For a long time, Saudis and Arab people in general used to watch several kinds of TV soaps that discussed social issues like marriage, business and relationships; most of these soaps were either Egyptian or Syrian. Then Turkey started contributing to entertainment television in the Arab world by presenting dubbed TV serials in a Syrian dialects, which were of a romantic theme and free, but not entirely suitable for family viewing from an Islamic perspective. As a result, the soaps ended up hugely popular but only with a specific audience. After the success of the most popular Turkish soaps to date: “Noor” and “ Moment of Farewell” on MBC in 2008 and 2009, MBC1 and MBC4 started airing from Saturday the 13-episode political drama: “Separation: Palestine in Love and In War” (“Cry of Stones”). It is a new drama series discussing Palestinian suffering and look at the latest political situation in the region, focusing on a Palestinian family that returns to Palestine after a trip to Jordan, only to see their destroyed home. The drama follows this family's suffering under Israeli occupation. The show has attracted the attention of the media and governments as well as ordinary people and has led to Israel asking MBC not to air the show because of MBC's large viewership in the region. Saudi Gazette spoke to a number of media communications' experts on how they think this series will impact the mindset of audiences in the Kingdom. “Viewing such a new genre of political dramas here is a very important change for us since most Arab countries and especially the Kingdom, are so affected by television in general,”said Saud Al-Kateb, a Mass Communications' Professor at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, and author who has issued a number of books talking about media, the Internet, new communication methods and journalism. “Why not take advantage of such interesting dramas?” “We have noticed that many people, and especially our youth, tend to forget about or ignore the Palestinian issue because of being exposed to too many other things like new communication methods, the global economic crisis, local political issues and conflict in their countries, so we need such serials to target those people and renew their enthusiasm for the Palestinian cause,” he added . According to Al-Kateb, Turkish serials have already attracted many people from a diverse range of ages, despite differences in culture. “Recently we watched a number of serials that were not suitable for our sons and daughters and made many parents angry, so this new series will allow families to watch freely and comfortably,” he said. Israel has repeatedly attempted to halt the airing of this show but Al-Kateb thinks it is “great that MBC is one of those channels that has refused to be politicized by Israel.” Started on Saturday this week, both Saudis and expatriates in the Kingdom expressed joy after watching the first episode. “We were looking to watch a political drama like this for a long time since we can both enjoy watching it and learn something in the process. It is also a good way to learn about what is happening in Palestine right now,” remarked Noor Rahimi, a Saudi university student, who prefer to skim politically-charged news without reading details, since “political details are almost boring.” Kassab Mohammed, a Palestinian shopkeeper in Jeddah called for the importance of producing such political dramas, not in Turkey, but rather, in Syria and Egypt. “The most important thing is to have accurate information that reflects the Palestinian reality without the fear of getting inaccurate information,” he said. “What we have heard about this serial is very interesting; we can check its accuracy and simplicity with newspapers and news channels.” We are glad to have such dramas that can enrich our children's knowledge and background about the political issues in our country, since we are far, and many of our children are neither interested in watching news or reading newspapers.”
