Artists sneak 'Homeland is a joke' into the show's Arabic graffiti

Other messages included 'this show does not represent the views of the artists' and 'Homeland is watermelon'

Homeland hired some graffiti artists to daub Arabic phrases on walls in season 5, but it seems no-one thought to check what they meant.

The artists were hired to add authenticity to a refugee camp but did anything but, spraying “Homeland is racist”, “Homeland is a joke, and it didn’t make us laugh” and “#blacklivesmatter” on its walls.

Heba Amin, Caram Kapp and Stone revealed the prank in a statement, explaining why they “hacked an award-winning show”.

“The series has garnered the reputation of being the most bigoted show on television for its inaccurate, undifferentiated and highly biased depiction of Arabs, Pakistanis, and Afghans, as well as its gross misrepresentations of the cities of Beirut, Islamabad- and the so-called Muslim world in general,” they wrote.

'Homeland is racist'

'Homeland is racist'

'Freedom... now in 3-D!'

'#blacklivesmatter'

'Homeland is watermelon'

“For four seasons, and entering its fifth, “Homeland” has maintained the dichotomy of the photogenic, mainly white, mostly American protector versus the evil and backwards Muslim threat.”

“Given the series’ reputation,” they continued, “we were not easily convinced, until we considered what a moment of intervention could relay about our own and many others’ political discontent with the series. It was our moment to make our point by subverting the message using the show itself.”

Other messages they snuck in included “the situation is not to be trusted”, “this show does not represent the views of the artists,” and the rather excellent “Homeland is watermelon”.

The show’s set producers were apparently "too frantic to pay any attention" to the artwork. "In their eyes, Arabic script is merely a supplementary visual that completes the horror-fantasy of the Middle East," the artists added.

Showtime, the US network behind Homeland, has yet respond to requests for comment.