Damascus-Sana
The Jerusalem Guard series, written by writer Hassan M. Yusuf and directed by Basil Al-Khatib, produced by the Radio and Television Production Corporation, reminiscent of the image of the resistance drama in the face of normalization with the Zionist occupation entity, combining the idea with the text and the exceptional performance of the acting crew, so that the work becomes a dramatic icon that embodied the biography of Bishop Ilarion Kabuji and documented the years of his struggle and standing With right and resistance.
The series, starring Rashid Assaf, starring the life of Bishop Kabouji, who was born in Aleppo in 1922, and who painted a bishop for the Royal Roman Catholics in Jerusalem in 1965 and put himself in the service of the cause of Palestine and its people until the occupation authorities arrested him and imprisoned him on charges of smuggling weapons to the Palestinian resistance until the Vatican intervened to release him and was transferred to Rome, where he spent the rest of his life until his death in 2017.
The director of the cultural center in Abu Rummaneh Rabab Ahmed considered that the guard of Jerusalem offers a lesson in patriotism at a time when Arab stations are chasing behind normalization with the enemy, while the director of Damascus culture, Waseem al-Mbaied, stressed the importance of highlighting this huge dramatic work within the series of documentary lectures launched by the Damascus Culture Directorate because The bishop's biography should remain a beacon for generations.
Father Zahlawi considered that Kabbuji was a bishop of the Palestinian cause and in his life followed in the footsteps of Christ, was a model of resistance in rejecting the occupation and his biography deserved documentation.
The writer Youssef talked about his journey with the personality of Kabouji, which started soon after his death, as the radio and television production organization contacted him to write the work, indicating that he stipulated that the director of the work be Basil Al-Khatib.
Youssef based the writing of the series’s script on a book called My Memories in Prison, which is a press interview he had with Bishop Kabouji, the two Lebanese journalists, Sarkis Abu Zaid and Antoine Francis, and he has very rich details about the bishop’s life, in addition to using audio recordings and a video of the Archbishop, and a book by the writer Haider Haider, he narrated a lot about His life.
As for the director of Al-Khatib's work, he indicated that his journey with this great character started since he was eight years old in 1974 and the bishop was then under arrest and trial, as he watched his father, the late poet Youssef Al-Khatib, writing a poem to send to the bishop in his detention in occupied Palestine, which became a badge for the series where It was sung by singer Mayada Bselis and composed by musician Samir Kouyefati.
And Al-Khatib indicated that the work clerk made a great and extraordinary effort during the preparation of the scenario that required him to make contacts and go to Aleppo so that he would meet people who were in direct contact with the late bishop, noting that he in turn went to try to collect materials about the places he was visiting and the people who knew him, especially the sister Muntaha, who was responsible for the affairs of the bishop in the last thirty years of his life, when she initially refused to provide information about her great sorrow over the late, but later turned into a great supporter of the series.
As for the child Rabie Jan, who embodied the bishop’s personality in his childhood, he confirmed that this embodiment was a challenge for him in terms of tone and personality, as he worked hard to perform the role convincingly.
And the Directorate of Culture in Damascus honored the family of work for their efforts to accomplish this dramatic, resistant project.
Mays al-Ani