Jewish lobbyists are once again trying to rekindle the sparks of uproar the Egyptian drama “Faris Bila Jawad” (Knight Without a Horse) caused at the beginning of Ramadan. Top Israeli officials had harshly criticized the Egyptian government for giving the go ahead to airing the series, which is based on the book "Protocols of the Elders of Zion".
According to the Egyptian daily, Al Akhbar, countless efforts were made by Jewish lobbyist to cancel the drama, but members of the Media and Culture Committee at the Egyptian Parliament declined their demand, saying that no party has the right to ask for such action. The members also added that “the series does not hold any racial views against any religion, and on the contrary, Egypt respects all beliefs and the drama only expresses facts from the past.” The Egyptian government strongly stressed that it refuses to take any actions repressing freedom of speech and expression.
Negative opinion over the series was all over the US New York Times and The Washington Post, leading Arab journalist to strike back with commentaries and articles criticizing the stances taken by the American media over a series even before it was aired. Al Akhbar reported that The Washington Post posted an article by Daniel Waken, an American journalist from Cairo, that defends the right of the Egyptian media to air the series. Daniel wrote his article after holding talks with Nabil Othman president of the Media committee, listing the following points:
1. It is unethical to make any prior judgement on a series before watching it.
2. When any new television or cinematic work is presented, it does not need to abide by any rules restricting freedom of expression.
3. A production company and not the Government produce a drama.
4. The Minister of Media stressed that Egypt will not take part in restricting any work that deals with freedom of expression.
5. The drama does not indicate any trait of Anti-Semitism, instead it is just a series that goes back to 1850 during the Turkish regime, British occupation and Israeli penetration afterwards and ends with the emergence of the Palestinian crisis and details the Israeli conspiracy to take over the Holy Land.
6. It is not accepted to make any judgements on any actors taking part in the series.
The daily added that the Jewish lobby went as far as the US Congress, whom they knew, would immediately take their side and call for their demands to be met. “All the commotion that the lobby is causing is of no use due to the fact that Egypt will not take any action whatsoever against the drama series,” the daily added.
Earlier last month, Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister, Michael Melchior announced that a Russian intelligence officer working for the Russian Tzar about 100 years ago wrote the book. Melchior said that all Israelis view this book as one of the most anti-Semitic in the world, as Israelis believe that it is a forged document allegedly claiming that the Jews plan to control the whole world. The deputy expressed his anger toward the series, saying that, "unfortunately, the Arab media does not only address one single incident within the book, but rather a great deal of anti-Semitism."
According to Ahmed Badriddin, director of the series, the drama caused such uproar due to the issues it tackled and exposed. Among the issues tackled in the series is the Zionist conspiracy to establish a Jewish state that extends from the Nile River in Egypt till the Euphrates in Iraq.
The Egyptian TV adapted the book into a series with the participation of 200 actors and actresses. The Egyptian star Mohammed Subhi takes the leading role in the 30-episode series and plays nine different characters, which depict Egyptian historical, social and political profiles since the Danshuwai incident in 1906.
The series, written by Mohammed Subhi and Mohammed Baghdadi, and directed by Ahmed Badriddin, also star Egyptians Simon, Hanaa al Shorbagi, Gamil Rateb, Ashraf Abdel Ghafour, Khalil Murcy and Randa as well as other actors from Syria and Lebanon. - Albawaba.com
© 2002 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
