The Arab Invasion

It was exactly a year ago when Saba Mubarak told NOX that al-Ijtyah is “the best and most important TV project that dealt with the Palestinian issue". Unfortunately, the 30-episode series that portrayed the life of Palestinians during the 2002 invasion of the Jenin refugee camp has received modest attention: upon its Ramadan release in 2007, only one TV station dared to pick it up – and even then it ran in the same time slot against the most popular Syrian series, packed with housewives’ feuds and fake moustaches. Instead, Saba and her colleagues had to resort to YouTube to try to promote what they believe is something bigger than another time-filling bland TV series to audiences around the Arab world.

A year later, we meet with Saba again. And this time she is joined by the rising star Munther Rayahneh and veteran actress Naderah Imran – the nucleus of the fictional Palestinian family from Jenin who lived through the invasion. This time around, though, the frustration has been replaced by vindication: al-Ijtyah has won the International Emmy Award for best Telenovela – the story of the simple Palestinian family trying to survive under the Zionist occupation took centre stage in New York, fulfilling Saba’s prophecy.

NOX: So now that everybody is showing sympathy to the low exposure al-Ijtyah has received, can you please remind us why wasn’t it shown on Arab TV stations?
Munther Rayahneh: Today I was on the phone for an interview with Rotana and they asked me the same question and my answer was, “Hey you are Rotana, why don’t you go ahead and show it on one of your channels?”  
Saba Mubarak: We have said before that the such shows are clearly not on the agenda of those moving Arab media today. There are a lot of “distractions” that need to be constantly on display. It is a matter of priorities.
Nadera Imran: Maybe because we did not have Haifa Wahbe in a leading role.

NOX: But there has been much more “controversial” series that got its chance on multiple channels. Is the Palestinian issue so irrelevant at this point that the only channel willing to show such a series is the one owned by the Lebanese Kataeb channel?
Munther: There was the collection of TV shows that discussed terrorism and those that discussed the Sunni-Shiite issue that I believe were more “controversial” – if you want to say that is the reason.
Saba: One of the excuses we got from a network executive was that "the lighting was too dark". But again, the whole issues of Jenin and the massacre and the camp of a group of refugees in their own homeland remains way too sensitive and hushed, and not very appealing for many people in charge.

NOX: Do you feel that the series managed to shed sufficient light on the events of 2002? There is always the risk of side-stepping history in favour of dramatic build up…
Nadera: Nobody yet knows the size of the massacre of the refugee camp. There was a UN investigation team but it was suspended and it did not continue its mission. But we tried to do as much research as possible. Writer Riyadh Saif and director Shawqi al-Majiri put a lot of effort in trying to be as accurate as possible.
Saba: Also keep in mind that the series was built on two parallel lines, the factual events that took place – for example actor Abbass Nouri played the role of Abu Jandal, one of the actual leaders of the battle – and then there is the dramatic line through the “fictional” Palestinian family living under these conditions, that offered a realistic image of the human suffering of the Palestinian people without resorting to empty slogans.

NOX: Obviously there was a lot of effort put in creating sets that are similar to the refugee camp. Some shots looked like they were taken straight out of documentaries…
Munther: The attention to detail was tremendous all around. Imagine that on some occasions the director decided to postpone shooting because he believed that the weather conditions on that particular day would not generate an accurate lighting effect. We used very little actual documentary footage, which is rare in such kind of projects.
Nadera: The production was at a level that is unprecedented in Arabic TV drama. Take for example the scene of the Nativity Church siege. I was sceptical that we will be able to recreate the inside of the church which everybody knows, but the set crew did an outstanding job. You can easily say that everybody working on al-Ijtyah felt like it was a personal project.
Saba: I won’t be exaggerating when I say that you can look at some veteran actors in small roles in al-Ijtayh and think to yourself “this is the best performance I have ever seen from this actor”.

NOX: We heard that there was a lot of emotion on the set…
Saba: Listen, I am truly not one of those actresses who believe in complete “character embodiment”, where I dive deep into the character I am playing and become her – I actually think that affects the acting negatively. But while shooting some scenes I just could not help myself. In the scene where they bring in Munther’s body, the whole crew was crying.
Munther: I was supposed to be dead and when Saba leans closer to say a prayer in my ear, you can actually see me about to break out crying.

NOX: Do you think you managed to convey the message about the massacre? Do you, in that case, view yourselves as activists?
Saba: I think focusing on the human beings involved offered a different perspective on dealing with the whole Palestinian issue. We showed that the Palestinian is just a human who wants a decent life. We did not portray him as the infallible hero, neither did we portray him as the victim.
Nadera: We also proved that we can produce visual art that can compete at an international level, using our issues and our environment as our base. There is this misconception that in order to make it on the international stage one has to adapt foreign environments to succeed.

NOX: Do you feel vindicated?
Saba: The biggest award we got was the messages from the kids of Gaza and West Bank, who thanked us for accurately reflecting their daily struggle and hardship in such a project.

For the full version of this article, see NOX 30

The plot line
“Life at earshot bullets” is the introduction title of the series. The Invasion presents the story of Abu-Salem's family, their divergent and interwoven relations, in addition to the story of Abu-Khalid's family living in Jenin. The series also reflects the real story of those who took refuge in the mountains to flee an unfair confrontation imposed upon them. A love story begins between Mustafa, a Palestinian fighter, and Yael, a Jewish girl he meets by accident.

The team
Writer: Riyadh Saif
Director: Shawqi al-Majeri
Main cast:
Abbas al-Nouri
Saba Mubarak
Iyad Nassar
Munther Rayahneh
Zuhair al-Noubani
Nadera Emran

The Award
The International Emmy Awards “recognise excellence in television programming produced outside of the United States”. The Telenovela category was introduced in this year’s awards.

The competition
Lalola
Argentina
A man who wakes up one morning in the body of a woman, Lola, forcing him to change his chauvinistic ways.

One Night of Love
Russia
A story of a young women from a broken noble family who leaves her countryside house to find the crazy whirl of life in the capital in the mid-19th century.

Tropical Paradise
Brazil
A typical Latin American soap packed with love disputes and sex as a blackmail tool. Its season finale was reportedly watched by 90 per cent of Brazil’s TV viewing population.