During the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, now winding down, the Arab world’s TV networks air a slew of dramas and comedies, typically serialized in nightly episodes and culminating at the end of the month. Many depict Israel and Jews using well-known anti-Semitic canards. A memorable example from the 2001 Ramadan season, Horseman Without a Horse, told the story of Israel’s establishment on the premise that the Protocols of the Elders of Zion were real—not an anti-Semitic forgery by the Russian secret police.
Among this year’s crop of miniseries, several are in keeping with this insidious tradition. The Anti-Defamation League provided four examples earlier this month in a news release that Commentary writer Jonathan S. Tobin used as the basis for this post. One of the programs has been airing on Hezbollah’s Al-Manar network; another on the Salafi Al-Rahma channel; and a third on Egypt’s comparatively secular Al-Nahar. The fourth—Firqat Naji Atallah (“Naji Atallah’s Team”), a comedy starring legendary Egyptian comic Adel Imam—aired on the pan-regional juggernaut MBC, with an audience that probably dwarfed the other three networks combined. As the ADL notes, “The show revolves around the character of Naji Atallah, a diplomat working in the Egyptian embassy in Tel Aviv who decides to take revenge on Israel by robbing an Israeli bank.” The show routinely mocks “Israelis and Jews for their ‘frugalness’ and includes expressions of support for terrorism against Israel.”