Bab Al-Hara ("The Neighbourhood's Gate") is one of the most popular television series in the Arab world, reportedly watched by millions of people in the Arab world. The series chronicles the daily happenings and family dramas in a neighborhood in Damascus, Syria in the inter-war period under French rule when the local population yearned for independence. The appeal is cross-generational, and viewers include Muslims, Christians, Druze and Jews from Arab countries. The show was a huge success in the Arab World, so MBC managed to renew it for a second season. The series' second season was even a bigger success, and the finale was watched by over 50 million viewers around the Arab World. It was renewed for 10 more seasons. The show announced its cancellation due to a long run of seasons. The series made a comeback in Ramadan 2014, with season 6. It has been proposed that it be filmed in Dubai on film sets, but many Syrians protested against this as it removes the Bab Al Hara sensation. The sixth season premiered in Ramadan 2014 on MBC HD Channels and received mixed reviews.

Overview

Bab Al-Hara aired during Ramadan and forms part of the emerging modern tradition of the Ramadan soap opera. The Arab satellite channels broadcast special programming every night during Ramadan to try to capture audiences from among the families who have gathered together to eat and break the fast. Directed by Bassam al-Mulla and broadcast on MBC, the first installment of the series, comprising 31 episodes, aired during Ramadan in 2006 and enjoyed broad viewership and a positive reception. The second installment, entitled Bab al-Hara 2, was highly anticipated, receiving even wider acclaim in Ramadan of 2007. A third installment to be aired in Ramadan of 2008 was officially announced on al-Arabiya channel in October 2007, and focused on the post-marriage lives of the children of Abu Issam, the local doctor and barber. Like many of the most recent popular Arabic series, Bab al-Hara is a Syrian production, financed by the Gulf-state satellite channels. It reflects a new trend representing the shift of Arabic media dominance away from the Egyptians to the Syrians. Two more Bab al-Hara seasons were aired in Ramadan 2009 and 2010. Bab al-Hara 4 and 5 were produced directly after each other just like Bab al-Hara 1 and 2. This was announced just after airing 10 episodes of Bab al-Hara 3 after realizing that Bab al-Hara 3 was able to keep its audience and not decline in ratings. It is obvious that MBC will be the channel to broadcast the series during the next 2 years, although this year they did give the rights to Libya Al-Shababiya (Libya Youth Channel) to broadcast Bab al-Hara 3 at the same time of airing it in MBC.

Historical context

Bab al-Hara takes place in the 1930s and 1940s, a time when much of Western Asia was colonized by Western powers. Syria was under French control and Palestine – where some of the neighborhood men go to fight at the end of the second installment of the series – was British-occupied. Bab al-Hara depicts the last moments of Syrian society as it existed in its centuries-old Ottoman era make-up, just prior to the transition into colonial and post-colonial modernity. The series' hearkening back to this era partially explains its massive popularity, an expression of the Arab world's nostalgia and yearning for a revolution that came after the cataclysmic turmoil and cultural identity crisis ushered in by the colonial period.

Background

Bab al-Hara is based on an interpretation of life in the old city of Damascus. Every neighborhood, or hara, has its own Zaa’im, a chosen older man held in high regard. Ideally chosen Zaa’im based on his history in the neighborhood, the zaa’im depended on a number of men from the neighborhood gathered around him to assist him in his functions. These members along with the zaa’im constituted a small nucleus that ran the hara and decided on what was good for it. Wealthier members funded the zaa’im and had a say in its use, such as use for public renovation, given to charities for the poor or set aside for emergency uses. Members generally were of the mercantile class, having steady incomes from having shops or businesses, such as barber shops, bakeries, smiths, ghouta orchards, groceries or other merchant activities.

List of characters

Family of Abu Issam Family of Abu Hatem Family of Abu Zafer Family of Abu Bashir Family of Abu Khater Family of Abu Ibrahim Family of Abu Dibo Family of Abu Shehab Family of Abu Salim Family of Abu Bader Family of Ida3shiri Family of the Za3im Men of Abu Nar Haret al-Yehud Other Characters Season 8 Characters