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Ash-Shatat

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Ash-Shatat (Arabic: الشتات, lit. 'The Diaspora'; also transliterated Al Shatat[1]) is a 29-part Syrian television series, produced in 2003 by a private Syrian film company,[2] Linn, at a cost of $5.1m.[3][unreliable source?]

Production

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Although it was produced in Syria and the closing credits give "special thanks" to various Syrian government entities (including the security ministry, the culture ministry, the Damascus Police Command, and the Department of Antiquities and Museums), Syrian national television "declined to air the program".[2] According to Al-Jazeera, it was commissioned by Hezbollah's Al-Manar media channel.[4]

Content

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The series portrays the history of the Zionist movement and the creation of the state of Israel and includes scenes on The Protocols of the Elders of Zion.[5][6][7]

Broadcast

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Ash-Shatat was shown on Lebanon's Al-Manar during Ramadan in late 2003.[8][9][10]

In 2003, the Australian Broadcasting Authority (ABA) launched an investigation into it, leading to Al-Manar's suspension from the Television and Radio Broadcasting Services PTY (TARBS).[10]

In 2004, the Conseil Représentatif des Institutions juives de France said that scenes in Al-Shatat, which purported to depict the history of the Zionist movement, portrayed the killing of a Christian child by Jews to use the victim's blood to make matzoh.[11] Al-Manar was consequently banned in France.[12] Al-Manar responded that the French decision was political and not legal, influenced by Israel and Jewish lobbies.[13] Al-Manar’s management later apologized for airing the series, dropped it, and explained that the station had purchased it without first viewing the entire series, according to Franklin Lamb [in CounterPunch]."[14][15]

The series was shown in Iran in 2004.[16][unreliable source?]

Jordan's Mamnou’ TV bought the show for $1.25 million and screened 22 episodes during Ramadan in October 2005 before pulling it. The station said the series “was stopped for technical, not political reasons”, although the US-based Coalition Against Terrorist Media had complained about the series to Jordan's king.[4]

US complaint

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In 2003, the US complained to Lebanon and Syria over the series. Lebanese officials refused to interfere with al-Manar's programming and one of them was quoted as saying:

The United States has a strange conception of freedom of expression... What would they say if we tried to interfere with the way Fox News portrays Arabs, Muslims or Palestinians?

— Lebanon rebuffs US over TV series, [5]

In response, Hezbollah said it was “an artistic work based on clear historical facts”[17] and Al-Manar’s program director, Nasser Akhdar, said the series was “purely historical”, based on 250 sources written by Jews.

The program covers the history of the Jews and the Zionists between 1812 and 1948, he said, and underlines the Jewish emigration to Palestine, the Balfour Declaration, and the European policies regarding this issue during that period. “It offers a clear image of what the Zionists have committed in the social, political, and ideological fields,” Akhdar said. “It is a voice against all those who wish to hide the truth.” He said US complaints were an attempt to “misguide public opinion,” adding that this was part of the US strategy of hegemony over the media to “cancel other people’s opinions.” Akhdar said that the program showed the difference between Jews and Zionists, adding that some Jews were against the establishment of the state of Israel in 1948, but “it seems that those Jews have disappeared now.”[18]

Criticism

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According to Daniel Greene, the curator of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s exhibition about the Protocols:

[One] scene includes all the classic hallmarks of conspirators at work: In an underground location, a dozen men surround a candle-lit table and talk in hushed tones. The eldest speaks first. “We need to help Hitler annihilate the Jews,” he declares, “because this is the only way to drive the Jews from the countries that Hitler has not yet occupied to immigrate to the Promised Land.” The year is 1940. The location is somewhere in Palestine. The men are the Elders of Zion. And, none of it is true.[19]

The series was described as antisemitic by the US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor and Jewish associations.[20][21]

According to Ha'aretz, Zionist leaders portrayed in it are mostly shown wearing Haredi ("ultra-Orthodox") clothing, and depicted as conspirators and plotters.[22] According to Al-Jazeera, it "included characters portraying Jews speaking of a global Jewish government. In one scene, an actress playing a diseased prostitute in a European brothel run by a Jewish madam speaks of her desire to infect non-Jews."[4]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Dick, Marlin (2005-09-01). "The State of the Musalsal: Arab Television Drama and Comedy and the Politics of the Satellite Era". Arab Media & Society. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  2. ^ a b U.S. Department of State (2005), Country Report on Human Rights Practices 2004 - Syria, February 2005
  3. ^ MEMRI, 12 December 2003, Al-Shatat: The Syrian-Produced Ramadan 2003 TV Special
  4. ^ a b c "Jordan bans controversial TV series". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  5. ^ a b "Lebanon rebuffs US over TV series". BBC. 2003-10-31. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  6. ^ Küntzel, Matthias (2005). "National Socialism and Anti-Semitism in the Arab World" (PDF). Jewish Political Studies Review. 17 (1/2). Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs: 99–118. ISSN 0792-335X. JSTOR 25834622. Archived from the original on 22 November 2005. Retrieved 22 November 2024.
  7. ^ Vidal, Dominique (1 May 2004). "Anti-semitism in the Arab world". Le Monde diplomatique. Retrieved 21 November 2024. In November 2003 Robert Fisk, whose commitment to the Palestinian cause is well-known, wrote in The Independent (1) about his disgust at finding a new edition of the Protocols in a Beirut bookshop: "I'm always careful about accusing Arabs of antisemitism. They are themselves a Semitic race . . . But how come this vicious little tract can turn up in a sophisticated country such as Lebanon? Just take the beating of breasts still reverberating over the decision by Hizbullah television to show a series during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan called Al-Shatat (the Diaspora), which purports to be a history of Zionism 1812-1948. It refers to a Jewish plot to take over the world." The series featured a pseudo-ritual murder.
  8. ^ Vidal, Dominique (2004-05-01). "Anti-semitism in the Arab world". Le Monde diplomatique. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  9. ^ "Lebanon won't axe Zionism TV series". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  10. ^ a b "Australian TV unplugs Hizb Allah". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  11. ^ Cochrane, Paul (7 March 2007). "Bombs and broadcasts: Al Manar's battle to stay on air". Arab Media & Society. Retrieved 15 November 2024.
  12. ^ Weinberg, David Andrew (6 August 2021). "Proven false 100 years ago, antisemitic 'Protocols' document is still being exploited". Arab News. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  13. ^ Al Jazeera, 27 December 2004 US designates Al-Manar TV 'terrorist' Archived 18 August 2006 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 1 August 2006
  14. ^ Najjar, Orayb Aref (2022). "Al-Manar". The SAGE Encyclopedia of Journalism. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, California 91320: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi:10.4135/9781544391199.n24. ISBN 978-1-5443-9115-1.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)
  15. ^ Cochrane, Paul (7 March 2007). "Bombs and broadcasts: Al Manar's battle to stay on air". Arab Media & Society. Retrieved 17 November 2024. The show, which claimed to depict the history of the Zionist movement, stoked widespread condemnation by portraying the killing of a Christian child by Jews to use the victim's blood to make matzoh bread... Al Manar said it erred in showing two episodes in the series and is appealing the ban in France.
  16. ^ Franklin Lamb (January 1–3, 2010). "The Israel Lobby's War on Al Manar TV: How a Lebanese Television Station Got Included on the T-List". CounterPunch. Archived from the original on 2010-01-04. Retrieved 2010-01-06.
  17. ^ "Lebanon won't axe Zionism TV series". Al Jazeera. 31 October 2003. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
  18. ^ "US, Israel strongly oppose airing of new Ramadan TV series "Al Shatat"". Al Bawaba. 30 October 2003. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  19. ^ Greene, Daniel (19 September 2006). "The Enduring Fraud". CERC. Retrieved 19 November 2024.
  20. ^ "A EUROPEAN PLOT ON THE ARAB STAGE" (PDF). sicsa.huji.ac.il. Retrieved 2024-11-17.
  21. ^ Hassan, Riaz (2009). "Interrupting a History of Tolerance: Anti-Semitism and the Arabs". Asian Journal of Social Science. 37 (3): 452–462. doi:10.1163/156853109X436829. ISSN 1568-4849. JSTOR 23655209.
  22. ^ Rubinstein, Danny (2 November 2003). "Fasting, Charity and Mocking the Government". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on 21 November 2024. Retrieved 21 November 2024.
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