TIMES OF ISRAEL
by Elhanan Miller
June 4, 2015

In change of tone that reflects current anti-Brotherhood zeitgeist, soap opera ‘Jewish Quarter’ longs for the days when Jews, Muslims and Christians lived together harmoniously in Cairo

Egyptian soap operas, produced annually to entertain millions of Muslims breaking their fast during the holy month of Ramadan, have often been platforms for antisemitic and anti-Israeli vitriol. But a new drama about the Jews of Egypt scheduled to air this Ramadan, come June 18, promises to be significantly different. The plot of “Haret al-Yahood,” or The Jewish Quarter, unfolds in Cairo between two landmark events in 20th century Egyptian history: the 1952 Revolution — which replaced the ruling monarchy with the militaristic Free Officers Movement led by Muhammad Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser — and the 1956 Suez Crisis, known in Israel as the Kadesh Operation and in Egypt as the Tripartite Aggression. It depicts a love story between Ali, an Egyptian army officer…and Laila, a young Jewish woman. READ MORE