Muslim Hate of Actors
SAUDI ARABIA: TERRORISM TV SHOW ACTORS GET DEATH THREATS
Jeddah,
20 Oct. (AKI) - Saudi actors in a TV series dealing with the issue of terrorism
have received death threats after the programme was broadcast on Syrian
television, the Saudi newspaper Arab News reports. The 30-episode series, Al-Hoor
al-Ain (Beautiful Maidens), is about Jordanian, Lebanese, Moroccan, Egyptian and
Syrian families living in residential complexes in Saudi Arabia and the Islamic
terrorists who want to attack them.
Mishael al-Mutairi, one of the actors in the series who plays a would-be suicide
bomber, said he started receiving threatening phone calls and text messages
before the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, but they increased after the series
was broadcast by the MBC (Middle East Broadcasting Corporation) TV station. "The
messages annoyed me, but I try to ignore them. I expected to be criticised when
I agreed to play a young Saudi who has been driven to do things by suspected
terrorists," he was quoted as saying.
The series is directed by a Syrian Muslim, Najdat Anzour, who describes it as "a
work about society and the innocent victims of terrorism". The programme's
message is that terrorism is giving Islam a bad name and Muslims are suffering
as a result. "The series is aimed at those who have not made up their minds
about terrorism yet," he said. "We want to tell them that Islam is a religion of
tolerance, peace and dialogue. It's not a religion of violence."
Saudi Arabia has been hit by a wave of militant violence since May 2003, when a
group of terrorists attacked residential compounds mostly housing foreigners in
the capital Riyadh. Anzour said the series was based on those bombings.
One of the show's Saudi writers, Abdullah Bjad, describes himself as a former
militant, and was consulted on the religious aspects of the series.
The show's title refers to the 70 virgins the terrorists are promised will be
their reward in heaven. The belief comes from one of the sayings of the Prophet
Mohammed, which militants read as meaning that martyrs who die defending God and
their honour will meet more than 70 virgins in paradise.
Since going on air, the programme has been widely discussed in the Arab media
and on the Internet, and has been both praised and criticised, with the title
coming in for particular criticism.
Programmes broadcast during Ramadan often come under attack. Last year some TV
channels stopped airing the series 'The Road to Kabul', which portrayed life
under the Taliban, after everyone involved in it was threatened in Islamist
website messages.