Graffiti artists criticized what they described as the stereotypical portrayal of Arabs and Muslims in the American television series Homeland.
The production hired the artists to create graffiti for a scene filmed in Berlin. They included phrases reading “Homeland is racist” and “Homeland is nonsense”—literally, “Homeland is watermelon.”
In a statement, the artists said they were commissioned in June to add authenticity to a set depicting a refugee camp.
The episode containing the disputed scene was scheduled to air the following Sunday.
Some of the writing appears briefly in the background of scenes depicting a Syrian refugee camp in Lebanon.
The artists said they initially hesitated to accept the work, then saw an opportunity to express their own and others’ opposition to the series.
“It was the right moment to express our views by subverting the message the show itself uses,” they said.
They added that none of the production staff checked what they were writing.
The series’ second episode had also drawn criticism from viewers who said its portrayal of Hamra Street, a major street in Beirut, bore no resemblance to reality.
Pakistani viewers had likewise objected to the portrayal of Islamabad in other episodes, including a terrorist character whose name was almost identical to that of Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States.