If you remember the American thriller series Homeland, it’s probably because of its stereotypical depiction of Pakistan during America’s so-called ‘War on Terror’ and the show’s over-reliance on big, bad, bearded villains.
One of the production companies involved in the show, Israel’s Keshet International, is back with another over-the-top spy show. Unconditional, a series revolving around the arrest and rescue of an Israeli soldier in Russia, begins streaming on Apple TV from May 8.
The in-your-face propaganda being pushed in the show would have put off audiences under normal circumstances but releasing such a show when Israel has only just paused its open wars on Iran and Lebanon , while tacitly continuing its slaughter in Gaza has attracted the ire of netizens who couldn’t understand how this was ever green-lit.
Someone pointed out how one of the show’s actors had served in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and posted a screenshot of one of her Instagram posts with a caption allegedly reading, “Whoever messes with us gets tear-gassed.” The post’s caption was edited on Friday and now says “The girls”.
X users pointed out that Apple is a repeat offender when it came to supporting Zionism, hosting the Israeli series Tehran on their streaming service and facing allegations of matching donations to organisations working in occupied Israeli territories.
Netizens knew there was only one way to deal with this issue — a boycott of Apple TV. Some even considered boycotting Apple products entirely.
Homeland , the earlier US series that showed Islamabad as overrun with terrorists and their sympathisers, also had a much deeper Israeli connection. The series was adapted from the Israeli show Khatufim (Prisoners of War), which itself revolved around the IDF and its activities in Lebanon and Syria.
The original series also had another adaptation in India, focusing on two prisoners of war who were captured by Pakistan during the Kargil War of 1999. Both the Israeli show and the Indian adaptation were made by Keshet.
