Palestinian Scholars Issue Fatwa, Ban Watching Saudi TV Series
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Association of Religious Scholars in Palestine issued a fatwa (religious edict) that bans the watching of Saudi television programs which encourage and praise the normalizing of ties with Israel.
“The Association looks with great doubt at the series which encourage and hail the normalization of ties with the Israeli occupation,” said Dr. Marwan Abu Ras, the group’s lead official, the Middle East Monitor reported.
“We condemn the frenzied campaign of the TV channels run by Arabs and Muslims, and subsidized by Muslim money, against Islamic values and culture.”
Such channels, added the Sheikh, are the mouthpiece of the Zionist entity and are dedicated to fighting against virtue and spread vice. “Watching these series is haram (forbidden) and boycotting them is a religious duty because they oppose the real principles of the Muslims, Arabs and the Palestinians.”
The remarks come in response to the airing of a string of media productions by certain Persian Gulf countries promoting ties with Israel.
The new “Umm Haroun” television series is one of such programs produced by the Dubai-based Saudi-owned Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC).
The series directed by Egypt’s Ahmed Gamal el-Adl in the United Arab Emirates stars a Kuwaiti actress who plays the role of a Jewish midwife of Turkish origin living in the Persian Gulf country before settling in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Hebrew-language outlet N12 reported on Sunday that many believe Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is involved in the series as he is interested in closer relations between the kingdom and Israel.
The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas in Gaza denounced the TV series as a “political and cultural attempt to introduce the Zionist project to Persian Gulf society.”
Critics regard the show as an invitation to normalized ties with Israel. The show has consequentially provoked a storm in the Arab world.