WRITER AIMS PEN AT BLUEY
An award-winning Muslim writer has accused Australia’s iconic children’s TV program, Bluey, of promoting “genocide” against Arabic people.

In a new poem shared to Instagram, titled Bluey In The Genocide, novelist Omar Sakr referred to Cricket, an episode in the show’s third season that centres around the family of dogs playing the sport.

The episode, praised for its messages of good sportsmanship and family values, happens to be the series’ most popular, according to an ABC poll of 50,000 Bluey fans.

Cricket centres on Bluey’s red kelpie friend, Rusty, whose father is serving in the army. At one point, the episode shows Rusty’s dad writing a letter to his family from the war zone.

According to Mr Sakr (inset), “sportsmanship” wasn’t the only takeaway for viewers.
“We watch the cricket episode, All laconic drawls and summer Games, a dedicated pup learning To play while his father is away,” his poem reads.

“His name is Rusty, he’s a star At bat. My son laps it up, as do I Until the end.

“The scene shifts And there is the distant dad In combat fatigues, and I learn Even in this cartoon world There is a desert full of dogs, Soldiers and guns, and somewhere Out of frame, Arabs being put down.”

The ABC declined to comment on Mr Sakr’s criticisms.