I had boycotted the show

as it is so frustrating and
insulting to watch it
-Heba Y. Amin
- Madelyn D.

Arabic Graffiti Seen on

Homeland Sends Message to Viewers
What Happened?
For those of you who
dont know, Homeland is a
television series created by

no

Homeland,

and

Homeland is not a show.

This was not intended by the
producers.

Gideon Raff, Howard Gordon,

Prior to the airing of

and Alex Gansa that is about a

this episode, the producers

man who was captured by al-

of the show hired Heba Y.

Qaeda. Because of this, a

Amin, an Egyptian artist,

woman suspects that he was

along

with

two

others,

brainwashed and that he poses a threat to the United

Caram Kapp and Stone, to add authenticity into a

States because of it. While thought to be a

scene by writing Arabic graffiti on the walls.

fascinating and thought-provoking show by some, it

However, the three had a different plan in mind.

is also thought to be a program that is inaccurate

and highly biased, as stated by the New York
Times, because of its depiction of Arabs, especially
Muslims.

The artists, who wrote the aforementioned

derogatory comments about the show, wanted to
express their resentment. They felt that the show
was unable to accurately portray the Muslim cities

Viewers of a recent episode (at least, those of

and were angered by its biased image of Pakistanis,

them who could interpret Arabic writing) may have

Afghans, and Arabs. The show, among other false

noticed something a little off about the Syrian

information, incorrectly implied that al Qaeda was

refugee camp scene. Written on the walls were

an Iranian venture that wanted revenge from the

messages such as Homeland is racist, There is

U.S, even though it is really a group of extremist

Sunni Muslims completely unrelated to Iran. It also

Washington Times. This editorial argues that the

included a scene that depicted Lebanons capital as a

Middle East is not, in fact, a misperceived region,

violent and unsafe place, where in reality, it is a safe,

but it is a place where millions ofrefugees,

peaceful place. The show, according to Ms. Amin,

[run]ning for their lives away from that very same

displayed the Middle East in a negative way overall.

misperceived region. This same editorial argues

She even says, No doubt that [Homeland] looks

further that Homeland is not racist at all, because,

good and is well acted, but I had boycotted the show

in its first season, a white American military man

as it is so frustrating and insulting to watch it (The

was featured as a terrorist and Muslims in the show

New York Times). The writing went unnoticed to the

are not always associated with an evil role. There

producers, who were said to have overlooked it or

are many Muslim characters who are CIA operatives

were unable to read the writing.

and staff. On the other hand, in the Forward

editorial, Sigal Samuel clearly sides with the three

What the Producers Had to Say

The

producers

of

Homeland,

artists. She believes that the producers of

while

Homeland do not respect the Middle East region

unaware of the graffiti before the episode was aired,

and do not even care enough to truly incorporate

were surprisingly okay with the hacking of their

their culture into the show. She quotes the artists,

show. One producer, Alex Gansa says, We wish

who said, The content of what was written on the

we'd caught these images before they made it to

walls was of no concern. In their eyes, Arabic

air However, as 'Homeland' always strives to be

script is merely a supplementary visual that

subversive in its own right and a stimulus for

completes the horror-fantasy of the Middle East, a

conversation, we cant help but admire this act of

poster image dehumanizing an entire region to

artistic sabotage". While the producers were not

human-less figures in black burkas and moreover,

necessarily thrilled by the act, they respected it and

this season, to refugees. This particular editorial

did not express anger about it (Washington Post).

empathizes with Muslims for being inaccurately

What the Editorials Said

While this act was praised by some, and just
accepted by others, some sources say that

portrayed in the show.

Analysis
All in all, the real conflict stems from

Homeland should not be punished for simply

Americans creating a vicious stereotype for all

portraying the violent truth about the destruction by

Muslims. While there are millions of Muslims in the

Islamists of the Arab world, as stated by The

world, only a small percentage of them are terrorists.

While we have the right to freedom of expression,

we must be more careful in the future in order to be
fair to all Muslims and respect their religion.
Followers of Islam are constantly struggling to
assimilate with society and fight off religious
stereotypes. If shows and other organizations such
as Homeland continue to offend Muslims and
other religious groups, this can cause major conflict
all throughout the world. Therefore, it is important
to remain politically correct and be accepting of all
religions to prevent violence from spreading.