Terrorizing through sound
Two recent videos; one of Dr. Abu Safiya and another of immigrants being deported instilled terror through the strategic use of metallic, shackling sounds.
Two recently released videos by Israel and the US instilled terror through the strategic use of sound. First, Israel released a video of Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya being brought out by soldiers in shackles, and it was the first ever visual of him since he was kidnapped and imprisoned almost two months ago. Second, the White House posted a video showing migrants being deported onto flights, also shackled in chains, and it was titled "ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight."
Releasing Dr. Abu Safiya's video was an act of pure psychological terror. Only 16 seconds long, the first 12 seconds are saturated with sounds of boots stomping on the floor as well as metal doors of the prison clanging loudly. A shrunken and hunched over Dr. Abu Safiya emerges in prison uniform with his hands and feet shackled. Heavily armed occupation soldiers tower over him. The frightening sounds reverberating for several seconds before Dr. Abu Safiya emerged create a terrorized suspense. We have no idea how bad this is going to get, what we will see, and we are stricken with fear. From the terror of the sounds, we are now engulfed in the terror of the visual. We have not seen Dr. Abu Safiya for over two months and our last visual of him was a powerful one as he entered the Israeli army truck, dignified and strong. He was not seen again until this video. But he is now a diminished man, gaunt, exhausted and pale. Showing him shackled and in uniform is important for Israel as the visual will now lock in the perception that he is “guilty.” We don’t know what he is guilty of but he is made to look the part. This is typical of how regimes deploy visual and sonic terror to all of us watching from the outside. We are thus made to imagine the inhumane level of pain and terror they are actually inflicting on those that are captive.
Yet another regime, the United States, vulgarly asserted their power through sound terrorism as well. In the video titled “ASMR: Illegal Alien Deportation Flight,” long chains clink loudly as an aircraft whirs in the background. Close-ups of the hands and feet of immigrants show them being handcuffed and they struggle to walk up the flight onto the plane.
ASMR which stands for "autonomous sensory meridian response" refers to tingling feelings from certain sounds such as whispers, shuffling paper, tapping or brushstrokes. ASMR is also called a "brain orgasm." ASMR videos are hugely popular on social media, and range from child-friendly to erotic. The White House video has over a million views now and it certainly inspired pleasure from the usual suspects such as Elon Musk who shared it and commented: "haha wow." It has also led to outrage and comments calling for an end to such dehumanizing depiction.
The American regime certainly knows what it is doing by terrorizing us with sounds that symbolize shackling, torture, pain and humiliation. The abstracted close-ups of chains and the saturation of the sound of metal in various containers alongside the hum of the plane also create a fear of the unknown: where are these people being taken? Will they be tortured? Will they be killed? How many hours of pain will they endure? And just like with Dr. Abu Safiya, they generate a visual lexicon of guilt. Immigrants who have committed no crime are represented as “guilty” and “criminal.”
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Both videos were released within days of each other and shows empire at the peak of its disgusting terrorizing strategies, all of which have been tried and tested over the course of hundreds of years of colonialism. The goal here is to inspire shock in the viewer and the listener, to generate a visceral kind of fear, and to make us too afraid to resist. The genocide of Palestinians which was livestreamed on our screens for over 15 months did make us accustomed to the terror of sound as Gazans posted daily videos recounting bombings and killings over the dystopic, loud and grating electronic sound of drones overhead. These sounds still continue even as there is a supposed ceasefire.
We are living in a reign of terror but let us come together and overcome our fear by working through this collectively.
Love and solidarity,
Bhakti Shringarpure