Arab channels to air anti-Israel Turkish series
Saudi, Dubai channels to start showing program on plight of Palestinians that angered Jewish state for showing Israeli forces shooting innocent civilians
Two Arab channels will soon start airing a Turkish television series on the plight of Palestinians that angered Israel, an official from the production company told AFP Friday.
The 13-episode "Separation: Palestine in Love and In War" has been sold to MBC, a Saudi-run pan-Arabic news and entertainment channel, and to a Dubai channel, said Zafer Kayaokay, art director at the Istanbul-based Çağla Productions.
MBC plans to begin the series on Saturday, he said, while the Dubai channel would follow suit in the near future.
The series was first broadcast by Turkey's state television in October, infuriating Israel, which said the program incited "hatred against Israel" and was "not worthy of being broadcast even in an enemy state."
The first episode showed Israeli forces shooting innocent Palestinian civilians. Israeli soldiers were shown killing a newborn baby girl and an elderly man on his way to pilgrimage in Mecca.
Turkey has been a military ally of Israel since 1996, but relations between the two have been tense since Israel's war on Gaza in early 2009, which Turkey vehemently criticized.
In January this year, bilateral ties became tense again over another television series depicting the adventures of a Turkish secret agent that Israel said depicted Jews as "baby-snatchers and war criminals."
Deputy Foreign Minister Daniel Ayalon gave the Turkish ambassador a public dressing down over the series, prompting Ankara to threaten to recall the envoy. Tensions were resolved after Israel issued a formal apology.
