Writer of anti-ISIS TV series ‘Gharabeeb Sood’ responds to Qatar’s media attack

Saudi screenwriter Abdullah bin Bijad Al Otibi responded to Qatar’s media attack on his highly acclaimed Ramadan series “Gharabeeb Sood" (Black Crows) which targets the extremist ideology practiced by ISIS.

In an exclusive interview to Al Arabiya English, bin Bijad explained the reasons behind Qatar’s rage over exposing ISIS atrocities in the series.

He said: “I wrote many dramatic productions that targeted terrorism before, none of it have received a similar backlash.”

The writer was mainly referring to Qatar’s popular media especially AlJazeera media network claiming that the series depict life within the terrorist organization in an exaggerated manner.

“Qatar’s failure to provide a diplomatic political response regarding severing the ties with its Gulf neighbors is the main motive,” for the attack, the writer said.

“Qatari media deployed its hostile campaign led by AlJazeera in a conscious act as the country’s leadership decided to join forces with extremist groups and terrorist movements in Iraq, Syria, Egypt, Yemen and Afghanistan,” he added.

When asked if his previous works received the same hostility from radical supporters, bin Bijad replied: “Whenever I wrote works that defy and challenge extremist and radical principles, fatwas are launched to point me as an apostate from the religion of Islam.”

“My previous Ramadan series “Ala Abwab Juhannam” (At the Doors of Hell) in 2006 and the episode “Erhab academy” (Terrorism Academy) in “Tash ma Tash instigated a cleric named Abdurrahman Al-Baraak to issue a fatwa calling for my prosecution.”

The series is indeed disturbing to ISIS and the supporters of extremist thought as multiple threats have been reported targeting the cast and crew since the series kicked off this Ramadan.

Bin Bijad defended his work and views against Qatar’s media asserting that “Gharabeeb Sood” represents the reality of ISIS and does not make up or fabricates stories as claimed.

“ISIS’s evil doing cannot be presented on the screen, it is far worse than the limited part the series exposed. They are far more evil and vicious.”

Bin Bijad concluded his interview by saying that the series aims to raise awareness about the dangers of ISIS ideology and it stays true to facts.

He added that the last episodes will bring a surprise to the viewers, one that will back up his call and silence the false accusations.

The 30-part drama series is produced by The Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC) featuring on MBC1 during Ramadan.