Wed 04 September 2019:
Since “Our Boys” series was aired earlier this month on HBO, Israel’s right-wing activists have harshly criticized the show and attacked its producers accusing them of focusing on the Palestinian side of the story while ignoring the other narrative.
The HBO-produced show, “Our Boys”, has been co-created by Israeli and Palestinian filmmakers who confirmed their commitment to present a dramatized rendition of June 2014 events that led to the Gaza war, by having an Israeli producer for the Israeli part of the story and another Palestinian producer for the Palestinian part.
The 10-episode series “Our Boys”, categorized as the first entirely Hebrew/Arabic-language series to be aired on the US cable giant, has been described as one of the few, if not only, international shows depicting real events and not weaponizing political agendas to narrate a story. The show has been praised among Palestinians and Arabs. However, Israelis said it focuses on the Palestinian point of view without providing enough on the other one.
Israel’s app is promoting Facebook comments complaining about the new @HBO show “Our Boys,” because it “appears to focus too heavily on the Palestinian point of view” #OurBoys pic.twitter.com/oIE9bK1CDY
— Behind Israel’s Troll Army (@AntiBDSApp) August 13, 2019
The right-wing in Israel led by the Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has triggered calls to boycott the show and the producing company, HBO, for the “anti-semitism” it contains.
In a post he shared on Facebook and deleted later, Netanyahu also claimed “Our Boys” features anti-Israel propaganda as “it is distributed internationally and besmirches the good name of Israel,”.
Netanyahu calls for boycott of Israeli television channel over HBO’s ‘Our Boys’ and reporting of leaks from the investigation into the corruption cases against him
pic.twitter.com/1N0hmhawPN— Tula ?? (@GiovanniNL) September 1, 2019
While some attributed Netanyahu’s attack to the fact that the show addressed leaked reports of the police investigation into corruption charges against him.
In response, Hagai Levy, one of the show’s creators said the “portrayal of the Abu Khdeir family is not a portrayal of a grieving family, but a broader story of a private person who sunk into grief and almost reluctantly became a political figure, a symbol”.
Netanyahu’s remarks were widely condemned and have sparked conversation on Netanyahu’s pre-election assault on the media.
The HBO series Our Boys, which @netanyahu described as antisemitic, is one of the most compelling, richly drawn, devastatingly sad portrayals of Israelis and Palestinians I’ve seen in a very long time. Hats off to directors Joseph Cedar and Tawfiq Abu Wael. A real masterpiece.
— Dan Ephron (@danephron) September 2, 2019
Think your friends would be interested? Share this story!
