A child's hand peeking out of a plastic body bag was just one of the "too graphic" images juxtaposed against Lebanese singer Marcel Khalife's mellow music, in a video clip he released as a dedication to the victims of the Tsunami in Asia.

"I wanted to light a candle for Asia's darkest time through my music," said Marcel Khalife, at the press conference held in the United Nations House in Beirut, ESCWA, where he presented his seven-minute video clip.

The video clip, entitled "And We Cherish Life" is in the form of a "Public Service Announcement," where a bank account number is flashed at the end of the clip for donations as "part of an international UN campaign aimed at aiding survivors of the tsunami disaster."

But some of those present criticized the images, claiming they were "too graphic."

"This is Lebanon's chance to wash some of the sins it has committed against Southeast Asians, like the Sri Lankan maids that get humiliated and abused by some of us.

"We have a chance to extend a sincere helping hand to the people we never really accepted as part of our society and send them money which they need to rebuild their lives," said Khalife.

Khalife's composition, inspired by his own internal struggle over the reality of death and life, was a single musical piece composed of string orchestra and haunting vocals that grew in intensity as the images from the tsunami's consequences grew more striking.

The clip began with smiling children playing along the shores of India and Sri Lanka followed by images of them being swallowed up by the waves and explicit images of body bags by the thousands.

These images triggered harsh comments from the attendees, with most expressing their discontent at "too many body bags" being shown.

Khalife said he was "only responsible for the music."

The images were produced by Beirut-based Signature Productions and the United Nations Information Center, who defended their choice of imagery by saying it is "just the reality of the disaster."

"The goal was not to create this positive hopeful clip where everyone is now OK and happy. That wouldn't make sense," responded Paul Sabbagh, a representative from Signature Productions.

"We showed only 40 percent of what really happened there and people are finding it too much to watch. We want to stir people to react and help. The body bags are a sharp reminder of how much still needs to be done there."

-Rym Ghazal