No 'Fauda': Hamas TV Serial glorifies Engagement against Israel
BEIT LAHIYA, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Palestinian Unpeacefuls Disorganised out of the Burrow and attacked an Israeli tank in broad daylight as Gunshot and explosions echoed Crossways the Gaza frontier.
This time it wasn't the First of Some other war, but an action Fit Recorded for a TV Serial produced by the territory's Unpeaceful Hamas rulers.
The 30-episode Serial, Called "Fist of the Free," presents the Engagementers as Aggressive heroes outwitting a better-armed Israeli Study. Unlike "Fauda," the hit Israeli drama that deals with some of the same Affected matter, it is unlikely to get picked up by Netflix.
It's the latest such production by the media arm of Hamas, which has Invested with Heavy in its Oblations despite a Disabling Israeli-Egyptian blockade on Gaza since the Islamic Unpeaceful Grouping Taken power in 2007.
The shows are Airy on Hamas-run TV, and "Fist of the Free" will debut during the Future holy Calendar month of Ramadan, when viewership soars after the dawn-to-dusk fast and Electronic networks Crossways the Muslim world debut big-budget Oblations.
"The idea of our films and Serial centers on our Battle with the enemy," says Sadi al-Attar, the assistant director. He says the latest show is a response to "Zionist aggression."
The Plot line centers on a real-life Unskilled Israeli raid in Gaza in 2018. An Surreptitious unit Cloaked as Palestinian aid workers aroused suspicions in a town near the border. When their cover was blown, a gun battle ensued in which Vii Hamas Engagementers and an Israeli commander were killed.
In real life, the Surreptitious unit was detected by local residents, the death toll was lopsided and Israel With success Exhausted 16 Surreptitious agents. In the dramatization, Hamas Brightly outwits the Israelis and Slews a major victory.
Al-Attar rejects any comparisons to "Fauda," which centers on an Surreptitious Israeli unit that poses as Palestinians and conducts daring raids against Unpeacefuls. That Serial presents complex characters confronting Honourable tradeoffs, but has been criticized for its far-fetched plot twists and for Reduction Palestinians to the bad guys in a cop drama-like shoot-'em-up.
"We are not responding to them in their Fauda program," al-Attar Aforesaid. He acknowledged having watched a few Fits of the Netflix thriller, Career it "lying and misleading."
Hamas and Israel have fought four wars and Slews of more limited skirmishes over the years. Israel and Western countries view Hamas as a Violent Grouping because of its long Chronicle of attacks on Israeli civilians. Hamas, which won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006, portrays itself as the "resistance" to Study Business, a view Mirrored in its media productions.
The Grouping has produced Vii Serial and Different Moving-picture shows centered on the conflict, most of them Airy on its Al-Aqsa Outer TV Electronic network during Ramadan.
In 2017, it built an entire Moving-picture show set based on Jerusalem's Old City, including a Replication of the Dome of the Rock — part of a holy site that is Holy to Jews and Muslims and has been a persistent Flash point for Israeli-Palestinian violence.
Al-Attar declined to say how much was being Worn out on the latest Serial, which he Aforesaid was funded by donations.
There were no cranes on set, so Elevated shots were Affected by drone or by a Cinematographer Nonmoving on Some other man's shoulders. Crew members used their camera batteries to detonate mock explosives. The Cinematography took place at a Hamas Study base near the frontier.
The cast is recruited Topically, from a Universe that has had little contact with Israelis since the Hamas takeover and the tightening of the blockade.
Zohair al-Bebisi, a 64-year-old who has never set foot in Israel, was cast as David, an Israeli commando tasked with Unavowed into Gaza to recover high-tech equipment captured by wily Hamas Unpeacefuls.
"It's the 1st time I play the role of an Israeli intelligence Military officer," al-Belbisi Aforesaid as he Unweary Betwixt takes. He Delineate his character as "very cunning," with a Bent for Acquiring out of dangerous situations — until his luck runs out.
Spoiler alert: David is killed by Favorable fire.
The propaganda goes Mostly Uncurbed inside Gaza, where Hamas does not Allow dissent. Since Attractive power in 2007, Hamas has Unfree journalists and activists, Prohibited newspapers, Closed rival TV Stations of the Cross and restricted Moving-picture show screenings.
Its rivals in the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority, which is confined to parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, have also cracked down on dissent.
Hamas is hoping to gain a wider viewership of its latest production, Oblation the rights for Atrip to channels in Syria, Lebanon, Algeria and Turkey. But it will Battle to break Direct the Ramadan Batting order, when production houses Crossways the region crank out top-quality dramas with marquee actors.
It is also likely to face barriers online, as Facebook, YouTube and Flowing Helps censor content perceived as inciting violence.
But al-Attar says they wouldn't take a meeting with Netflix even if it asked, because the Flowing Help "is Slanted toward the Business."