The director of an Egyptian crime-comedy series has issued an apology following complaints about a scene that appeared to resemble the suffering of a family in Gaza.
Hisham Al Rashidi said any distress caused by the “painful scene” in Saturday's episode of Lunch Box was “completely unintended”.
The Arabic remake of the US series Good Girls is airing nightly during Ramadan on Egyptian broadcaster Al Nahar TV.
It has been criticised for a scene which appeared to closely resemble a video, spread on social media in October, of a Palestinian woman searching a Gaza hospital for her dead son, Youssef, following an Israeli bombing raid.
In the Lunch Box episode broadcast on Saturday, lead character Nada, played by actress Jamila Awad, goes into an electronic store looking for an employee who is also named Youssef. The dialogue that follows is similar to the real-life video from Gaza.
In a post on Instagram Stories, Al Rashidi said: “An apology is due to everyone for whom the dialogue of the painful scene of our sisters [in Gaza] was similar to the dialogue of the scene of the series, which was completely unintended.
“May God give patience to our people in Palestine and help them.”
The scene has been described as insensitive by some viewers, who called for a boycott of the show.
Posting on X, user Israa Al Hakeem wrote: “The least we can do about the decline of the Lunch Box series and its [production] team is to boycott the work … Do not tolerate the pain in Gaza.”
Fellow X user Ahmed Al Hossany used the word “vulgarity” to describe the scene and also criticised “the sloppiness [of] the writing, performance and photography”.
While there has been no official response on her social media channels, Awad reportedly posted a now-deleted statement on X stating that the scene's similarity to the tragic incident in Gaza was not part of the original script and that the tweak was down to actor improvisation.
An Egyptian remake of the American series Good Girls (2019 to 2021), Lunch Box follows the lives of three housewives turning to crime to alleviate their financial struggles.
Who was Alfred Nobel?
The Nobel Prize was created by wealthy Swedish chemist and entrepreneur Alfred Nobel.
- In his will he dictated that the bulk of his estate should be used to fund "prizes to those who, during the preceding year, have conferred the greatest benefit to humankind".
- Nobel is best known as the inventor of dynamite, but also wrote poetry and drama and could speak Russian, French, English and German by the age of 17. The five original prize categories reflect the interests closest to his heart.
- Nobel died in 1896 but it took until 1901, following a legal battle over his will, before the first prizes were awarded.
THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Coming soon
Torno Subito by Massimo Bottura
When the W Dubai – The Palm hotel opens at the end of this year, one of the highlights will be Massimo Bottura’s new restaurant, Torno Subito, which promises “to take guests on a journey back to 1960s Italy”. It is the three Michelinstarred chef’s first venture in Dubai and should be every bit as ambitious as you would expect from the man whose restaurant in Italy, Osteria Francescana, was crowned number one in this year’s list of the World’s 50 Best Restaurants.
Akira Back Dubai
Another exciting opening at the W Dubai – The Palm hotel is South Korean chef Akira Back’s new restaurant, which will continue to showcase some of the finest Asian food in the world. Back, whose Seoul restaurant, Dosa, won a Michelin star last year, describes his menu as, “an innovative Japanese cuisine prepared with a Korean accent”.
Dinner by Heston Blumenthal
The highly experimental chef, whose dishes are as much about spectacle as taste, opens his first restaurant in Dubai next year. Housed at The Royal Atlantis Resort & Residences, Dinner by Heston Blumenthal will feature contemporary twists on recipes that date back to the 1300s, including goats’ milk cheesecake. Always remember with a Blumenthal dish: nothing is quite as it seems.
Tickets
Tickets start at Dh100 for adults, while children can enter free on the opening day. For more information, visit www.mubadalawtc.com.
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
Who's who in Yemen conflict
Houthis: Iran-backed rebels who occupy Sanaa and run unrecognised government
Yemeni government: Exiled government in Aden led by eight-member Presidential Leadership Council
Southern Transitional Council: Faction in Yemeni government that seeks autonomy for the south
Habrish 'rebels': Tribal-backed forces feuding with STC over control of oil in government territory
Normcore explained
Something of a fashion anomaly, normcore is essentially a celebration of the unremarkable. The term was first popularised by an article in New York magazine in 2014 and has been dubbed “ugly”, “bland’ and "anti-style" by fashion writers. It’s hallmarks are comfort, a lack of pretentiousness and neutrality – it is a trend for those who would rather not stand out from the crowd. For the most part, the style is unisex, favouring loose silhouettes, thrift-shop threads, baseball caps and boyish trainers. It is important to note that normcore is not synonymous with cheapness or low quality; there are high-fashion brands, including Parisian label Vetements, that specialise in this style. Embraced by fashion-forward street-style stars around the globe, it’s uptake in the UAE has been relatively slow.
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As You Were
Liam Gallagher
(Warner Bros)
