A group of ultra-conservative men raided the Nessma TV channel in Tunisia and attacked its staff after the channel aired the French film “Persepolis,” which they said shows a portrayal of God, activists reported on Sunday. Security forces arrested 50 persons following the attack on Sunday and an investigation is underway. The Tunisian channel was recently put under fire after it aired the autobiographical animation film dubbed in Arabic and a number of people in the country started an angry campaign on social websites such as Facebook, calling for the closing of the channel for showing the film. Persepolis is an award-wining 2007 French animation film based on Marjane Satrapi's autobiographical graphic novel under the same name and tells the story of the Iranian revolution through her eyes as a little girl and follows her as she fails to adapt to the new Islamic rule of Iran, so her parents send her abroad to finish her studies. The film narrates her leaving the country and returning to find that both she and her homeland have changed. The film was written and directed by Satrapi with Vincent Paronnaud. The part of the film that enraged the conservative men is meant to be a fantasy conversation between a young Satrapi and God, all pictured through the little girl's imagination. The teachings of Islam prohibit the portrayal of God, the Prophet Mohamed and his family, in addition to his close followers. A joint Arabic production series telling the story of al-Hassan and al-Hussein this past Ramadan was viscously attacked and many tried to take it off the air for its portrayal of the Prophet's nephews. The series aired fully, but was followed by lawsuits and defamation cases. BM
