GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — This Ramadan, Palestinians are entertaining themselves by watching the popular dramas “Kafr al-Lawz,” “Bas ya Zalameh,” “Fida’i 2” and “Watan Ala Watar.” They offer viewers tastes of satire, social commentary and drama in examining life in the Gaza Strip and West Bank. The series are positive additions to Palestinian drama, which has to compete with the more than 80 Arab TV dramas that began airing at the start of Ramadan.

Arab TV channels bought the rights to three of the series, “Watan Ala Watar” being the exception, to broadcast during Ramadan. Despite their low production quality, the Palestinian series are highly rated as evidenced by the number of views after being posted online following their broadcast. Some of them have registered more than 200,000 views. 

“Bas ya Zalameh” ("Enough Man!") is a satirical comedy about the trials and tribulations of daily Palestinian life, including societal and other problems, like electricity cuts. It is being broadcast on the Jordanian Roya TV. The previous seasons had been available to watch online.

Hisham Adnan, an actor in the show, told Al-Monitor that the series’ objective is to raise awareness of social problems and issues in a comical way, but without trying to provide specific solutions to them. The popularity of the series over the past three seasons has prompted the show's team — the two main actors, the director, the producer and the cameraman — to work on another season of the series. The first season premiered in 2013.