Humor heals, Palestinian comedian strikes chords in occupied city – Middle East Monitor

Palestinian-American Amer Zar is on a mission to heal through humor. Reuters report.

In 2015, he brought in fellow Arab-American comedians from the United States to begin performing stand-up in occupied Palestinian cities, including Nablus, Bethlehem, and Ramallah.

Seven years later, Zahr’s now-annual Palestinian Comedy Festival is still going strong.

“Laughter is therapy,” he said Reuters After last week’s festival gig in Jerusalem. “We need to show the world that Palestinians love laughter, they love life, they love art.”

Zahl and his line-up of seven other comedians performed at the city’s Dar al-Tifel al-Arabi school, founded in 1948 by Palestinian educators, and organizer Hani Khasho , the 350-ticket event sold out.

Their jokes ranged from comic riffs about interrogations by Israeli border guards to puns stemming from mispronunciations of Arabic by those who grew up straddling their Palestinian-American twin identities.

Closing the show, Bilal Sharmoug said the reason he grew up was because he grew up “Appetizing” in Arabic – satin – When Sunnywhich means “two plates”.

Making fun of stereotypes of Arab tradition also struck a chord.

Interview: Comedian Amer Zar, ‘American Politics Affects Palestinians More Than Americans’

Comedian Reema Jarak said,Sibshev “Survivor” — referring to the cliché about Arab mothers disciplining their children by throwing slippers at them — 14-year-old May Al-Bakri said she laughed particularly hard.

“That was my favorite joke,” she said, standing by her mother.

“It was a great show,” said Nihaya Gur Audara, 70, from Jerusalem. “We are so grateful to them for bringing a beautiful smile to our faces and allowing us to be free from our worries, sorrows and difficult situations we find ourselves in.”

The festival’s inaugural lineup included Egyptian-American Emmy-nominated actor Ramy Youssef and Palestinian-American comedian Mo Amer.

All seven comedians were Palestinian this year.

“We brought Palestinians and Arab Americans here to show that the American people haven’t forgotten where we came from,” he says, splitting his time between Nazareth and Dearborn, Michigan. Zar said.

Zaar wore a black T-shirt with the word “press” on it as a tribute to Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akre, who was killed during an Israeli military raid in the occupied West Bank in May this year. I wore the shirt and did all five shows this year.

“If she were here, she would be laughing too,” he said.