Tampa filmmakers fight Islamophobia with humor

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Some 20-something Temple Terrace filmmakers are fighting Islamophobia with tounge-in-cheek humor. 

In the days after a teenager in Texas was arrested because his teacher thought a clock he'd made for a school project was potentially a bomb, Ahmad Hussan and Nick Amaro went to work in their studio.

They created a video showing a mock-911 call during which a caller is concerned his nephew is holding a clock.

Their parody got 8 million views.

"Calm down, we just need more details to help you with your situation," the phony 911 operator says. "He's asking for batteries."

"When you are laughing at something, you are kind of exposing it for it's ridiculousness," said Hussan. "And when someone refers to me, just because of my faith, as a terrorist, that is ridiculous."

They've taken on a presidential candidate who compared Muslim refugees to rabid dogs, imagined what it's like to join ISIS, and read hate comments on a news story after a mosque burned down near Tampa.

"I hope it was full of Muslim trash," one of the comments said.

The goal is for Americans to reexamine attitudes in an age where half of respondents to one poll said they wouldn't vote for a Muslim for president.

"We are making things that are funny," said Amaro. "But ultimately, the goal is to make you think deeply about something, to help you understand an issue from a different point of view."

The group of mostly Tampa natives, who are a mix of religions, call themselves Peace House.

Their videos have been seen twelve million times.

"You don't want to respond to hate with hate, right?" said Hussan. "Love can conquer hate. Laughter can conquer pain."