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Gazan actors gear up for harassment and violence in response to playing Jewish characters

Gaza-based terror group Hamas, is reportedly developing its own low budget TV show in response to the wildly popular Fauda series.

By World Israel News Staff

Millions of fans around the world are eagerly awaiting the fourth season of Israeli drama Fauda, which focuses on an undercover IDF counterterrorism unit. Now, Hamas, the fictional series’ real-life terror organization, is planning to shoot a low-budget copy-cat version of their own.

Gaza-based terror group Hamas, whose operatives are often the villains in Fauda, is reportedly developing its own low budget TV series in response to the wildly popular show.

Qabdat al-Ahrar (Fist of the Free) will focus on the “Palestinian point of view” and “the spirit of our resistance,” the show’s director, Mohammed Soraya, told AFP.

The show’s protagonists are Hamas operatives, and unlike Fauda, which features actors from Israel’s Arab community, the cast is entirely Gazan.

In another major departure from Fauda’s format, all characters in the series will speak Arabic – including Jews. Characters in Fauda speak both Arabic and Hebrew.

Due to a ruling from local Islamic clerics, even Jewish female characters on the show will wear hijabs at all times.

The series, which is being produced on a shoestring budget, is expected to be completed in time for Ramadan, the Muslim holy month.

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During recent years, watching movies and TV shows in the evening after breaking the Ramadan fast has become a tradition, and Ramadan is widely considered “prime time” for Arab entertainment programs and films to debut.

Gazan actor Jawad Harouda, who plays the head of the Israeli Shin Bet security organization in the show, said that some people in Gaza have a difficult time separating fiction from reality.

“Women look at me [in public] and pray that I die,” he said.

But Harouda is unfazed by the death threats, instead believing them to be a testament to his acting ability.

“I’m happy when people insult me. It means I’ve succeeded … The actor is a chameleon, he must be able to act out all colors.”

Kamila Fadel, a Gazan actress who played a Jewish woman in a previous TV show, echoed Harouda’s sentiments to AFP.

“After the series was broadcast, a woman tried to strangle me,” she said.

“She told me: ‘I hate you, you are hurting us so much’. On another day a 13-year-old boy threw a stone at my head thinking I was Jewish… This means I played my part well.”