BDS movement takes on hit Israeli Netflix series 'Fauda'

“The series promotes and legitimizes the war crimes committed by death squads disguised as people pretending to be arabs."

By JULIANE HELMHOLD
Updated: MARCH 29, 2018 13:37
Fauda (photo credit: PR)
Fauda
(photo credit: PR)
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement for the first time officially called on Wednesday to boycott Israeli hit TV series Fauda (Arabic for “Chaos”) and remove it from Netflix.
In a letter to Netflix, BDS claimed that the Israeli political thriller shows “racist propaganda material for the Israeli occupation army and [is] hostile to our people and its liberation process.
“The series promotes and legitimizes the war crimes committed by death squads disguised as people pretending to be Arabs within the occupation army,” the letter continued, referring to a unit in the IDF which specializes in undercover operations in the West Bank.
Trailer for Fauda Season2 (Israel FilmCenter/YouTube)
“The two authors [of the series], who are graduates of one of these teams, without any ambiguity have collaborated with the  occupation, colonization and the Apartheid regime,” the letter stated, referring to the series’ creators, Lior Raz and Avi Issacharoff’s former service in elite IDF units.
Fauda, a Yes satellite-network show that dramatizes the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israeli intelligence efforts, has seen huge success and broke a record by taking home 11 prizes at the Israeli Academy for Film and Television awards in March. The Hebrew/Arabic series has also become a worldwide phenomenon and won international acclaim when it was picked up by Netflix, where it can be seen with subtitles in English and many other languages.
The letter from the BDS movement called on Netflix to “stop broadcasting and not to produce the third season of the series and remove the previous seasons,” citing racism against Arabs and encouragement to violate international law and human rights as a reason.
Not taking the hit series down could “expose Netflix to legal prosecution,” the letter warned.
As quoted by Walla news, Raz and Issacharoff responded to the campaign on Thursday: “We wanted to thank the BDS movement. The Palestinians who have not yet seen Fauda will now find a way to watch it."
“Yesterday we spoke with a friend from Gaza who never stopped praising the first season of the series.” They added. “It is regrettable to see that the movement is trying to harm Israeli creativity, no matter what it is, and we have no choice but to wish them success."
The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement is an international movement that works to "end international support for Israel's oppression of Palestinians and pressure Israel to comply with international law," according to their official website.
The movement has pressured international artists into cancelling appearances in Israel, organized anti-Israel events across university campuses all over the world and, in a controversial move, has been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.


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