Palestinian American Performer Heals with Humor
2022-09-05
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1Palestinian American Amer Zahr wants to heal people through humor.
2In 2015 he started bringing other Arab American comedians from the United States to perform across Palestinian cities including Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah.
3Seven years later, Zahr's Palestine Comedy Festival is still going strong.
4After the most recent performances in Jerusalem, he told the Reuters news agency, "Laughter is therapy...We need to show the world that Palestinians love to laugh, we love life, we love art."
5Zahr and a group of seven other comedians performed at the city's Dar al-Tifel al-Arabi school.
6It was established by a Palestinian educator in 1948.
7All the event's tickets were sold, said organizer Hani Kashou.
8The jokes covered many subjects.
9Some jokes were about being questioned by Israeli border guards; some jokes were about Arabic language mistakes made by people growing up with Palestinian and American identities.
10Bilal Sharmoug, who closed the show, had a joke about the reason he was big.
11Growing up, Sharmoug said, he mixed up the Arabic word for "bon appetite," which is sahtein, with sahnein, meaning "two plates".
12Other jokes made fun of stereotypes of Arab traditions.
13Comedian Reema Jallaq, for example, talked about being a "shibsheb survivor."
14This term refers to a method of punishing children by throwing slippers at them.
15When she heard the joke, Mei al-Bakri, age 14, said she laughed very hard.
16"That was my favorite joke," she said as she stood beside her mother.
17Seventy-year-old Nihaya Ghoul Awdallah is from Jerusalem.
18She said: "It was a great show...We thank them so much for bringing a beautiful smile to our faces and for allowing us to release our worries, our sadness and the difficult circumstances that we are in."
19The comedy festival's first year included Egyptian American actor Ramy Youssef and Palestinian American comedian Mo Amer.
20This year, all seven comedians were Palestinian.
21Zahr divides his time between Nazareth and Dearborn, Michigan.
22He said: "We bring Palestinian and Arab Americans here to show that our people in America have not forgotten where we're from."
23Zahr performed all five of this year's shows wearing a black T-shirt that had the word "press" on it.
24The shirt was a tribute to Palestinian American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh.
25She was killed during an Israeli raid in the West Bank in May.
26"If she was here, she'd be laughing too," he said. "Comedy comes from tragedy.
27The pain and the suffering are exactly why we do this festival."
28I'm John Russell.
1Palestinian American Amer Zahr wants to heal people through humor. 2In 2015 he started bringing other Arab American comedians from the United States to perform across Palestinian cities including Nablus, Bethlehem and Ramallah. 3Seven years later, Zahr's Palestine Comedy Festival is still going strong. 4After the most recent performances in Jerusalem, he told the Reuters news agency, "Laughter is therapy...We need to show the world that Palestinians love to laugh, we love life, we love art." 5Zahr and a group of seven other comedians performed at the city's Dar al-Tifel al-Arabi school. It was established by a Palestinian educator in 1948. 6All the event's tickets were sold, said organizer Hani Kashou. 7The jokes covered many subjects. Some jokes were about being questioned by Israeli border guards; some jokes were about Arabic language mistakes made by people growing up with Palestinian and American identities. 8Bilal Sharmoug, who closed the show, had a joke about the reason he was big. Growing up, Sharmoug said, he mixed up the Arabic word for "bon appetite," which is sahtein, with sahnein, meaning "two plates". 9Other jokes made fun of stereotypes of Arab traditions. 10Comedian Reema Jallaq, for example, talked about being a "shibsheb survivor." This term refers to a method of punishing children by throwing slippers at them. When she heard the joke, Mei al-Bakri, age 14, said she laughed very hard. 11"That was my favorite joke," she said as she stood beside her mother. 12Seventy-year-old Nihaya Ghoul Awdallah is from Jerusalem. She said: "It was a great show...We thank them so much for bringing a beautiful smile to our faces and for allowing us to release our worries, our sadness and the difficult circumstances that we are in." 13The comedy festival's first year included Egyptian American actor Ramy Youssef and Palestinian American comedian Mo Amer. 14This year, all seven comedians were Palestinian. 15Zahr divides his time between Nazareth and Dearborn, Michigan. He said: "We bring Palestinian and Arab Americans here to show that our people in America have not forgotten where we're from." 16Zahr performed all five of this year's shows wearing a black T-shirt that had the word "press" on it. The shirt was a tribute to Palestinian American reporter Shireen Abu Akleh. She was killed during an Israeli raid in the West Bank in May. 17"If she was here, she'd be laughing too," he said. "Comedy comes from tragedy. The pain and the suffering are exactly why we do this festival." 18I'm John Russell. 19Henriette Chacar reported on this story for Reuters. John Russell adapted it for VOA Learning English. 20_____________________________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22therapy - n. the treatment of physical or mental illnesses 23stereotype - n. an often unfair belief that many people have about all people or things with a particular characteristic 24slippers -n. (pl.) a light, soft shoe usually worn inside 25circumstances - n. (pl.) the conditions in which someone lives; the way something happens : the specific details of an event 26tribute - n. something that you say, give, or do to show respect or affection for someone 27tragedy - n. a very bad event that causes great sadness and often involves someone's death