Egyptian television is currently airing a mini-series, set in 1948, about a Jewish family in Cairo. The show depicts Jews (but not Israel) in a surprisingly positive light, even if it papers over Egyptian anti-Semitism and, in general, exhibits little concern for historical accuracy. Steven A. Cook comments on the series’ significance:
Jews played important roles in Egyptian commerce, culture, and politics in the first half of the 20th century. [The show’s writers and producers] want to leverage a sanitized version of this history to make claims about Egyptian society—especially its once, and future, religious tolerance and inclusivity. . . . [U]nlike some . . . mini-series from the recent past that were notable for their anti-Semitic themes, Jews are portrayed sympathetically as authentic Egyptians, and as victims of the Muslim Brotherhood.
The profound national trauma of post-uprising Egypt has some Egyptians looking back to a time when the country was not locked in an all-consuming struggle with its violence, Jacobin-like discourse, pervasive repression, and widespread distrust. Under these difficult circumstances, Jews are a perfect device through which Egyptians can create a tolerant past if only to give the audience some faint hope of a more just, open, and less prejudiced future. . . .
For this then, everyone should welcome the new interest among some Egyptians in Egypt’s Jews. Yet that is not enough. In order to build that socially just, tolerant, and more representative society that Egyptians want, they will actually have to grapple with and revise a history that only has a vague resemblance to what they have been telling themselves about their Jewish brothers and sisters.
Read more on From the Potomac to the Euphrates: http://blogs.cfr.org/cook/2015/06/29/reinventing-egypts-jews/