Lebanon threatens to sue ‘Homeland’ over its portrayal

Lebanon’s tourism minister is considering suing the makers of the hit US TV series Homeland over the way Beirut is portrayed.

Fadi Abboud said he is upset about the portrayal of Beirut as swarming with militants.

In a scene from the latest episode, a street in the Lebanese capital is shown thronged with militants carrying assault weapons as a jeep pulls up carrying the world’s No 1 jihadi to a meeting with top Hezbollah commanders. US snipers lurk on a rooftop. The scene was filmed in Israel.

“The information minister is studying media laws to see what can be done,” Abboud said.

He pointed to the scene with the snipers. Hamra St in West Beirut is portrayed as a hotbed of violence, but is in fact a lively neighbourhood packed with cafes, book shops and pubs.

“It showed Hamra St with militia roaming in it. This does not reflect reality,” he said.

Twentieth Century Fox Television refused to comment.

Homeland, based on the Israeli series Prisoners of War, is about a US Marine who was a POW for years in the Middle East. The government and the public see him as a war hero, but a CIA operative played by Claire Danes believes he is a threat to the US.

The second season began last month, and some of the scenes are shot in Tel Aviv, about 240km from Beirut.

Despite its popularity, Homeland does not appear to have reached Hezbollah’s radar. “I have no idea what you are talking about,” Hezbollah spokesman Ibrahim al-Moussawi told the Associated Press when asked about the show. “This is the first I’m hearing about it.” Still, he described Abboud’s plan to sue the producers as “a good step”.

Beirut has developed impressively in the two decades since its civil war ended. But the portrayal of Lebanon as swarming with guns is hardly unreasonable.

The country has dozens of armed militias that still flourish, and yesterday, a car bomb ripped through Beirut, killing at least eight and wounding up to 80.