Haret El Yahood is one of the hit series this Ramadan, creating a buzz in most of the Egyptian circles.

For those who aren’t watching the show, the show basically revolves around a place called “the Jewish corner” a.k.a. “Haret El Yahood” in Egypt, where back in the 1940s Jews, Christians, and Muslims used to live peacefully together in the same place, love each other as neighbors, and have very good relations overall. But then because of the war, things started to become unstable. The series show the difference between Zionism and Judaism, and the complexity of the issue. On the one hand, it shows there were a lot of Jews living in Egypt who loved it and were proud to be Egyptian, while on the other hand, there were others like Laila’s brother who adamantly supported the creation of Israel and hated Egypt and Palestine. In the midst of all of this, the story revolves around a love story between an Egyptian Jew, Laila, and a Muslim soldier in the Egyptian army, Aly.

Apart from the historic facts that some people say are not very accurate, such as dates, it is still a very good show to watch this Ramadan.

Acting:

  • Naturally, we love the main characters of the whole show, Mena Shalaby as Laila and Eyad Nasser as Aly. Our only complaint is that everything between them is exaggerated, but this is Egyptian drama. That was either because they wanted to elongate the episodes or they wanted to convince us that people in the old days used to have a lot of “mo7n.”
  • Ahmed Hatem, who acts Laila’s brother, has a great performance overall. He puts in a lot of effort to make a convincing bad guy.

ahmed hatem

  • Reham Abd El Ghaffour (Ebtehal), Sayed Ragab (El 3assal) and Hala Sidki’s acting is exquisite.

haret-el-yahood

Art Direction and Styling:

  • The fashion overall is inspiring. Everyone is in love with Menna Shalaby’s dresses, makeup, and hair in particular. Generally, all the actresses are dressed glamorously, it made us want to go back in time and live in this era. That was the true meaning of fashion!

  • The set, the décor, the houses, coffee shops and the streets are perfect.

Politically:

  • The Israel Embassy in Egypt loved it at first and said that it shows exactly the truth of Jews and their kind nature.

Haret el yahood 3

  • However, soon they changed their opinion to actually opposing the series because “it ruins the image of Israel and motivates people against it,” although the series is  just art and freedom of expression.

haret el yahood

This series by all means is one of the strongest and best series this Ramadan. It tackles different points, as well as it shows us how Egypt and its society was back then.