Published: 28 April 2020
Last updated: 5 March 2024
AS A PALESTINIAN, I had only heard about how Israel’s undercover units operate in occupied Palestine through documentaries produced by Arab agencies, so I watched Faua with great curiosity.
Much of season three takes place in the West Bank region of Dhahiriya, a place I know very well. Despite how it is depicted in Fauda, nowadays it is rare for men to be seen wearing abaye (the long dress) outside, or women wearing khimar (the veil covering the face and hair).
Dhahiriya is considered one of the more open-minded towns in the southern regions of Hebron. Fauda failed to capture the setting of this busy place authentically.
The show also confused customs and traditions in certain parts. When the character Jihad was freed, the reception that took place at his home was far from realistic. Hamas people do not hold mixed gatherings, nor would they play musical instruments.
They have specific songs related to their movement and ideology that they play at such events. It is against their beliefs to have men hold hands, clap or dance with women in public gatherings.
The politics of ‘security co-operation’
Today, with over 44% of public sector employees in the Palestinian Authority working in the security sector (more than 80,000 people), it remains a major provider of income to the Palestinian population. Israeli army officials estimate that the Palestinian security forces are responsible for thwarting 30-40% of attacks conducted in the West Bank.
Fauda portrays the “security cooperation” as poison in honey. In a scene where an Israeli army captain enters the office of a Palestinian intelligence director, the men hug and have a warm conversation.
In real life, this intimate interaction would be deeply frowned upon by many Palestinians, as most interactions a Palestinian would have with a solider would be unpleasant at best.
For many Palestinians, soldiers represent an oppressive occupation, and are seen by most to be the enemy, so the intimacy displayed here is unrealistic. Many Palestinians view this co-operation and the forms of support the Palestinian authorities provide to the Israeli army in arresting Palestinians as a betrayal.
The other scene I found provocative was when the Israeli unit broke into a boxing club and identified themselves as the Palestinian preventive security office. They attacked a woman, provoked the young men there with a hostile attitude, and pointed a gun to the owner of the club.
Later, the Israeli soldiers argue with each other about the purpose of the mission, discussing that their goal should be to keep the PA and Hamas people busy hating each other and fighting against each other instead of fighting against the Israeli occupation.
Palestinians have been focused on the internal conflict between political parties more than they have been focused on the occupation and resistance. It is quite disappointing that this clichéd strategy of divide and conquer is still effective after decades of conflict.
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However, it is also surprising that the series depicts this strategy so bluntly, with no regard to the enormous efforts of people to people bridge building initiatives that has been going on for many years now.
While the first two seasons were set in the West Bank, this new season includes scenes set in Gaza, and I was curious to see how the coastal strip would be portrayed. Sadly, it was exceptionally unfair to the people of Gaza, not representing the painful stories of numerous young people who are suffering from long lasting and life changing consequences of war.
Unlike the empathetic way it depicted the suffering of Israeli families who lost loved ones, the scenes depicted in the streets of Gaza never included images of the many broken young people who have lost limbs and loved ones to the war.
Had they done so, the audience would have been able to better understand the motivation behind Gazans’ struggle for the Israeli siege and blockade to end. It would have helped the audience to better understand the March of Return protests that took place on many Fridays last year.
It felt to me that Fauda was about good guys (the Israelis) fighting against the bad guys (the Palestinians). When I shared my thoughts about the series with some Israeli friends, they all agreed that this season was much less nuanced than the previous seasons. I saw it as a story of violence, action and unreal events, just like an action movie that is completely divorced from reality.
Netflix has been a platform for telling many Jewish stories with great empathy, especially from the time of the Second World War. Most of these depictions were emotional and fair to Jewish history, especially the The Zookeeper’s Wife, which I watched with my children, hoping that such movies will get us to know the "other" on the human level.
Getting people to sympathise with each other is the shortest way to bridge the gaps and make peace. Unfortunately, I can't say that Fauda achieved this in its depiction of my people’s narrative.
My hope is to see more balance and nuance in films and television shows about the Palestinian Israeli conflict. I would like to think that all parties in this industry are after the truth and only the truth, without supporting a certain government's agenda, without underestimating or underrepresenting the suffering of any people.
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