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 Other scenes in the show, which aired in the United States
this week, had walls covered with similarly pointed Arabic
messages: "There is no Homeland", "Homeland is not a show" and
"Black lives matter".
The graffiti were planted on the set of the show, which was
filmed in Berlin this summer, by a German-based trio who call
themselves the “Arabian Street Artists”.
Hired to make an area on the outskirts of Berlin look like a
refugee camp in Lebanon, they took the opportunity to make a
statement about the show's depiction of U.S. intelligence
efforts to thwart Middle Eastern terrorist plots.
After the show was aired on the Showtime network in the United
States on Sunday, and their subterfuge passed undetected, the
artists made public what they had done.
"The series has garnered the reputation of being the most
bigoted show on television for its inaccurate, undifferentiated
and highly biased depiction of Arabs, Pakistanis, and
Afghanistan, as well as its gross misrepresentations of the
cities of Beirut, Islamabad -- and the so-called Muslim world in
general," the artists, Heba Amin, Caram Kapp and one who uses
only the name Stone, said in a post on Amin's website.
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“For four seasons, and entering its fifth, ‘Homeland’ has maintained
the dichotomy of the photogenic, mainly white, mostly American
protector versus the evil and backwards Muslim threat."
Alex Gansa, co-creator of “Homeland”, said in a statement
distributed by Showtime: “We wish we’d caught these images before
they made it to air."
But he added: "As ‘Homeland’ always strives to be subversive in its
own right and a stimulus for conversation, we can’t help but admire
this act of artistic sabotage.”
Claire Danes has won two Emmys and two Golden Globes for her
portrayal of agent Mathison, who struggles to do her job while
afflicted with bi-polar disorder, but the show has been criticized
for inaccuracies and accused of stereotyping in its depiction of the
Middle East and Islamic culture.
(Reporting by Michael Roddy; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
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