Lower Intermediate - High spirits

The V-Sign is the Sign of the occult, satanic Sabbatean/Frankists
"The Leftists, radicals, and Satanists who have popularised that sign...know its ancient significance very well. In fact, that 'V' sign is now used extensively by such Communist organizations as the Young Socialist Alliance, Vets for Peace in Vietnam, and the Students for a Democratic Society."

Just seemed like a strange photo, a man holding up a weapon and a 'peace sign' at the same time. Looked like a contradiction. To me, just goes to show that 'high spirits' is not necessarily a good thing.

@Sydney, I didn't know the V-sign was related to anything Satanic. I thought it just stood for Victory.

@Sydney, I know what you mean, but the reality is that in some places in the world you have to fight for peace! There are some wacko rulers that want everything for themselves and absolutely nothing for the people.

@Sydney In this context the hand signal is used to represent V for victory, showing that the fighters plan to overcome the oppressors who are curtailing their freedom. This was popularized by Churchill during WWII. The use of the symbol as a sign of peace originated as a détournement of the original symbol, turning the symbol of the struggle for victory in war to that of the struggle against war / for peace. Though I also agree with Mohammed that, sometimes, the only path to peace and justice is found in meeting oppression with popular force.

thanks for the podcast, I threw out "I'm in high spirits" to my Arabic teacher instead of the usual reply "fine" when asked how I was and made her day.

Hey dudes, We're here to learn arabic, not get gravitated into conflict of any kind -lose this video for us?

..I mean audio.

Peretz - welcome to the site from a fellow U.S. learner of three years.
The lesson provides useful vocabulary for understanding the culture and the news.
Having studied for several years at U.S. universities, which have a liberal tradition, I find these comments quite tame in comparison to what professors may say. Indeed, I would think it would be odd for teachers not to provide some interjectory editorial comments.
Teachers are just people - they have a viewpoint and, generally, they offer comments consistent with that viewpoint. We, their students, don't need to accept or reject the comments.
Good luck with the Arabic - and I hope you find what you are seeking.

In the first line, مقطع اليوتيوب الذي ٔارسلته لك؟, the direct object pronoun ه after ارسل is a repeat of the already stated noun مقطع اليوتيوب. This redundancy does not exist in English, where pronouns are only used to replace nouns in previous sentences. I'm having a hard time trying to wrap my head around this (or use it in speaking!). Ehab and Mohd, could we have a grammar lesson on this (if you don't already have one? Thanks! ;-)

@shebab, although this type of pronoun is often used, it is not a necessity to make the sentence correct. You can simply say (مقطع اليوتيوب الذي ٔارسلت لك) and your sentence will still be correct.

Thanks Ehab!