Great Israeli-Palestinian comedy show in East Jerusalem tonight
This was the first location during any of the tours of the Israeli-Palestinian Comedy Tour that had a majority Palestinian audience. More than 200 people packed the lower level conference room of the Ambassador Hotel in Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem tonight for the first of its kind show featuring not just Arab or Palestinian or Muslim comedians, but the unprecedented combination of Palestinian and Israeli comedians.
And the Audience loved not just my Palestinian focused material, but really got into the Israeli and Jewish comedians too. It is the same response we have been getting everywhere we go. Last night, I performed a preview show at Tantur for the “Together for Peace” open air festival commemorating the 40th Anniversay of the Occupation, organized by Gershon Baskin and Hanna Siniora. It was literally like Woodstock with music, rap artists and more. The 200 plus audience there, herded into the Tantur auditorium in the evening as the night air chilled, loved the comedy act and it drove up the interest for the remainder of the tour (which is detailed on the web site at www.IPComedyTour.com.) (By the way, I met up with a MideastYouth.com com fellow blogger, Leah, who was so cool. This web site is phenomenal. So many people have come up to me in Jerusalem to tell me they read this web site and enjoy the mix of Arabs, Israelis, Jews, Christians and Muslims, males and females, too. No other site does this better.)
The Ambassador Hotel, owned by the AbuDayyeh Family, is a wonderful place. The show started at around 9:15 and ended at 11 PM. Non-stop laughter. My friend Sam Bahour came from el-Bireh and he bellylaughed through the entire show, praising it as “something we need more of.”
Everyone loved the show, and they hung around to tell us. The Palestinians laughed at the jokes that slammed the Israelis and at the jokes by the Israelis hammering the Arabs. We ripped apart the politics, the people and the peace. And everyone laughed. The Wall. The occupation. Israeli life. Palestinian life. Arab and Israeli politicians. And that gave everyone an energy boost to survive through the tragedy that engulfs all sides.
I feel better. I also realize the Palestinians in the Occupied territories are far more progressive than many of the Palestinian leaders in the United States who discriminate more against their own people than anyone else. They are more extremist, maybe because they want to compensate for th efact that they live in luxury and wealth while the people who were laughing at our comedy show live in real tough and difficult times.
We hade great media coverage, but many Arab media could not get permission to attend the East Jerusalem show. I tried hard to get the Israelis to relax their restrictions that prevent most Palestinians and Arabs from entering Jerusalem, but they wouldn’t let up. That’s their loss as a government. Because the people want peace even if the government has failed them and the activists in America are too blind to see the people in the Palestinian territories need their help, not their fanaticism.
Tomorrow, Sunday morning, we go to the Palestinian Peace radio station to do an early morning interview, and then we drive to Beersheba in the Negev Desert. On Monday, we go to Haifa for a conference organized by professor John Myhill discussing defining a vision for peace at Haifa University. And that night, we do a show in Haifa where we are also expecting more Palestinian Israeli citizens to attend.
Humor is going to spread the word of peace far more effectively than the longwinded political speeches.
I love it.
A new joke I did: I steal airline flight safety cards from the airlines. It’s a felony but as a Palestinian, it makes feel good. But I stole one from El Al, Israel’s airline but the Mossad tracked me down and took it back … they warned me if I take another El Al Flight Safety Card from one of their airplanes again, they’ll blow up the homes of three of my relatives in Ramallah. I told them I have no relatives in Ramallah and they replied, “We don’t care.”
Ray Hanania
www.IPComedyTour.com
www.hanania.com
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“Everyone loved the show, and they hung around to tell us. The Palestinians laughed at the jokes that slammed the Israelis and at the jokes by the Israelis hammering the Arabs. We ripped apart the politics, the people and the peace. And everyone laughed. The Wall. The occupation. Israeli life. Palestinian life. Arab and Israeli politicians. And that gave everyone an energy boost to survive through the tragedy that engulfs all sides.”
THANK YOU.
One day, while I was vacationing in Hong Kong, I misplaced the key to my hotel room. I called the hotel manager and told him that I needed a new key as soon as possible. Three minutes later, a prostitute showed up at my door saying “Manager tell me you want nooky quick-quick. You give me hundred dollar, I give you number one nooky!” I tried to explain to the young woman, “No, I want a NEW KEY, not your nooky!” She got angry and yelled at me, You want nooky but not MY nooky! What wrong with MY nooky? My nooky clean, just wash this morning!” “You don’t understand me”, I told her, “I need a NEW KEY!”. “And I need hundred dollar!”, she replied at the top of her voice. “Well“, I thought to myself, “since I can’t leave without a new key, I might as well avail myself of the opportunity.” That is when I got my Chinese nickname. When I took my drawers down, the young woman exclaimed, “You hung so lo!, you hung so lo!” “No, I told her, my name is Moshe Rabeynu, I’m not Hung So Lo. I’m not even half-Chinese.” “For China“ she replied “you hung so lo!” So that is how I became known as Moshe “Hung So Lo” Rabeynu in China. I went to the hotel manager and told him, “ I need a new key for my room!” “I already send up nooky for you”, he told me and added, “number one nooky. What the matter, she no go your room?” “Yes,” I answered, “a girl came to my room, and yes, she was quite spectacular and I gave her a tryout but she wasn’t what I really wanted. I need a New Key!” “Ah, now I understand”, said the manager, you no want girl nooky. You want new key from Sum Yung Boi! I get Sum Yung Boi for you!” “No, No”, I exclaimed quite embarrassed, “I do not want some young boy. I want a new key!” The manager appeared to be losing his patience and exclaimed, “If you want new key, you have to get Sum Yung Boi to go to room!” “But sir”, I tried to explain, “I am not gay. If some young boy came to my room, it would be a waste of time!” “How can be waste of time”, he answered, “you want new key, Sum Yung Boi give you new key!” With this, the manager picked up his phone and spoke rapidly into it. “I paged for Sum Yung Boi, he be here soon!” , he told me. I was mortified and wanted to leave the lobby but the manager continued conversing, “Before, when you asked over phone for new key, I thought you wanted nooky. Ha Ha Ha, we have misunderstanding. Now I realize that all time you needed Sum Yung Boi!” “No No“, I responded, worrying that I would never be understood, “I don’t want some young boy. I’m not gay! I need a NEW KEY, A NEW KEY!” At this moment an elderly man came up to us dressed in some kind of work uniform. “Here is Sum Yung Boi”, said the manager, “He go up to room with you and give you new key. Make you happy” “But, I don’t want nooky from this fellow, and, besides how can you call him some young boy? He looks to be seventy or seventy five years old.” The manager looked as if he reached his point of exasperation and yelled at me, “This man’s name is Sum Yung Boi! He is locksmith for hotel! He will check lock to room and give you NEW KEY! You want New Key for room from Sum Yung Boi or not?” “Yes”, I replied, totally embarrassed. “I’ll go up to my room with Mr. Sum Yung Boi and he will give me a new key. I‘m sorry for the misunderstanding!”