Egyptian TV drama defies stereotypes of Jews

Cairo: A new Egyptian TV soap opera, being broadcast on state and private stations, portrays Jews as good people, reversing decades-old stereotyping of Egypt’s dwindling Jewish community.

The Jewish Quarter revolves around a romantic relationship between a Muslim army officer and a Jewish woman in the late 1940s when Israel was created. The serial is named after an area in Cairo where Jews, Muslims and Christians once coexisted.

The work covers a crucial era in the country’s history running from 1948 until 1956, the year of what is known as the Suez Crisis that climaxed in a tripartite onslaught on Egypt by Israel, Britain and France. Historically, the epoch saw in Egypt a surge in nationalism and a change in perception of the country’s Jews.

Egyptian TV serials and films have since depicted Jews as treacherous and spies for Israel. Since it hit the airwaves last week, The Jewish Quarter has drawn mixed reviews.

“I hope this work will correct the negative image of Jews portrayed in most TV serials and films as misers and traitors,” said the head of Egypt’s Jewish community, Majda Haroun. “I hope this way of thinking about Jews will become a matter of the past,” Haroun, one of very few Jews still living in Egypt, told private newspaper Al Youm Al Saba.

The Jewish Quarter has won rare acclaim from the Israeli embassy in Cairo. “For the first time, Jews are presented in their true nature as human beings. We bless this,” the embassy said in a statement.

Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. However, relations between them have often been frosty amid anti-Israeli public feelings.

In 2002, Israel protested the Egyptian TV serial A Knight Without a Horse, calling it “anti-Semitic”. At the time, the US expressed concern about the series.

In contrast, The Jewish Quarter has triggered condemnation from some viewers in the Arab world. “In whose interest, Jews are glorified in the series? Is it an attempt to beautify the face of Israel?” a Facebook commentator asked.

“This is a glaring attempt to improve the image of Zionists and woo Israel and America,” posted another.

The series, co-starring Egyptian actress Mena Shalbai and Jordanian actor Iyad Nasser, is shown in Ramadan when TV viewing rates in the Arab world usually hit a record high.

The show seems to build on current anti-Muslim Brotherhood canard in Egypt where the army removed the Islamist group from power in 2013.

In one episode, the Brotherhood’s founder, Hassan Al Banna, is seen inciting his followers to boycott Egypt’s Jews and attack them. “Our enemies are inside and outside Egypt,” he says. In another episode, businesses owned by Jews are targeted.

The Brotherhood, which was set up in 1928, is now outlawed in Egypt amid a tough crackdown by authorities on its followers.

Makers of The Jewish Quarter have denied accusations of bias.

“The serial does not call for normalising ties with Israel,” said the show’s writer Medhat Al Adel. “It is a patriotic work emphasising that Egypt is a tolerant country that accepts the other. The work sheds light on Jews in Egypt based on historical facts.”

The number of Jews in Egypt has plummeted from an estimated 100,000 in the early 20th century to around 12 at present.