The show titled “El-Nehaya”, which means “The End” in Arabic is one of many TV series premiering during the blessed month of Ramadan that began last week.
The new Egyptian TV drama has been condemned by Israel’s Foreign Ministry for predicting the destruction of Israel less than 100 years after its establishment.
A statement issued yesterday said the series “Is completely unacceptable especially because the two states have had a peace treaty for the past 41 years”.
In 1979, Egypt became the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel. Since current Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi took office in a military coup in 2013, relations between Cairo and Tel Aviv flourished as the two capitals are reportedly coordinating on several issues, including security in Sinai.
Set in the year 2120, the Egyptian series “El-Nehaya” – Arabic for “The End” – is about a computer engineer living in a dystopian future dominated by cyborg clones.
In the first episode, a teacher tells a class of students about “the war to liberate Jerusalem”, which he says occurred less than 100 years after Israel’s founding in 1948.
The teacher adds that people in Israel “ran away and returned to their countries of origin” in Europe.
In response to the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s statement, scriptwriter of the series, Amr Samir Atef, told the Egyptian Extra News channel:
“We present meaningful entertainment through this science fiction series. That’s why all the possibilities were on the table. All the possibilities were considered but the Israeli reaction, which I do not care about at all, was not.”
The series is produced by Synergy, one of Egypt’s largest production companies, which has strong links with the government of President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi.
The series airs on the ON television network, which is owned by a pro-government company.
The first episode of the drama has been removed from Youtube.
Amr Samir Atif, the writer of the series, told The Associated Press that the destruction of Israel is a possible future in the absence of real peace and true stability in the region.
“Peace should be based on justice,” he said.
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So, while the government of El Sisi the Usurper has been experienced flourishing relations with Isreal, the people of Egypt are changing their thoughts and narratives strengthening their resolve to being their brother’s keepers . It reminds me of a Yoruba adage – Bi iro ba lo fogun odun, Otito a si le e ba! ( Even if a lie is pedalled for twenty years, the truth will always catch up with it…. in its own time)