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BDS demands Netflix remove Israeli smash hit, threatens lawsuit

Israeli smash hit Fauda is targeted by BDS, which has threatened Netflix with a lawsuit if it doesn’t remove the action-packed series from the internet.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Fauda, a popular drama that focuses on an Israeli undercover unit’s security efforts in Judea and Samaria, has become the latest focus of the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions (BDS) movement.

On Wednesday, its representatives sent a threatening letter to Netflix, the American internet streaming company that picked up the show and screened its first season. In it, they wrote, “This is a series that is racist against Arabs and that encourages violating international law and human rights — which could lead us to take legal actions against Netflix.”

They characterized the action-heavy drama as giving “legitimization to war criminals,” since the show’s two writers, Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz, are both veterans of a real anti-terror unit. Raz also stars in the the show and gave a pithy response to the boycott efforts, according to Ynet.

“We thank them for the public relations they’re giving our series,” Raz said, adding that “only today I received an email from a girl from Turkey who claimed that until she saw Fauda, she hated Israelis, and after watching the series she understands the complexity of the conflict.”

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Issacharoff told Ha’aretz, “We wanted to thank the BDS movement because now Palestinians who have yet to see Fauda will now find a way to see the series,” adding on a more serious note that “it’s sad to see the BDS movement try to hurt any kind of Israeli creation, no matter what its content. All we can do is wish them absolutely no success.”

Netflix has yet to respond to the threat. The second season of Fauda, which is filmed all over Israel, is set to air globally during 2018. It was already shown on the Yes network in Israel, to loud acclaim.