As in many countries in the Middle East, Fauda's fifth season has been trending in Pakistan this month. The popularity of the Israeli spy thriller in Arab countries has been attributed to a number of factors, ranging from 'hate-watching' to a growing trend of closeted support for Israel in these countries. Others simply argue that the show's writing and production quality make it a must-watch series for global audiences, regardless of any political narrative.
While these arguments are applicable to Pakistan as well, the country's case is unique in many ways. Although Pakistan has long seen itself as an active participant in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict out of a sense of Islamic solidarity, Fauda is, for Pakistanis, a foreign show in two languages – one of them, Hebrew, not spoken at all in Pakistan, and the other, Arabic, understood by a negligible segment of the population.
Much like Pakistan's twisted animosity toward Israel, its struggling economy's masochistic bid to boycott Western companies over the Gaza War, or its intelligentsia's perverted rejection of any Arab-Israeli reconciliation, the country's enthusiasm for Fauda is, at the very least, bizarre. And yet there's a tangible rationale that explains this growing phenomenon.
In recent years, Pakistan has been undergoing an ideological transformation. Backlash against the country's all-powerful army has exploded amid the military leadership's sidelining of former prime minister Imran Khan. As a result, the national narrative the military establishment has imposed since the country's inception has collapsed. This includes the Pakistani state's official version of its own history.
Even as the Pakistani army has worked behind the scenes with Israeli agencies over the decades, and has recently been testing the waters on formalizing relations with Israel, the military has nonetheless upheld an Islamist and often antisemitic public discourse. But Fauda isn't the first sign of Pakistanis defying such official state narratives in the realm of entertainment.
An example closer to home is the success of Dhurandhar, a Bollywood blockbuster that trended as the number one movie on Pakistani Netflix this year, despite portraying Indian political narratives that are hostile to Pakistan. The army's continued crackdown amid mounting economic crises, coupled with India's emergence as a global power, has prompted a nationwide rethink. A similar transformation has been taking place regarding Israel.
Even as the discourse in Pakistan remains dominated by Islamist and leftist ideologues, both equally hostile to Israel's existence, there has been a rise in the number of young thinkers and writers who don't buy into either absolutist ideology. Some have been writing for the Israeli press; others have even managed to visit Israel.
Imtiaz Mir, one of the Pakistani journalists who visited Israel, was killed last year for his advocacy of peace with the Jewish state. Clearly, many Pakistanis have had enough of the genocidal antagonism against Israel and have long since begun to see through the hypocrisy of some anti-Israeli arguments.
Watching Fauda in Pakistan, in other words, can be seen as an expression of dissent against skewed narratives on Israel, and a quiet reawakening to regional and global realities.
Kunwar Khuldune Shahid is a Pakistan-based correspondent for The Diplomat, an editor at 101Reporters, and co-author of "Politics, Economy and Society – Essays on Pakistan and Beyond."
