Bahrain Mirror (Exclusive): Jewish member of the Bahraini Shura Council Nancy Khedouri said that she provided many consultations and contributed to the finest details of the "Umm Haroun" series. "I contributed to the smallest of details related to the religious rituals of the Jewish community and everything about the Jewish families in the drama," she said in an interview with Russia Today.

"We wrote the series and contacted Mrs. Nancy about Jewish religious rituals, customs and traditions," said the authors of the series, brothers Mohammed and Ali Shams.

In the same interview, they expressed the joy they felt since the beginning of the series. "It is very beautiful. As long as we are seeing arguments over the subject and as long as everyone is saying something about a character, it means that we could reach a lot of people."

"The series sparked controversy because the idea is very bold and the new topic tells about the history of Jews and Christians in the Gulf," said Khedouri. "Everyone should watch all the episodes before criticizing the series."

"The series has nothing to do with politics," she noted.

Khedouri has been a member of Bahrain's Shura Council, appointed by the king, since 2010 and is also the author of a book on the history of the Jewish community in Bahrain entitled "From the beginning to present day". She highlighted that "the series was inspired by real-life characters who existed and were popular among people, and the authors added imagination and drama to them."

 Asked if the scenes matched what she imagined when the authors were consulting with her, Khedouri commented, "Of course, I was impressed with the work and so is everyone.  We don't receive calls or messages from 10 to 11 o'clock. We only want to sit and enjoy the Umm Haroun series."

Regarding the crew's mastering of the accent of Gulf Jews, she said they are "very fluent... especially those who played the role of the rabbi's family... It's an Arab accent mixed with some Iraqi."

She went on to talk about some of her contributions to the series, "I advised, for example, that when the rabbi's family is home, his wife calls him 'Dahood', but in the rest of the series in general his name is 'Daoud' so that there is a difference. This is a simple example to show the difference in pronunciation at home and with people in general."

The Shams brothers stated "the actors spoke with the accent that Jewish families used to speak with before. After long research and lengthy meetings with Nancy's help, we were able to figure out the accent they used to speak with at that time."

Responding to a question, Khedouri said "I can't say for sure what will happen after this wonderful series (...) There is a character named Massouda Shaul, a Jewish woman who also has another story. She came from Iraq to Bahrain with sewing tools and taught Bahraini women how to make the [traditional Bahraini] Nashl gown. This is another woman and maybe authors would love to write her life story, another beautiful story."

"I want to congratulate the writers, cast and directors on the success of this series, especially all the actors who have mastered their roles creatively, distinctively and excitingly. As I heard today from exclusive sources, there are approximately 113 million viewers of the series on television and the Shahid application. Congratulations on the success of the series."

"We are all proud as Arab citizens living in Bahrain that we have rights and obligations. We live in grace, God bless our Sheikhs," she added.

Arabic Version