Zahra's Blue Eyes
Zahra's Blue Eyes, also titled For You, Palestine, is an Iranian television series which premiered in 2004 on Sahar 1. It was created by 'Ali Derakhshi, a former official of the Iranian Education Ministry. Set in the West Bank, the plot of the series mostly centers around Israeli military and civilians (all dressed in the traditional clothing of religious Jews) conspiring to steal the eyes of Palestinian children. It was made in Persian but also dubbed into Arabic for further broadcast.
Plot
The series, which claims that Israeli doctors are harvesting organs from Palestinian children, and focuses on the campaign of fictional prime-ministerial candidate Yitzhak Cohen, who declares in a speech that Jews "are the best of the races in the world." Cohen becomes obsessed with seizing the eyes of a young Palestinian girl named Zahra. To this end, Israelis pose as United Nations employees who come to a Palestinian school and check children in order to "prevent the spreading of an eye disease" but really want to inspect the class for students with the best eyes. After an extremely graphic surgery, Zahra is left blind by the Israeli doctors.[1]
In episode two of the series, it is revealled that the Israeli president is being kept alive by organs stolen from Palestinian children, and an Israeli military commander is seen kidnapping UN employees and Palestinians.
Episodes
- Preparations for Stealing Palestinian Children's Organs
- Palestinian Children Are taken to Israeli Hospital
- Zahra Is Taken to Itzhak and Theodor Cohen's Mansion
- Zionists Prepare to Implant Zahra's Eyes in Theodor
- Zahra Escapes Evil Zionist Palace
- A Good Jew Helps Zahra, Before He is Murdered
- Zahra Is Blinded, Rest of Characters Are Killed
International reactions
Zahra's Blue Eyes and other original series from Sahar TV were banned in France. The series has received condemnation outside of the Middle East due to its usage of heavily anti-Semitic depictions of Jewish people, particularly Israelis. Additionally, 15 members of the United States Congress, both Democrats and Republicans (including Tom Lantos, then the only Holocaust survivor sitting in the legislature), wrote to the director of the Interests Section of the Islamic Republic of Iran to condemn the series.
References
- ↑ How Do You Say Hate in Persian? by Hilary Krieger, Jerusalem Post, January 11, 2005.
- Israel Is 'Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes,' Iranian TV Series Says by Susan Jones (CNSNews) December 23, 2004 (via the Internet Archive)
See also
External links
- Zahra's Blue Eyes on MEMRI
- MEMRI TV Project Special Report: Iranian TV Drama Series about Israeli Government Stealing Palestinian Children's Eyes, MEMRI TV, Special Dispatch No.833, December 22, 2004.
