2024-01-11 17:45:00
– “Fauda” star seriously injured in Gaza
The series “Fauda” has always been considered frighteningly realistic. Several actors actually went to war in the Gaza Strip.
Published: January 11, 2024, 6:45 p.m
Patriotism and propaganda: The Israeli actor Idan Amedi (m.) with his unit.
Photo: PD
A few days ago, six Israeli soldiers were killed in the center of the Gaza Strip when a military vehicle carrying explosives exploded near them. Idan Amedi, another soldier in the unit, was seriously injured. The 35-year-old is now on everyone’s lips because his full-time job is not a soldier, but a musician and actor. In the Netflix series “Fauda” – an international hit – he plays Sagi Tzur, a newcomer to an elite Israeli counter-terrorism unit.
The Israeli thriller series, which entered its fourth season a year ago, has always been a fascinating mix of fiction and reality. Amedi’s misfortune is now the uncanny climax of this interrelationship.
“Fauda” means “chaos” in Arabic, the term is also used to describe the conditions in the Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. In the series, the Israeli agents use it as a code word for canceling a failed mission. But above all it applies to the violence and confusion that the Middle East conflict has been causing in the minds and hearts of enemy peoples for decades.
Amedi in uniform – for the Netflix series “Fauda”.
Photo: PD
Against this backdrop, the series introduces viewers to Israel’s fight once morest terrorism, from the West Bank to the Gaza Strip to Europe. “Fauda” is regarding the real-life special unit Mista’arvim, whose members mix with the Arab population: perfectly bilingual soldiers who free hostages, carry out kidnappings and also carry out assassinations. They’re not smart, smooth-cheeked double-zero agents, but chain-smoking, sweaty, unshaven guys. In the chaos of Ramallah and Gaza there is no time for cool sayings and other fictional agent behavior.
The series was celebrated by left- and right-wing Israeli newspapers and even classified as a political event. “Fauda” is not an entertainment show, but shows the unvarnished truth. What this looks like is, of course, controversial – this is also a parallel to the current debate regarding the war in Israel. “Fauda,” say critics of the series, is ideological and trivializes the plight of the Palestinians, while the merciless actions of the Israeli security forces are romanticized as everyday life for agents.
On the other hand, “Fauda” does something that was a novelty in Israeli TV entertainment. The series delves into the enemy’s culture, the agents build personal relationships with him and cannot help but sympathize with him. Message: Not every Palestinian is a potential terrorist, the vast majority simply want to go regarding their lives and provide for their families.
This equally exciting and educational insight into the politics and culture of the two peoples is thanks to the two creators of the series: journalist and political expert Avi Issacharoff and Lior Raz. The latter is the son of Iraqi-Algerian Jews; he also plays the main role in “Fauda”: Doron Kabilio, the testosterone-driven head of the anti-terror unit in question. It’s another line from fiction to reality, as Raz enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces at 18 and became a member of Sayeret Duvdevan, an elite counterterrorism unit.
Before Raz became famous himself, he served another star: as Arnold Schwarzenegger’s bodyguard in Hollywood. On October 7, when Hamas terrorists massacred more than 1,200 Israelis, he was torn from his sweet stardom. The attacks were still underway when sensational videos appeared on social media.
One showed Lior Raz, accompanied by Avi Issacharoff, taking shelter behind a wall as rockets explode nearby. A caption for the recordings stated that the series creators had rushed to the south of Israel to support their “brave brothers in arms”. The two later said in interviews that they had brought two Israeli families from Sderot to safety.
The next day, another “Fauda” actor entered the social media stage: Idan Amedi. Dressed in Israel Defense Forces uniform, he declared that he had joined the fight once morest Hamas. The video ended with the note: “This is not a scene from ‘Fauda’, this is real life.”
The fact that committed stars travel to crisis areas to draw attention to the grievances (and themselves) is nothing new. Sean Penn jetted to Ukraine where he met with President Zelensky. Iron Maiden singer Bruce Dickinson, who has a pilot’s license, famously flew British soldiers out of Afghanistan.
But Amedi wanted to go behind the front lines. He wrote on Instagram that he would no longer be seen in show business for a year. He has to fight now. In another clip, he shows, now in the Gaza Strip, how he counts down before blowing up a target and dedicates the video to the victims of October 7th and two fallen comrades.
Skillful propaganda or honest patriotism? On social media, where the war polarizes people all over the world, opinions naturally also differ in the Amedi case. A comparison often made is that 20,000 dead residents of Gaza are compared to 170 dead Israeli soldiers. Why should you celebrate an injured actor?
What happened to Amedi’s unit is now known. An Israeli tank shelled a building, causing a utility pole to tip over onto the truck carrying the explosives, triggering the deadly explosion.
Israel, this is how the incident can be interpreted, cannot rely on overwhelming military superiority – not even on “clean” war with drones. Deceived by the illusion of a war without Israeli deaths, the country has hidden behind an army of sensors. At least that is the criticism that “Fauda” expresses by sending its protagonists into house-to-house fighting and undercover operations.
It is bitterly ironic that Idan Amedi, of all people, is now serving as a real example of this. There is at least one difference from the fictional events in “Fauda”: While one main character dies in the series each season, Amedi’s condition is stable, according to Israeli media reports.
“Fauda” and other seriesPhilippe Doubt is co-head of the life department. He studied English and journalism.More information@delabass
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