you found.
  • Ask your partner / group your questions.

2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.

  • Share your questions with other classmates / groups.
  • Ask your partner / group your questions.

3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?

4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.

5. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall how they were used in the text:

  • took
  • declared
  • battles
  • fought
  • live
  • against
  • step
  • campaign
  • nothing
  • beginning
  • security
  • acts

THE VIDEO SURVEY

Write five GOOD questions about the video in the table. Do this in pairs. Each student must write the questions on his / her own paper.

When you have finished, interview other students. Write down their answers.

 

STUDENT 1

_____________

STUDENT 2

_____________

STUDENT 3

_____________

Q.1.

 

 

 

 

Q.2.

 

 

 

 

Q.3.

 

 

 

 

Q.4.

 

 

 

 

Q.5.

 

 

 

 

  • Now return to your original partner and share and talk about what you found out. Change partners often.
  • Make mini-presentations to other groups on your findings.

THE VIDEO DISCUSSION

STUDENT A's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)

a)

What did you think when you read the headline?

b)

What springs to mind when you hear the word 'Islam'?

c)

Did the "Love for the Prophet Day" create the conditions for the deadly protests?

d)

What do you think of the video?

e)

Do you understand the anger of those protesting against the video around the world?

f)

Are the protests more against the video or against the USA?

g)

Are the protests achieving anything, other than the deaths of Pakistani civilians and police?

h)

Is it right to want demolish the U.S. embassy when the U.S. government did not make the video?

i)

How serious is blasphemy?

j)

What would make you take to the streets?

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

STUDENT B's QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)

a)

What three adjectives describe the news in this article?

b)

What do you think of Barack Obama buying air-time on Pakistani TV?

c)

How do you think Pakistanis will receive Obama's message?

d)

Is it right to attack the whole of the USA when just a few people made the video?

e)

Should YouTube take the video down?

f)

Should the maker of the video be prosecuted?

g)

Would world opinion be different if a similar video was released attacking Christianity or Judaism?

h)

How deep do you think America's commitment to religious tolerance is?

i)

Are the video and French cartoons "acts of aggression against Islam"?

j)

What questions would you like to ask the maker of the video?

LANGUAGE – MULTIPLE CHOICE

People across Pakistan (1) ____ to the streets on Friday to demonstrate their anger (2) ____ the anti-Islam video that was made in the USA. Although the government declared a national holiday, "Love for the Prophet Day," and encouraged peaceful protests, 19 were killed in (3) ____ street battles between protestors and police. In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, up to 5,000 demonstrators gathered to (4) ____ their fury at the video and America. Many tried to (5) ____ the U.S. embassy but were fought back by police and the military firing tear gas and live rounds. Student Jawad Ahmed expressed his outrage, saying: "They should allow us to demolish the American embassy because they have (6) ____ against our holy Prophet.

U.S. president Barack Obama took the unusual step of buying (7) ____-time on seven Pakistani television stations to run a specially made message that aims to    (8) ____ America from the video. In the $70,000 campaign, subtitled in Urdu, Hilary Clinton states: "The United States has absolutely nothing to (9) ____ with this video. We absolutely reject its contents. America's commitment to religious tolerance goes (10) ____ to the very beginning of our nation." Meanwhile, in France, security has been (11) ____ after a magazine published drawings featuring the Prophet naked. Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Muslim Council, said the video and the cartoons were "acts of (12) ____" against Islam.

Put the correct words from the table below in the above article.

1.

(a)

gave

(b)

had

(c)

took

(d)

did

2.

(a)

as

(b)

by

(c)

of

(d)

at

3.

(a)

racing

(b)

raging

(c)

rating

(d)

raring

4.

(a)

vent

(b)

daunt

(c)

torment

(d)

adamant

5.

(a)

storm

(b)

thunder

(c)

lightning

(d)

blizzard

6.

(a)

contravened

(b)

disadvantaged

(c)

mitigated

(d)

blasphemed

7.

(a)

space

(b)

atmosphere

(c)

air

(d)

sky

8.

(a)

dissolve

(b)

dissociate

(c)

dissent

(d)

dissect

9.

(a)

be

(b)

have

(c)

do

(d)

see

10.

(a)

back

(b)

way

(c)

along

(d)

history

11.

(a)

tightens

(b)

tightened

(c)

tighten

(d)

tights

12.

(a)

aggressor

(b)

aggressively

(c)

aggressive

(d)

aggression


 
 

WRITING

Write about the video for 10 minutes. Correct your partner's paper.

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________

HOMEWORK

1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google's search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.

2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find out more about the protests around the world. Share what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.

3. RELIGIOUS TOLERANCE: Make a poster about religious tolerance. Show your work to your classmates in the next lesson. Did you all have similar things?

4. THE VIDEO: Write a magazine article about the video. Include imaginary interviews with someone who believes in peaceful protests and someone who doesn't.

Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Write down any new words and expressions you hear from your partner(s).

5. LETTER: Write a letter to an expert on Islam. Ask him/her three questions about the video. Give him three of your opinions on it. Read your letter to your partner(s) in your next lesson. Your partner(s) will answer your questions.

ANSWERS

TRUE / FALSE:

a.

T

b.

F

c.

T

d.

T

e.

F

f.

F

g.

T

h.

F

SYNONYM MATCH:

1.

demonstrate

a.

show

2.

declared

b.

announced

3.

raging

c.

angry

4.

vent

d.

let out

5.

demolish

e.

knock down

6.

step

f.

action

7.

dissociate

g.

separate

8.

absolutely

h.

totally

9.

commitment

i.

dedication

10.

tightened

j.

increased

PHRASE MATCH:

1.

People across Pakistan took

a.

to the streets

2.

the government declared

b.

a national holiday

3.

vent their

c.

fury at the video

4.

tear gas

d.

and live rounds

5.

they have blasphemed against

e.

our holy Prophet

6.

took the unusual

f.

step

7.

dissociate America

g.

from the video

8.

religious

h.

tolerance

9.

security has been

i.

tightened

10.

acts of aggression

j.

against Islam

GAP FILL:

Pakistan anti-Islam video protests – 19 dead

People across Pakistan (1) took to the streets on Friday to demonstrate their anger at the anti-Islam video that was made in the USA. Although the government (2) declared a national holiday, "Love for the Prophet Day," and encouraged peaceful protests, 19 were killed in (3) raging street battles between protestors and police. In Pakistan's capital, Islamabad, up to 5,000 demonstrators gathered to vent their (4) fury at the video and America. Many tried to (5) storm the U.S. embassy but were fought back by police and the military firing tear gas and (6) live rounds. Student Jawad Ahmed expressed his outrage, saying: "They should allow us to (7) demolish the American embassy because they have blasphemed (8) against our holy Prophet.

U.S. president Barack Obama took the unusual (9) step of buying air-time on seven Pakistani television stations to (10) run a specially made message that aims to dissociate America from the video. In the $70,000 campaign, (11) subtitled in Urdu, Hilary Clinton states: "The United States has absolutely (12) nothing to do with this video. We absolutely (13) reject its contents. America's commitment to religious tolerance goes back to the very beginning of our nation." Meanwhile, in France, security has been (14) tightened after a magazine published drawings (15) featuring the Prophet naked. Mohammed Moussaoui, leader of the French Muslim Council, said the video and the cartoons were "(16) acts of aggression" against Islam.

LANGUAGE WORK

1 - c

2 - d

3 - b

4 - a

5 - a

6 - d

7 - c

8 - b

9 -c

10 - a

11 - b

12 - d

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