M.I.A.'s new video, "Born Free"

I have just watched M.I.A.'s new video, Born Free, which has been banned from YouTube; but which is still available on Vimeo. The video was viewed with lofty and light-hearted sarcasm by the New York Times, and dismissed as sledgehammer in its subtlety by The Guardian. With a video of such graphic content, responses will often be intensely personal. For my part, I think it is one of the most visceral and vital music videos that I have ever seen. I have watched, over the years, hours of reports on the slaughter of innocents; but, until now, it has been difficult to feel much more than deep sorrow. M.I.A.'s video gave rise to an unfamiliar feeling: empathy.

The video is nine minutes long; it depicts US soldiers storming into an apartment block, threatening and beating some of its occupants, before rounding up a redheaded youth and shoving him into an armoured van. There he finds a dozen or so other boys like him, who are driven - past a trio of rock-throwing youths - to a desert. There, prompted by Alsatians and the sight of their youngest number shot point-blank in the head, they are forced to run for their lives; whilst the soldiers use them as target practice. None of the youths escape; one of them is blown apart in appallingly slow motion.

The video, in my view, is truly exceptional. It places you right there in that van with those boys and their terror. And of course, they're not just redheads, the metaphor works beautifully. They are gays, Jews, Muslims, Armenians...the power of this video is that all of a sudden it makes sense. Srebrenica makes sense. Gaza makes sense. The Holocaust makes sense. It feels real, that at any moment anywhere in the world this could happen, is happening. There are times when you doubt so passionately the ability of art to make a difference - then this comes along. Oh my God. M.I.A., take a bow.