http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=381251&version=1&template_id=37&parent_id=17
Brotherhood TV series angers Islamists in Egypt
Publish Date: Saturday,21 August, 2010, at 12:48 PM Doha Time
AFP/Cairo
A television series being broadcast throughout Ramadan has drawn the ire of
Egypt's Islamist opposition, who view it as additional pressure ahead of a
November parliamentary election. The Group focuses on the Muslim Brotherhood,
one of the most influential Islamist movements in the world. Critics say the
pro-government leanings of scriptwriter Waheed Hamed are blatant, and that the
timing of the series, just three months before the election, is no coincidence.
The son of the Brotherhood's founder Hassan al-Banna, who was assassinated in
1949, plans to sue. His father, who founded the group in 1928, has not yet been
depicted in the series, but it is not expected to be a reverent portrayal.
Indeed the group, which controls a fifth of parliament in Cairo and eschews
violence, is portrayed in the series as an organisation of cynical, violent
Islamists.
And in a departure from human rights reports that allege torture is routine in
Egypt, The Group features only abuse-free prisons and courteous interrogations.
"This is a security production, not an artistic production," charged
Brotherhood MP Hamdi Hassan.
The Brotherhood's Supreme Guide, Mohammed Badie, called the series an "attack
against the Brotherhood." Others in the group say its timing was meant to
undermine the Brotherhood ahead of the election.
Hamed, who says Islamists have threatened him, dismissed such accusations.
"Preparations for this series began in 2006 and filming started in January this
year. The plan was not to show it during Ramadan but it was ready to air," he
said. "What members of the Muslim Brotherhood brigade say has no basis in
truth. The series is not against them nor any institution, the series is about
the truth," he said. "It has nothing to do with elections," he said, adding
that elections are in any case decided by "lies and bribes."
