A TRIO of pranksters who make fun of social attitudes towards Arabs have been condemned after a young girl was caught up in their drive-by shooting skit.

The latest video posted on social media by the Jalal brothers shows them dressed in white robes with a loudspeaker pretending to shoot a replica AK-47 out of a car window.

A little girl standing at a nearby phone box is seen panicking, grabbing on to her father and running in terror. “She’s probably traumatised,” said one viewer, while another added, “Not cool in front of kids man.. Epic fail sorry.”

Muslim brothers Max, 20, Rebeen, 16, and Arman, 18, were forced to defend their actions, sharing a photo of themselves with the girl on Facebook and writing, “for all the people going crazy, this was the girl that accidentally walked into our prank last night.

“We felt as bad as anyone would and made sure we spoiled her with lollies and a gift, and made sure she was happy & smiling with us all.”

Max, a 20-year-old law student, told news.com.au: “The girl popped out at the last minute, the driver didn’t see her until the last minute. Then he pulled the gun back in and turned off the volume. [Her dad] was upset at first but then he cooled down.”

It’s not the first time the Melbourne comedy group has been criticised for their provocative comedy, which pokes fun at negative stereotypes of people who look Arabic.

Their popular YouTube channel includes videos called “public kidnapping prank” and “suicide bombing prank”, which gained 85 million views and saw the brothers receive death threats from the US.

The Jalal brothers have 1.8 million likes on Facebook and many love their provocative brand of humour, but others say the pranks are tasteless and promote racism. “How is it funny to pretend to be a terrorist?” asked one user.

Max argues the videos have a positive effect. “It’s not encouraging a fearful image, it’s doing the opposite,” he said. “It’s getting people together and laughing at the situation. It’s what Australia needs; everyone’s too tense.”

The brothers don’t associate their brand with Muslims because there are both Muslim and Christian Arabs, added Max, insisting the pranks are about “entertainment and comedy”.

He said they did create one social experiment, in which they performed a “bomb prank” twice, first in robes and then in Western-style shirts and pants.

“There was a big, big difference in the way people reacted. We get across how racist people are because of what the media has shown them.

“Our videos are not going to make people racist, but they might make people not racist, if they find it funny.”

A female caller on the Kyle and Jackie O Show this morning said it was women like her, who wear a headscarf, who “bear brunt of the vilification”. She called the brothers “silly people doing silly pranks”.

Another listener said Australians were “scared already to go into city, it really is not a prank”, while a third said it was “good entertainment” with a “deeper message”.

When the radio hosts questioned the legality of the prank, which has had more than seven million views in 36 hours, Max said the brothers had a team of lawyers who advised on what they could and could not do.

A police spokesperson said “Victoria Police is aware of a video posted on social media. Given the community and broader impact, Victoria Police condemns the behaviours exhibited in the video regardless of the intent in their manufacture.

“As the materials form part of an ongoing investigation, we are not able to comment any further.”

Max said the three siblings, the youngest of whom is still in school, had “laid off controversial videos for a while”, and the drive-by shooting skit had been their first in a long time.

“It gets to you reading negative comments,” he said. “But for every negative comment, there’s someone who finds it entertaining or funny. People are more vocal about things they dislike. We haven’t harmed anyone.

“We’ve been through it before, it was easier this time.”