Saudi Arabia slammed for hosting all-Israeli cast of ‘biblical epic’ set – Doha News

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Saudi Arabia is one of the two filming locations for the Israeli-produced film.

Following the controversial normalization declaration with Israel, Saudi Arabia has opened its doors to an all-Israeli production crew for the filming of Ballads of the Exodus.

This is the first time that a biblical epic with an all-Israeli cast and crew has been filmed in the Saudi kingdom.

https://t.co/inmmoIMF66

– Raed Khader – (edraedhardan) July 1, 2021

The film is a recreation of the Book of Exodus “and details the life of Moses, and its filming in Saudi Arabia was only made possible thanks to the signing of the Abrahamic Accords last year, which saw the Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Morocco and later Sudan formalizes its ties with Israel.

Twitter users described the presence of the actors and the Israeli crew in Saudi Arabia as “the beginning of the revelation of the false enmity” between the two states.

“Everything will be revealed,” one tweet read.

A PR Newswire report said most of the footage was shot around Jebel al-Lawz, “the mountain in northwestern Saudi Arabia considered by many to be the real Mount Sinai”, although this has been disputed. .

Among the various candidates considered by archaeologists, Jebel-al-Lawz is the only mountain with an unbroken ancient Jewish, Christian and Muslim tradition that identifies it as the historic Mount Sinai, according to the report.

According to the press release, the film was shot and produced in the same location where many of the events of the original book would have taken place.

In 2019, just weeks after Saudi Arabia opened its doors to international tourism and in the run-up to the Abrahamic Accords, the crew became the first group to enter the kingdom.

Since then, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in particular have come under fire for welcoming Israeli officials, businessmen and influencers to their lands despite global outrage and opposition from Palestinian factions.

This week, the UAE faced a deluge of criticism for officially inaugurating its first Israeli embassy in Abu Dhabi, especially as Israeli forces engaged in the illegal demolition of Palestinian homes and structures in Jerusalem. .

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