00:00:24.240 --> 00:00:27.720
In Palestine, we do not have any control

00:00:27.720 --> 00:00:32.440
over our daily life or even our future.

00:00:34.880 --> 00:00:36.360
Making, creating comedy,

00:00:36.360 --> 00:00:39.640
it's all about observing, questioning,

00:00:40.440 --> 00:00:42.760
allowing others to question you

00:00:42.760 --> 00:00:45.800
about what you think is normal.

00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:51.960
That’s almost impossible here in Palestine,

00:00:51.960 --> 00:00:53.960
When we started this project,

00:00:53.960 --> 00:00:57.000
we had no idea where it would take us.

00:01:18.160 --> 00:01:22.480
Building anything sustainable
in Palestine is really hard.

00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:26.120
I wanted to take on that challenge

00:01:26.120 --> 00:01:29.280
to make a stand-up comedy scene in Palestine.

00:01:29.440 --> 00:01:30.200
Come here.

00:01:30.200 --> 00:01:32.200
Come here, beautiful people.

00:01:32.200 --> 00:01:33.960
One last hug.

00:01:34.240 --> 00:01:35.560
You do your trousers up as well.

00:01:35.560 --> 00:01:36.720
Yeah, yeah, I will.

00:01:36.720 --> 00:01:37.960
I love you. You’re amazing.

00:01:37.960 --> 00:01:39.080
We love you too.

00:01:39.080 --> 00:01:40.680
You’re very, very, very funny.

00:01:40.680 --> 00:01:41.960
And the audience are going to love it.

00:01:41.960 --> 00:01:44.080
And that’s all this show needs now is an audience.

00:01:44.080 --> 00:01:45.160
Yes. Thank you, Sam.

00:01:45.160 --> 00:01:46.760
God willing, we will have one.

00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:47.960
Let’s do it!

00:01:47.960 --> 00:01:49.480
We love you.

00:01:50.840 --> 00:01:53.600
Woo! Yes!

00:01:53.600 --> 00:01:54.560
Okay, go, go, go!

00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:58.800
If anyone needs to wee, go now.

00:02:07.800 --> 00:02:09.960
In Palestine it is very important

00:02:09.960 --> 00:02:12.440
to laugh and share our stories

00:02:12.440 --> 00:02:16.000
because of the tragedy
that we are living every day.

00:02:16.960 --> 00:02:19.960
Everything to me a potential to become a joke.

00:02:19.960 --> 00:02:21.360
The way that person talks,

00:02:21.360 --> 00:02:22.600
the way he sells his coffee,

00:02:22.600 --> 00:02:24.840
the way she speaks to her son.

00:02:25.120 --> 00:02:27.360
And honestly, I inherited this

00:02:27.360 --> 00:02:30.000
from my beautiful mother.

00:04:05.960 --> 00:04:10.600
To have a home here in Jenin, this was my dream.

00:04:10.600 --> 00:04:13.320
We were preparing for me to live here,

00:04:13.320 --> 00:04:18.040
marry and have kids and have a future here.

00:04:18.440 --> 00:04:20.720
For God’s sake, eat.

00:04:20.720 --> 00:04:24.680
We do have a lot of funny stories in our daily life.

00:04:24.680 --> 00:04:26.960
Go ahead, eat, eat, eat.

00:04:27.400 --> 00:04:30.520
I love comedy, I love to make people laugh.

00:04:30.520 --> 00:04:31.960
It is my world.

00:04:35.960 --> 00:04:38.760
I want to live here, I want to make art, theatre,

00:04:38.760 --> 00:04:40.000
I want to make comedy here,

00:04:40.000 --> 00:04:43.320
because this country, more than any other country,

00:04:43.320 --> 00:04:46.720
needs discussions, laughter, all the time.

00:06:19.720 --> 00:06:23.120
There are so many stories from across Palestine.

00:06:24.960 --> 00:06:28.560
I wanted to bring these stories together through comedy.

00:06:29.720 --> 00:06:31.000
We start!

00:06:31.240 --> 00:06:32.880
Bam ba da bam bam.

00:06:34.280 --> 00:06:37.080
That’s why I started the Palestine Comedy Club.

00:06:37.440 --> 00:06:37.840
Yes!

00:06:41.320 --> 00:06:43.320
This was the beginning of the movement

00:06:43.320 --> 00:06:45.320
of a stand-up scene in Palestine.

00:06:48.840 --> 00:06:52.120
What’s the line or the moment that takes us?

00:06:52.520 --> 00:06:55.760
It’s the shift back to your reality that we need.

00:06:56.080 --> 00:06:58.960
Sam Beale first introduced me to stand-up comedy.

00:06:58.960 --> 00:07:01.280
She is a brilliant artist.

00:07:01.280 --> 00:07:03.960
Let’s try, let’s try to get onto the bus then.

00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.040
Sam was the obvious person

00:07:15.040 --> 00:07:17.600
to build the Palestine Comedy Club with me.

00:07:17.840 --> 00:07:18.960
Lovely, lovely.

00:07:18.960 --> 00:07:21.320
Wehay! Crowd goes wild. One, two.

00:07:21.320 --> 00:07:23.600
And then get off.

00:07:24.120 --> 00:07:27.080
We were making something from scratch.

00:07:27.080 --> 00:07:31.280
We needed people who can build something new together

00:07:31.840 --> 00:07:35.000
from different backgrounds within Palestine.

00:07:40.960 --> 00:07:42.040
I am from Jenin.

00:07:46.480 --> 00:07:48.480
Jenin is never calm.

00:07:48.480 --> 00:07:49.680
It’s never two months without

00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:51.280
the Israeli army coming in

00:07:51.280 --> 00:07:53.440
and something big happens.

00:07:54.880 --> 00:07:56.800
Khalil is living in Ramallah

00:07:56.800 --> 00:07:58.640
where the Palestinian Authority is.

00:08:00.840 --> 00:08:04.040
And Khalil has the ability to mock himself

00:08:04.040 --> 00:08:06.360
and the Palestinian Authority.

00:08:06.360 --> 00:08:07.560
And I want that.

00:08:10.760 --> 00:08:13.600
Raed from Hebron, oh my God.

00:08:15.240 --> 00:08:18.360
He his living in a really conservative community,

00:08:18.360 --> 00:08:21.440
daily struggles with the Israeli army and the settlers,

00:08:21.880 --> 00:08:24.000
where theatre is not normal

00:08:24.000 --> 00:08:27.160
and everyone really respects him.

00:08:32.560 --> 00:08:36.880
With Diana, she’s bringing all this joy on stage

00:08:39.320 --> 00:08:43.000
because we see our mums through
Diana, we see our sisters.

00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:49.080
As soon as you see her,
“Ah Diana, my aunt Afaf!”

00:08:51.120 --> 00:08:54.600
Ebaa is a loud woman...

00:08:56.480 --> 00:08:59.240
living in the occupied Golan Heights

00:09:00.200 --> 00:09:02.680
putting hard stuff on stage.

00:09:03.680 --> 00:09:05.840
She has a very strong opinion

00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:07.960
about everything around her,

00:09:10.320 --> 00:09:12.880
challenging us and the audience.

00:09:25.120 --> 00:09:27.280
Hanna is a totally different character

00:09:27.280 --> 00:09:28.360
from the rest of the group.

00:09:32.360 --> 00:09:34.480
Hanna is an established comedian

00:09:34.480 --> 00:09:38.480
bringing us the life of the Palestinians
living as an Israeli citizen.

00:09:40.880 --> 00:09:43.120
He has to take the Israeli identity,

00:09:43.120 --> 00:09:44.840
but he is Palestinian.

00:09:44.840 --> 00:09:46.400
He is one of us.

00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:53.120
With everyone, there is something
special within every character.

00:09:54.720 --> 00:09:55.600
Lovely stuff.

00:09:55.600 --> 00:09:57.520
Lovely timing today.

00:09:57.520 --> 00:10:01.040
Ebaa, the delivery of the stuff

00:10:01.040 --> 00:10:03.000
referring to weed and sex,

00:10:03.000 --> 00:10:05.200
that is just lovely and playful.

00:10:05.200 --> 00:10:07.880
And if you’ve got lines you are unsure

00:10:07.880 --> 00:10:09.800
about then let’s talk tomorrow.

00:10:09.800 --> 00:10:10.240
Ok.

00:10:10.720 --> 00:10:12.160
None of us had any experience

00:10:12.160 --> 00:10:13.560
of writing a comedy show.

00:10:13.560 --> 00:10:16.320
Diana, perfect vibe today.

00:10:16.320 --> 00:10:17.200
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

00:10:17.200 --> 00:10:18.240
It’s the perfect vibe.

00:10:18.240 --> 00:10:19.600
Cool.

00:10:19.600 --> 00:10:22.400
But in just three weeks, the audience will come

00:10:22.400 --> 00:10:23.800
and we will perform it.

00:13:46.800 --> 00:13:49.280
Our opening show was in Ramallah.

00:13:50.240 --> 00:13:52.400
We were so nervous because

00:13:52.400 --> 00:13:55.080
this was the first time six comedians had been

00:13:55.080 --> 00:13:58.400
on stage together in this way in Palestine,

00:13:58.400 --> 00:14:00.080
exploring different ideas

00:14:00.080 --> 00:14:03.320
of what it means to be a Palestinian.

00:14:13.560 --> 00:14:16.200
And that is something unexpected.

00:14:17.000 --> 00:14:20.360
People are living under occupation,
how can they be funny?

00:17:54.200 --> 00:17:55.840
So last night we were in Ramallah,

00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:59.400
with a big audience, quite a diverse audience,

00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.160
but a Ramallah audience.

00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:04.120
Tomorrow, we go to Nablus.

00:18:04.120 --> 00:18:05.160
Yes.

00:18:07.120 --> 00:18:11.880
And there’s ideas and issues raised
in quite a lot of the sets

00:18:11.880 --> 00:18:13.960
that are potentially more challenging

00:18:13.960 --> 00:18:17.280
in more conservative or traditional communities.

00:18:22.800 --> 00:18:26.000
We can’t cater for everyone’s potential offence.

00:18:26.000 --> 00:18:27.640
But there are some...

00:18:27.640 --> 00:18:29.880
there are lots of red lines in Palestine.

00:18:29.880 --> 00:18:31.560
That’s said all the time, isn’t it?

00:18:31.560 --> 00:18:32.400
Yeah.

00:18:32.400 --> 00:18:35.000
But where do you think they are in your own set?

00:18:35.480 --> 00:18:38.960
For me, all my set is...

00:18:39.960 --> 00:18:41.600
Potentially problematic.

00:18:41.600 --> 00:18:42.200
Yeah.

00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:44.080
No it’s not.
Come on, it isn’t.

00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:21.720
Obviously we’d like to avoid that.

00:19:21.720 --> 00:19:24.360
But we know it’s not offensive material in that sense.

00:19:24.760 --> 00:19:26.720
Yeah, I believe not.

00:19:26.720 --> 00:19:28.640
You’re using comedy to...

00:19:28.640 --> 00:19:32.800
to challenge their beliefs,
perhaps, but not to attack them.

00:19:32.800 --> 00:19:38.520
It’s not about how I will do my set tomorrow.

00:19:38.520 --> 00:19:40.080
That’s not my big deal.

00:19:40.080 --> 00:19:42.040
My big deal is that I’m living here,

00:19:42.040 --> 00:19:44.840
in this community every single day.

00:19:44.840 --> 00:19:51.160
I can’t say whatever I want
without apologising to everybody.

00:20:13.520 --> 00:20:16.800
They accept me, that is a change.

00:20:43.000 --> 00:20:44.960
Okay, we will do it.

00:20:44.960 --> 00:20:48.200
I will take this five minutes and put in something.

00:20:48.200 --> 00:20:50.720
And put in another five minutes, yeah.

00:20:50.720 --> 00:20:53.200
If we practise it at some point tomorrow.

00:20:54.040 --> 00:20:57.360
But try to laugh, okay? Support me.

00:20:57.360 --> 00:20:59.080
Oh Ebaa, I mean,

00:20:59.080 --> 00:21:01.680
this experience was so great for all of us last night.

00:21:01.680 --> 00:21:04.960
To be having to have this conversation the next day.

00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:05.960
Sadly, yeah.

00:21:05.960 --> 00:21:07.720
You know? Anywhere else you’d be going,

00:21:07.720 --> 00:21:10.400
“Woohoo! We’re taking this amazing show on tour

00:21:10.400 --> 00:21:13.560
and it’s a storming success and
we’re going to kill everywhere.”

00:21:13.560 --> 00:21:17.520
But that’s kind of the point of
doing this project and doing it here.

00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:30.200
We’re going on tour!

00:21:37.840 --> 00:21:43.800
It’s difficult to be a woman in the world generally,

00:21:43.800 --> 00:21:47.960
and especially here.

00:21:49.120 --> 00:21:54.400
Always you put filters to make people accept you.

00:21:56.200 --> 00:22:02.200
I am trying all the time to be myself without filters.

00:22:03.880 --> 00:22:07.320
I am a free woman, I’m wild and loud

00:22:07.320 --> 00:22:08.680
and I want all the time

00:22:08.680 --> 00:22:12.960
to say what I think and what I believe.

00:22:12.960 --> 00:22:15.880
And that’s difficult.

00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:31.280
The concept of a stand-up circuit
was really new in Palestine.

00:22:31.840 --> 00:22:35.640
We brought all those funny stories
from all these different areas.

00:22:36.680 --> 00:22:37.840
As a country,

00:22:37.840 --> 00:22:40.080
we don’t know each other that well.

00:22:41.000 --> 00:22:43.800
Every community in Palestine is different.

00:22:45.800 --> 00:22:49.600
It is a big lesson to understand
all those differences.

00:25:06.240 --> 00:25:08.680
All of the second-hand things

00:25:08.680 --> 00:25:12.720
come from 1948 areas.

00:25:13.680 --> 00:25:19.160
The Palestinian workers bring the
discarded things to Beit Awwa

00:25:19.160 --> 00:25:22.400
fix them and sell them in the second-hand market.

00:25:24.720 --> 00:25:31.000
And now we have a big, big, big problem in Beit Awwa.

00:25:31.000 --> 00:25:33.440
There is garbage everywhere

00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:37.080
in the street, between the trees.

00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:47.360
But it’s the only real way people
in Beit Awwa can earn a living.

00:26:18.800 --> 00:26:21.320
So this is a romantic walk, isn’t it?

00:26:21.320 --> 00:26:24.280
Yes romantic, beside the wall.

00:26:25.240 --> 00:26:27.720
Sam beside the wall.

00:26:32.640 --> 00:26:35.640
Yes, do, do, do, more, more.

00:26:36.600 --> 00:26:39.320
Look, the fridges. These are fridges.

00:26:39.320 --> 00:26:41.200
Fridges.

00:26:48.480 --> 00:26:49.640
Thalaajat?

00:26:49.640 --> 00:26:52.480
Yes. “Thalaajat” is “fridges”.

00:26:53.640 --> 00:26:57.760
“Ghasalat”, “washing machines”.

00:27:03.960 --> 00:27:06.560
Beit Awwa used to be very beautiful.

00:27:08.360 --> 00:27:10.600
It was a calm village,

00:27:10.600 --> 00:27:12.680
clean village,

00:27:13.000 --> 00:27:15.280
a little bit green.

00:27:18.120 --> 00:27:20.480
But now it is the opposite.

00:27:26.280 --> 00:27:30.240
In 1948, big parts of Palestine was occupied.

00:27:30.240 --> 00:27:31.960
and the Nakba happened.

00:27:31.960 --> 00:27:34.000
Hundreds of thousands of the Palestinians

00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:37.000
were displaced from their homelands.

00:27:37.000 --> 00:27:42.760
1967, the rest of Palestine and
Golan Heights was occupied.

00:27:42.760 --> 00:27:47.880
In 1993, the Oslo agreement divided
the West Bank into three areas:

00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:50.680
A, B and C.

00:27:50.680 --> 00:27:55.160
Every time Palestinians need to travel
from any area to any other areas,

00:27:55.160 --> 00:27:58.680
we need to pass by multiple checkpoints.

00:27:58.680 --> 00:28:01.600
But we wanted to tour the Palestine Comedy Club

00:28:01.600 --> 00:28:03.960
all over the occupied Palestine.

00:28:03.960 --> 00:28:05.600
We got shows booked already in

00:28:05.600 --> 00:28:08.480
Ramallah, Nablus and Jenin in the West Bank.

00:28:08.480 --> 00:28:12.120
And also we got shows booked
in Jerusalem, Haifa, Nazareth

00:28:12.120 --> 00:28:15.800
where Palestinians live fully
under the Israeli system.

00:28:15.800 --> 00:28:20.040
And in the occupied Syrian Golan Heights
where Ebaa is from.

00:28:20.640 --> 00:28:21.760
Great!

00:28:21.760 --> 00:28:25.240
The problem is that only Hanna and Ebaa
can do all of these shows

00:28:25.240 --> 00:28:29.280
because they live outside of the West Bank
and they have an Israeli ID.

00:28:29.280 --> 00:28:32.280
But for me, Diana, Khalil and Raed,

00:28:32.280 --> 00:28:35.200
because we are Palestinians living in the West Bank,

00:28:35.200 --> 00:28:38.000
we are not allowed to go outside of the West Bank

00:28:38.000 --> 00:28:41.240
without a special Israeli permission.

00:28:41.240 --> 00:28:43.600
In order to apply for an Israeli permission,

00:28:43.600 --> 00:28:46.680
we first need to apply for a biometric card.

00:28:47.160 --> 00:28:49.320
And after all of that they can just say,

00:28:49.800 --> 00:28:51.560
“No.”

00:30:26.520 --> 00:30:28.600
Checkpoint guys.

00:30:44.360 --> 00:30:47.120
I need the green IDs.

00:30:47.400 --> 00:30:53.080
So, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, come with me.

00:31:00.520 --> 00:31:02.160
They have a separate checkpoint

00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:05.960
that all the West Bank Palestinians
have to walk through.

00:31:07.480 --> 00:31:09.960
Our fingerprints are taken.

00:31:11.320 --> 00:31:14.240
All our belongings are searched.

00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:18.280
It takes a long time.

00:31:28.360 --> 00:31:33.160
The permission papers we had
were only valid for 12 hours.

00:31:33.160 --> 00:31:36.360
We were just praying that the
soldiers would let us through

00:31:36.360 --> 00:31:39.080
before the papers expired.

00:31:49.360 --> 00:31:51.680
So all these cars...

00:31:51.680 --> 00:31:54.720
Just parking, a lot of them work inside.

00:31:54.720 --> 00:31:57.160
They work inside, so they leave their cars here

00:31:57.160 --> 00:31:59.000
and walk through the checkpoints.

00:32:02.360 --> 00:32:04.760
Bonkers.

00:32:04.760 --> 00:32:08.120
Absolutely bonkers.

00:32:16.680 --> 00:32:21.200
You know, you don’t have
any control in this situation.

00:32:23.480 --> 00:32:29.760
Just waiting, waiting.

00:32:34.120 --> 00:32:36.120
And when I saw them

00:32:36.680 --> 00:32:39.520
with these silly hats...

00:32:44.360 --> 00:32:48.680
We know how to laugh even in this situation.

00:32:59.400 --> 00:33:02.520
We have made it!

00:33:02.520 --> 00:33:07.040
Excuse me, with this hat I was like, “No”.

00:33:07.840 --> 00:33:10.800
I love the hats!

00:33:10.800 --> 00:33:13.960
You went to the gift shop to buy hats.

00:33:13.960 --> 00:33:16.240
Ladies and gentlemen!

00:33:16.240 --> 00:33:18.440
Shout, energy, happiness...

00:33:18.440 --> 00:33:21.280
Let’s go! Ready?

00:33:21.280 --> 00:33:24.960
One, two, three!

00:33:24.960 --> 00:33:28.320
’48! Yeah!

00:33:28.320 --> 00:33:33.000
Whoa! We made it!

00:33:38.080 --> 00:33:41.120
Now we can relax a little bit.

00:34:03.000 --> 00:34:06.560
In 1948, Palestine was occupied

00:34:06.560 --> 00:34:10.600
that’s why we call some areas “the ‘48”

00:34:10.600 --> 00:34:13.800
Being in Haifa is really dangerous for us.

00:34:13.800 --> 00:34:16.520
We know the police are around every corner

00:34:16.520 --> 00:34:20.600
and if they stop us we will be arrested.

00:34:20.600 --> 00:34:22.880
But we can not show that fear.

00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:26.000
If we look scared, they will be suspicious.

00:34:26.440 --> 00:34:29.680
We have to pretend we are a bunch of Europeans

00:34:29.680 --> 00:34:31.720
enjoying the Holy Land -

00:34:31.720 --> 00:34:36.280
nice clothes, nice sunglasses, nice shoes.

00:34:41.080 --> 00:34:43.000
It’s my friend.

00:34:43.520 --> 00:34:46.360
I think he will ask about tickets.

00:34:48.960 --> 00:34:51.680
The port of Haifa.

00:34:51.680 --> 00:34:53.840
This is my neighbourhood.

00:34:56.120 --> 00:35:01.160
I was born in a house where I can see the sea.

00:35:03.240 --> 00:35:07.320
Maybe we can go down, relax, have a swim.

00:35:07.320 --> 00:35:10.680
Yeah, wow, so tempting.
I would like to go down to there.

00:35:10.680 --> 00:35:11.800
Yeah, yeah we will go.

00:35:12.120 --> 00:35:14.480
We’ve lost the Palestinians to the sea, that’s it.

00:35:14.480 --> 00:35:17.640
They’re somewhere in the shade.

00:35:18.560 --> 00:35:22.480
I mention in my set the sea
and the mountains and

00:35:22.480 --> 00:35:25.800
feeling a little bit sorry about it,

00:35:25.800 --> 00:35:27.720
that I have this luxury.

00:35:28.280 --> 00:35:32.840
It was important to put your place
and the fact that you’re from here

00:35:32.840 --> 00:35:35.640
in the context of all those other places

00:35:35.640 --> 00:35:38.640
that are represented in the show

00:35:38.640 --> 00:35:45.040
and to somehow reflect what
you think other Palestinians

00:35:45.040 --> 00:35:49.080
who don’t have access to the sea
might think of you.

00:35:50.120 --> 00:35:52.160
It’s very complicated, this area.

00:35:52.160 --> 00:35:52.600
Yes.

00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:54.240
And the tension, the tension, you know.

00:35:54.240 --> 00:35:58.680
You can feel it all the time, the tension and...

00:35:58.680 --> 00:36:01.960
The hate, the hate, I can say the hate.

00:36:03.360 --> 00:36:05.680
Sometimes I have a dream that I can live

00:36:05.680 --> 00:36:08.440
in the kibbutz on the beach here.

00:36:08.440 --> 00:36:10.280
It’s not far away from here.

00:36:10.280 --> 00:36:14.040
It’s like your own house with a little bit of garden

00:36:14.040 --> 00:36:17.000
and the sea is so close and, you know...

00:36:17.000 --> 00:36:17.640
Nice.

00:36:17.640 --> 00:36:19.600
I just wish for that.

00:36:19.600 --> 00:36:25.960
And I’m trying to be true with myself,
this is important to me.

00:36:25.960 --> 00:36:28.040
Even though, you know, it’s a show.

00:36:28.040 --> 00:36:30.280
Sometimes we go a little bit extreme.

00:36:30.280 --> 00:36:30.840
Yeah.

00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:32.960
Because we make, you know...

00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:33.640
Jokes.

00:36:33.640 --> 00:36:35.960
Try to, jokes and laughing but...

00:36:35.960 --> 00:36:37.360
It’s about humanity.

00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:40.240
We share the same issues.

00:36:40.240 --> 00:36:42.200
Everybody loves, everybody hates,

00:36:42.200 --> 00:36:46.000
everybody cries, everybody laughs so...

00:36:47.040 --> 00:36:48.680
Yeah.

00:36:48.680 --> 00:36:52.520
Let’s cry a little bit.

00:37:00.360 --> 00:37:01.800
Is it lovely down there?

00:37:01.800 --> 00:37:03.040
Yes.

00:37:04.080 --> 00:37:05.800
Let’s take a picture of us here.

00:37:05.800 --> 00:37:06.480
Yes.

00:37:09.600 --> 00:37:12.080
Haifa!

00:37:13.200 --> 00:37:17.280
This was my fantasy to be on this stage in Haifa

00:37:17.280 --> 00:37:20.080
I saw the people, feel the energy.

00:37:20.600 --> 00:37:23.600
I’m totally in this experience.

00:37:25.360 --> 00:37:26.720
The first thing we should talk about

00:37:26.720 --> 00:37:28.120
is the fact that we’re in Haifa.

00:37:28.120 --> 00:37:30.960
How that will change various things in the show

00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:34.080
and how to acknowledge that we’re in Haifa.

00:37:34.080 --> 00:37:35.080
Yes.

00:37:35.080 --> 00:37:37.600
We’ll start without Ebaa and hopefully she’ll join us.

00:37:37.600 --> 00:37:40.640
This is her audience and she’s used to this vibe.

00:37:40.640 --> 00:37:47.960
And needs to push it even more.
More weed, more gods, more...

00:37:47.960 --> 00:37:49.840
Ebaa does whatever she wants.

00:37:49.840 --> 00:37:52.040
She’ll play it fine here.

00:37:52.040 --> 00:37:56.120
All the drugs, whatever you can, do all the shit.

00:37:56.120 --> 00:37:59.280
Every audience will react slightly differently.

00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:03.680
And in Nablus they didn’t laugh
out loud at every joke,

00:38:03.680 --> 00:38:07.960
but they were leaning forward,
they were smiling, they were in to it.

00:38:07.960 --> 00:38:11.400
They just weren’t as ready with the laughs as Ramallah.

00:38:12.440 --> 00:38:14.200
But that’s just their way of reacting.

00:38:14.200 --> 00:38:19.360
Yes and that’s good, they enjoyed it.

00:38:19.360 --> 00:38:24.080
And this will be different again, so just trust.

00:38:24.080 --> 00:38:28.640
Yes, even in Haifa I’m not sure what…

00:38:28.640 --> 00:38:30.040
How the reaction will be.

00:38:30.040 --> 00:38:32.400
And I don’t want to expect anything,

00:38:32.400 --> 00:38:35.440
I just want to be here, to enjoy.

00:38:35.440 --> 00:38:37.840
Come here and have fun with you.

00:38:37.840 --> 00:38:39.680
And that’s it.

00:43:12.000 --> 00:43:13.040
That’s good.

00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:19.080
Just sit and rest, you don’t have
to do anything at all today.

00:43:19.080 --> 00:43:20.960
Will you do your performance tonight?

00:43:20.960 --> 00:43:21.680
Of course.

00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:47.320
So he hated it, yeah?

00:46:24.960 --> 00:46:27.760
For me as a Palestinian artist,

00:46:27.760 --> 00:46:30.960
It’s very important to perform in Jerusalem.

00:46:31.960 --> 00:46:35.000
It is the capital of our country

00:46:35.520 --> 00:46:39.000
Local okra, local okra.

00:46:40.160 --> 00:46:42.760
And it’s occupied.

00:46:44.680 --> 00:46:48.000
But for Palestinians in the West Bank,
we cannot go there easily.

00:46:48.680 --> 00:46:52.600
It is surrounded by checkpoints and soldiers everywhere.

00:46:53.360 --> 00:46:56.600
Israeli law stops us from going there.

00:46:57.600 --> 00:46:59.320
So it’s very important to perform

00:46:59.320 --> 00:47:03.000
at the Palestinian National Theatre in Jerusalem.

00:47:04.600 --> 00:47:07.960
I’ve been traveling and performing all over the world,

00:47:07.960 --> 00:47:10.120
but not in Jerusalem.

00:48:10.560 --> 00:48:12.800
All of us were nervous

00:48:14.120 --> 00:48:16.880
We were tired from travelling.

00:48:17.960 --> 00:48:20.680
And it was really hard to make them laugh.

00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:23.200
Well done, guys.

00:48:23.560 --> 00:48:25.720
How are you feeling?

00:48:25.720 --> 00:48:26.800
Well done.

00:48:28.040 --> 00:48:31.680
Jerusalem, they’re tough.

00:48:31.680 --> 00:48:34.600
Well done though, you won them round.

00:48:53.840 --> 00:48:55.840
Everyone was so exhausted.

00:49:01.240 --> 00:49:04.640
We had been performing and travelling non-stop.

00:49:07.600 --> 00:49:09.960
But the tour was really special.

00:49:10.880 --> 00:49:15.960
Traveling to parts of Palestine that
I’m not normally allowed to see.

00:49:17.600 --> 00:49:19.160
Tiberias?

00:49:20.880 --> 00:49:22.400
See the lake, how beautiful it is.

00:49:29.360 --> 00:49:33.960
Because I am from Golan Heights,
our nationality is undefined.

00:49:35.240 --> 00:49:37.720
I am the mix of all of this,

00:49:37.720 --> 00:49:40.240
like Syrian, Palestinian, and Arab.

00:49:40.640 --> 00:49:42.680
I’m all of this.

00:49:44.160 --> 00:49:48.120
I feel I do not belong to Israel,

00:49:48.120 --> 00:49:50.440
I belong to Syria.

00:49:51.240 --> 00:49:55.360
The Israeli occupation will not allow us to go there.

00:49:55.360 --> 00:49:58.480
So all the people from Golan Heights,

00:49:58.480 --> 00:50:01.520
they have families in Syria and

00:50:01.520 --> 00:50:05.440
we have this tradition to go to the Screaming Hills and

00:50:05.440 --> 00:50:08.640
remind each other that we
are under the occupation

00:50:08.640 --> 00:50:10.880
and still we want to go to Syria

00:50:10.880 --> 00:50:15.080
and to be free in a free land.

00:50:15.080 --> 00:50:19.240
And to belong.

00:51:27.000 --> 00:51:31.880
You’re setting off every dog
in the neighbourhood.

00:51:33.240 --> 00:51:34.720
Is he okay about that?

00:51:34.720 --> 00:51:36.520
Yeah.

00:52:03.680 --> 00:52:07.960
We were able to work with comedians
from all over Palestine,

00:52:09.760 --> 00:52:12.160
except Gaza.

00:54:00.520 --> 00:54:05.240
When you say Gaza in the West Bank,
everyone has the hair of the...

00:54:05.240 --> 00:54:09.440
You see it in the audience because...

00:54:11.320 --> 00:54:15.160
Gaza is a huge sensitive issue.

00:54:15.160 --> 00:54:17.360
We’re too far from each other.

00:54:17.360 --> 00:54:18.840
It feels like we’re two countries.

00:54:18.840 --> 00:54:20.760
We’re three countries, four countries.

00:54:20.760 --> 00:54:22.880
Gaza it’s surrounded with walls

00:54:22.880 --> 00:54:26.960
and it has gates and it’s locked by Egypt,
by the Israeli side.

00:54:26.960 --> 00:54:30.120
No one can leave. It’s like a totally different country.

00:54:30.120 --> 00:54:32.680
We cannot go. We cannot feel it. We cannot...

00:54:32.680 --> 00:54:35.520
But it’s our... they are our people.

00:54:35.520 --> 00:54:37.960
It’s so close. How far is it from where you live?

00:54:38.400 --> 00:54:41.120
Maximum one hour.

00:54:41.480 --> 00:54:45.000
And you know how many people, comedians, artists,

00:54:45.000 --> 00:54:47.880
they contact us, the comedy club, “Can I join?”

00:54:47.880 --> 00:54:50.880
And, “When are you coming to Gaza?
We’re waiting for you in Gaza.

00:54:50.880 --> 00:54:55.560
How can I become a member of your team?”

00:54:55.560 --> 00:54:58.320
And I just see the message and I…

00:54:58.320 --> 00:55:00.640
Gaza is always on our mind.

00:55:06.040 --> 00:55:07.800
But there is lots of comedy in Gaza,

00:55:07.800 --> 00:55:11.760
like lots of comedy videos I’ve seen on YouTube.

00:55:11.760 --> 00:55:13.480
A lot of creative people in Gaza,

00:55:13.480 --> 00:55:16.000
creative artists, well-educated people.

00:55:16.960 --> 00:55:18.840
But imagine you’re living in London

00:55:18.840 --> 00:55:20.680
and it’s unallowed for you to go to Liverpool.

00:55:21.080 --> 00:55:23.280
My family is out there in the ’48.

00:55:23.280 --> 00:55:27.640
It’s unallowed all the time to go to visit your people.

00:55:27.640 --> 00:55:30.360
Like just they’re your people, they’re Palestinians.

00:55:30.680 --> 00:55:35.960
As an outsider, it’s astonished me how such a small landmass

00:55:35.960 --> 00:55:38.720
has got so many different worlds within it.

00:55:38.720 --> 00:55:40.440
And that’s the reality.

00:55:40.440 --> 00:55:42.520
We don’t have the culture of stand-up comedy

00:55:42.520 --> 00:55:44.280
and that’s the main thing of the project is

00:55:44.280 --> 00:55:47.280
opening the door for others to get involved

00:55:47.720 --> 00:55:52.560
and opening the door of the
stand-up comedy world in Palestine.

00:56:03.640 --> 00:56:06.200
This is Jenin Refugee Camp.

00:56:07.440 --> 00:56:11.880
The movement of resistance is in Jenin Camp.

00:56:32.680 --> 00:56:38.000
The Freedom Theatre is one of the most
important theatres in Palestine.

00:56:38.760 --> 00:56:42.840
This is where I learnt theatre and stand-up comedy.

00:56:42.840 --> 00:56:45.800
It is a very important theatre for me.

00:56:45.800 --> 00:56:47.800
It’s a place where generations

00:56:47.800 --> 00:56:50.800
of Palestinian artists are able to grow

00:56:50.800 --> 00:56:55.360
and create change in their lives and their communities.

00:56:56.040 --> 00:56:59.560
So I was really excited to perform here.

00:56:59.560 --> 00:57:01.160
It’s my home.

00:57:08.440 --> 00:57:09.760
Whatever you plan.

00:57:09.760 --> 00:57:14.480
Still alive, that’s the most important thing.

00:57:14.480 --> 00:57:18.520
Still not driving towards the bullets.

00:57:18.840 --> 00:57:20.960
From here nobody was allowed to cross.

00:57:54.800 --> 00:57:56.560
This is the tanks.

00:57:56.560 --> 00:58:00.160
The Israelis arrived in Jenin Refugee camp last night

00:58:00.160 --> 00:58:03.240
to arrest one of the Islamic Jihad leaders.

00:58:04.040 --> 00:58:08.480
A lot of clashes happened after the guys in Jenin camp

00:58:08.480 --> 00:58:12.600
discovered that the army is in the camp.

00:58:12.600 --> 00:58:16.200
And because of that, this guy was killed.

00:58:16.200 --> 00:58:18.760
22 years old.

00:58:19.200 --> 00:58:21.120
And that’s the life here in the West Bank.

00:58:21.120 --> 00:58:24.080
It’s not like war happening all the time.

00:58:24.080 --> 00:58:26.320
No, all the time arresting people, killing people,

00:58:26.320 --> 00:58:30.600
building settlements, putting people down, checkpoints.

00:58:31.160 --> 00:58:34.800
But no one really hears about it.

00:58:34.800 --> 00:58:37.960
See, this is Jenin city centre at 10pm.

00:58:37.960 --> 00:58:40.800
People having a normal life. And then the tanks.

00:58:40.800 --> 00:58:43.120
And when you see tanks you just throw stones

00:58:43.120 --> 00:58:47.400
because the tanks are coming to your city, to your house.

00:58:47.400 --> 00:58:51.200
And here you see the guys following the tanks.

00:58:51.200 --> 00:58:54.200
See how brave the guys are.

00:58:57.120 --> 00:59:01.040
And what happened last night, it’s just 100m from here.

00:59:04.280 --> 00:59:06.600
We couldn’t do the show today.

00:59:06.600 --> 00:59:11.080
because today was the funeral.

00:59:11.080 --> 00:59:15.000
We all feel the pain together.

00:59:18.400 --> 00:59:24.440
So you can imagine how complicated
and how difficult it is

00:59:24.440 --> 00:59:28.320
to make art in a situation like this.

00:59:40.440 --> 00:59:44.760
And we are 300m from where

00:59:44.760 --> 00:59:48.640
Shireen Abu Akleh was killed.

01:00:53.240 --> 01:00:56.120
People in Palestine were hearing about the comedy club

01:00:56.120 --> 01:00:58.640
and getting so excited about our shows.

01:00:58.640 --> 01:01:02.480
And we got invitations to perform
more shows all over the West Bank.

01:01:02.760 --> 01:01:06.560
People are laughing, people are
communicating with us on social media,

01:01:06.560 --> 01:01:08.160
sending us messages,

01:01:08.160 --> 01:01:10.160
“When is your next show?”

01:01:10.160 --> 01:01:14.200
And suddenly, we got an email inviting us to bring

01:01:14.200 --> 01:01:17.120
three of our comedians to London.

01:01:17.120 --> 01:01:19.880
That was so special for all of us.

01:01:19.880 --> 01:01:21.840
Wow! Palestine Comedy Club

01:01:21.840 --> 01:01:24.200
is going to perform in English.

01:01:24.200 --> 01:01:26.840
What a great struggle to have!

01:01:27.360 --> 01:01:30.000
So, we decided that Diana, Hanna and me

01:01:30.000 --> 01:01:32.360
would go to perform in London.

01:01:32.360 --> 01:01:36.360
But going to London as a West Bankers
means you need a visa.

01:01:36.560 --> 01:01:40.040
That is very complicated. It might take months.

01:01:40.520 --> 01:01:44.360
For Hanna, it’s a bit different because he’s from Haifa.

01:01:44.360 --> 01:01:48.120
He has an Israeli Passport so he can fly straight to London.

01:01:48.840 --> 01:01:50.840
Under the Israeli military occupation,

01:01:50.840 --> 01:01:54.840
we are not allowed to have an airport in the West Bank or Gaza.

01:01:55.240 --> 01:01:58.440
So to travel outside of the West Bank to the world,

01:01:58.440 --> 01:02:02.200
me and Diana, we need to go to Jordan.

01:02:02.520 --> 01:02:05.320
Wow! Comedy in English!

01:02:05.320 --> 01:02:07.440
I had performed in English before,

01:02:07.440 --> 01:02:10.160
but for Hanna and Diana it was their first time

01:02:10.160 --> 01:02:13.200
writing and performing stand-up comedy in English.

01:02:16.680 --> 01:02:19.400
This was going to be a real challenge.

01:02:21.000 --> 01:02:22.800
But we were so happy to be bringing

01:02:22.800 --> 01:02:26.320
our Palestinian stories, jokes, punchlines,

01:02:26.320 --> 01:02:28.560
all the way from Palestine

01:02:28.560 --> 01:02:30.320
to London

01:02:31.280 --> 01:02:33.760
in October 2023.

01:02:37.040 --> 01:02:39.640
Israeli soldiers and civilians are being held hostage

01:02:39.640 --> 01:02:41.640
as part of an unprecedented attack

01:02:41.640 --> 01:02:45.120
by Palestinian militants on Israeli territory.

01:02:45.120 --> 01:02:47.200
Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu,

01:02:47.200 --> 01:02:49.680
says his country is at war.

01:02:51.080 --> 01:02:53.880
At least 70 people have been killed by an airstrike

01:02:53.880 --> 01:02:56.800
in the Al-Maghazi refugee camp in Gaza,

01:02:56.800 --> 01:02:59.600
according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

01:02:59.600 --> 01:03:01.680
Body-bags have been piling outside

01:03:01.680 --> 01:03:05.280
the al-Aqsa hospital where many
of the victims were taken.

01:03:22.080 --> 01:03:25.480
It’s just difficult and dangerous.

01:03:25.720 --> 01:03:27.880
We Palestinians who live in Gaza, or West Bank,

01:03:27.880 --> 01:03:29.960
don’t forget, we live under occupation.

01:03:31.160 --> 01:03:34.960
If something happened to my family, to my friends,

01:03:34.960 --> 01:03:38.800
that is a world of stress.

01:03:57.600 --> 01:03:59.880
We look at the news and

01:03:59.880 --> 01:04:04.520
we cry and we are very sad inside and we are very...

01:04:05.320 --> 01:04:07.560
we feel very complicated.

01:04:07.560 --> 01:04:13.800
But we must go and make a comedy show.

01:04:27.320 --> 01:04:30.800
For me, I feel we have to tell our
stories as much as we can

01:04:31.560 --> 01:04:34.840
because this is our identity, this is our culture.

01:04:36.280 --> 01:04:37.480
At the same time,

01:04:37.480 --> 01:04:41.680
speaking about Palestine, that’s a statement itself.

01:04:45.520 --> 01:04:48.280
It’s always difficult to come here to the UK.

01:04:48.840 --> 01:04:50.520
British immigration, they’ve asked me a lot of

01:04:50.520 --> 01:04:52.760
weird, difficult questions like,

01:04:52.760 --> 01:04:54.560
“What is your mother’s name?”

01:04:54.680 --> 01:04:56.680
Now, ladies and gentlemen, and you all know

01:04:56.680 --> 01:04:59.560
you cannot ask a Palestinian man, Arab man,

01:04:59.560 --> 01:05:01.240
anything about his mother

01:05:01.240 --> 01:05:03.200
unless you want to insult him.

01:05:04.400 --> 01:05:05.840
So I wrote them back,

01:05:05.840 --> 01:05:09.000
“Kindly, please don’t ask these questions.

01:05:09.000 --> 01:05:10.160
It’s not your business.”

01:05:11.800 --> 01:05:12.880
They wrote me back,

01:05:12.880 --> 01:05:13.960
“Yes it is.

01:05:14.800 --> 01:05:16.800
And for that, here are more questions.

01:05:17.000 --> 01:05:17.760
First question:

01:05:17.760 --> 01:05:20.320
What is the size of your mother’s feet?

01:05:21.080 --> 01:05:22.000
Second question:

01:05:22.000 --> 01:05:24.080
Send us a photo of your mother.

01:05:25.440 --> 01:05:27.680
Third question:

01:05:27.680 --> 01:05:31.680
What is your mother doing Friday night?”

01:05:31.680 --> 01:05:32.960
And guys, like...

01:05:33.120 --> 01:05:35.680
imagine that a British person is applying

01:05:35.680 --> 01:05:37.600
for a visa to come to Palestine.

01:05:37.880 --> 01:05:39.560
What will the questions be?

01:05:39.560 --> 01:05:40.560
“A.

01:05:40.560 --> 01:05:42.720
Whose fault is all of this?”

01:05:43.440 --> 01:05:46.440
And trust me, if you don’t answer with

01:05:46.440 --> 01:05:48.520
“The British”

01:05:48.520 --> 01:05:50.680
you will never come to Palestine.

01:05:50.680 --> 01:05:52.280
Thank you so much!

01:05:55.200 --> 01:05:59.280
It’s a very beautiful feeling when you make people laugh.

01:05:59.280 --> 01:06:01.560
Wow, how gorgeous.

01:06:03.600 --> 01:06:06.320
And that’s the power of comedy.

01:06:07.760 --> 01:06:10.360
This is humanising us.

01:06:12.600 --> 01:06:16.720
With stand-up, I can be myself.

01:06:23.880 --> 01:06:26.640
You know, the days in London were so long,

01:06:26.640 --> 01:06:28.160
every minute I’m making sure that

01:06:28.160 --> 01:06:31.800
my family and friends are doing okay.

01:06:31.800 --> 01:06:34.160
And are they just still alive, you know?

01:06:34.160 --> 01:06:37.560
I’m texting them, instagramming them on social media all the time.

01:06:37.560 --> 01:06:39.720
What happened? Who’s killed?

01:06:39.720 --> 01:06:41.960
Is the army around? Who’s shot?

01:06:41.960 --> 01:06:44.240
One of my friends. One of the journalists who I know.

01:06:44.240 --> 01:06:46.280
Is everyone doing okay?

01:06:46.280 --> 01:06:49.960
You know, I text everyone around and everyone comes back,

01:06:49.960 --> 01:06:52.520
“We’re okay, we’re still alive.”

01:06:52.520 --> 01:06:54.720
“We’re okay, we’re still alive” all the time.

01:06:54.720 --> 01:06:56.040
How this can happen?

01:06:56.040 --> 01:06:59.640
How these people can still have hope, you know?

01:07:01.880 --> 01:07:06.080
How to wake up every morning to
have the energy to start your day?

01:07:06.080 --> 01:07:08.600
I am here in London, I sleep 4 or 5 hours,

01:07:08.600 --> 01:07:14.080
I sleep and I have my phone in my hands,
just look at the news.

01:07:14.080 --> 01:07:16.080
I wake up, the same thing, I do the same thing,

01:07:16.080 --> 01:07:19.560
I go off, look at the news, I text my friends, my family,

01:07:19.560 --> 01:07:21.560
I look at the news, how many people were killed today?

01:07:21.560 --> 01:07:23.640
How many rockets were bombed today?

01:07:23.640 --> 01:07:24.960
How’s it going in Jenin?

01:07:24.960 --> 01:07:28.120
Is there a curfew?
Are there undercover soldiers out there?

01:07:28.120 --> 01:07:31.640
Where are the army?
What’s happening every day?

01:07:31.640 --> 01:07:34.120
I want to go home, but how can I get home?

01:07:34.120 --> 01:07:36.760
You know, that’s a big question.

01:07:36.760 --> 01:07:38.440
You know, after waiting in London,

01:07:38.440 --> 01:07:41.960
finally I hear they’re saying that
they opened the bridge in Jordan.

01:07:41.960 --> 01:07:45.280
So that’s why I flew to Jordan, to Amman.

01:07:45.280 --> 01:07:49.200
And then I waited three days actually
just to cross the bridge

01:07:49.200 --> 01:07:51.360
to go to the other side of the West bank.

01:07:52.600 --> 01:07:55.720
We went all over the mountain roads

01:07:55.720 --> 01:07:57.720
because it was checkpoints all over the streets

01:07:57.720 --> 01:08:00.400
and the army’s not letting people to pass.

01:08:01.120 --> 01:08:03.960
That’s why everyone is taking the mountain roads,

01:08:03.960 --> 01:08:05.720
even if it’s much more dangerous.

01:08:05.720 --> 01:08:09.680
But people want to keep going with their lives.

01:08:11.960 --> 01:08:16.400
And then I arrived home and
I was relieved when I met my family.

01:08:16.400 --> 01:08:20.160
But then the reality, the reality of the situation...

01:08:21.120 --> 01:08:23.080
It hits.

01:08:23.080 --> 01:08:28.960
I realised how hard it is, how hard every day.

01:08:29.440 --> 01:08:31.320
You know, my routine in Jenin is just

01:08:31.320 --> 01:08:35.520
I’m speaking to my friends,
I’m on my phone checking them.

01:08:35.520 --> 01:08:39.800
I go to the streets and I see that Al Jazeera is everywhere.

01:08:39.800 --> 01:08:42.960
You know, everyone is checking that it’s safe.

01:08:42.960 --> 01:08:46.120
Everyone is checking on everyone
every day, every moment.

01:08:46.120 --> 01:08:49.760
And everyone is just thinking,
when this will end? You know?

01:08:50.560 --> 01:08:53.600
The army is bombing Gaza every day, every morning.

01:08:53.600 --> 01:08:55.000
And every morning I wake up.

01:08:55.000 --> 01:08:57.560
How many, how many are killed today?

01:08:57.560 --> 01:08:59.720
100, 200, how many today?

01:08:59.720 --> 01:09:02.560
15,000, 20,000 are killed,

01:09:02.560 --> 01:09:04.280
30,000 are killed,

01:09:04.280 --> 01:09:05.960
35,000 are killed.

01:09:05.960 --> 01:09:12.000
I don’t know when this war will end,
what the number will be.

01:09:12.000 --> 01:09:16.720
Every time I see a hospital is bombed
or a school is bombed,

01:09:16.720 --> 01:09:20.560
I think now it will be a big international reaction.

01:09:21.000 --> 01:09:24.640
They will stop the war right now,
they won’t allow this to happen.

01:09:24.640 --> 01:09:26.640
They’re kids, it’s a hospital.

01:09:26.640 --> 01:09:30.680
And then I wake up the next morning,
nothing is happening.

01:09:30.680 --> 01:09:34.480
And then you feel this big...

01:09:34.480 --> 01:09:39.320
like not trusting anyone around because

01:09:39.320 --> 01:09:42.320
no one is really doing anything.

01:09:44.320 --> 01:09:46.320
At the end of the day I am Palestinian.

01:09:46.320 --> 01:09:48.600
I am part of this community.

01:09:48.600 --> 01:09:52.440
We are living this together every day,
every morning, every evening,

01:09:52.440 --> 01:09:55.480
We get the same news together as one community.

01:09:55.760 --> 01:09:58.560
And this makes me feel I want to react,
I want to do something,

01:09:58.560 --> 01:10:04.440
I want to help, I want to act out
just to protect my family.

01:10:04.440 --> 01:10:07.240
But at the same time I know how dangerous it is, that.

01:10:07.240 --> 01:10:09.640
But it feels like the whole world is against you.

01:10:09.640 --> 01:10:11.040
Everyone is against you.

01:10:11.040 --> 01:10:14.320
The strongest army in the world is against you.

01:10:14.320 --> 01:10:16.440
They can smash you in any second.

01:10:16.440 --> 01:10:18.800
I want to fight but I don’t want to die.

01:10:18.800 --> 01:10:20.160
I feel sick inside

01:10:20.160 --> 01:10:22.400
because I love life and I don’t want to die.

01:10:22.400 --> 01:10:24.720
I want to make art, I want to be with my people.

01:10:24.720 --> 01:10:27.400
I want this community, this society to grow,

01:10:27.400 --> 01:10:31.720
to build our own state, our own country together.

01:10:31.720 --> 01:10:34.320
That’s why we don’t want to die, we want to live.

01:10:36.160 --> 01:10:37.960
And it’s hard.

01:10:37.960 --> 01:10:40.320
Living it is really hard.

01:13:23.720 --> 01:13:27.160
They’ve killed a lot of people, friends.

01:13:27.160 --> 01:13:29.760
It feels that this is a new place.

01:13:30.120 --> 01:13:35.480
They’ve changed the identity of our town, our city.

01:13:35.480 --> 01:13:40.000
You’re trying to see the memories
that you’ve created here

01:13:40.000 --> 01:13:42.360
but they’re not here, do not exist.

01:13:42.360 --> 01:13:44.320
This street does not exist anymore.

01:13:45.000 --> 01:13:48.160
That roundabout does not exist.

01:19:17.240 --> 01:19:21.680
It’s really dangerous now for us.

01:19:23.160 --> 01:19:27.160
I know that some friends got arrested

01:19:27.160 --> 01:19:31.560
because they published some story on social media.

01:19:31.800 --> 01:19:36.480
Now the government published
that if you want a gun

01:19:36.480 --> 01:19:41.320
to protect yourself from the enemy, call us.

01:19:44.000 --> 01:19:47.440
The vibe here is like a panic attack.

01:19:47.440 --> 01:19:51.480
it’s going like the Wild West

01:19:51.480 --> 01:19:56.200
and all of them was those...

01:19:58.880 --> 01:20:03.040
You know, we can’t cry all the time.

01:20:03.720 --> 01:20:07.120
Sometimes we need to laugh.

01:20:14.960 --> 01:20:18.640
We want to, you know, smile a little bit.

01:20:28.720 --> 01:20:31.960
I can’t ignore that Israel exists.

01:20:31.960 --> 01:20:34.320
Israel is here.

01:20:35.560 --> 01:20:38.800
And I have the identity and the passport,
but you know...

01:20:41.000 --> 01:20:43.240
Palestine is in Haifa.

01:20:47.880 --> 01:20:52.360
I say that, yes, I am sorry that I am not a resistor.

01:20:55.400 --> 01:20:59.960
I see the brutality of the police
and the army and the soldiers

01:20:59.960 --> 01:21:02.440
and I’m really scared.

01:21:12.000 --> 01:21:13.960
I am myself

01:21:16.080 --> 01:21:17.720
in a big shock

01:21:19.440 --> 01:21:24.320
how in a few days something happens

01:21:24.320 --> 01:21:26.800
and you leave.

01:21:28.840 --> 01:21:30.840
It took me months to like,

01:21:30.840 --> 01:21:34.760
“Did I just leave?”

01:21:41.440 --> 01:21:45.360
I came to Amsterdam because
I felt I’m going to lose my life

01:21:48.800 --> 01:21:54.280
because the settlers are taking
all over the roads in the West Bank.

01:21:57.240 --> 01:22:01.400
I was going to be killed by them

01:22:01.400 --> 01:22:03.360
because they were on the highway

01:22:03.360 --> 01:22:05.600
from Ramallah to Jenin and suddenly

01:22:05.600 --> 01:22:07.280
I was stopped by a settler.

01:22:07.280 --> 01:22:08.880
I’m like driving and then

01:22:08.880 --> 01:22:10.360
there’s a settler in the middle of the street

01:22:10.360 --> 01:22:12.440
jumping out of nowhere.

01:22:12.440 --> 01:22:13.200
Like, what?

01:22:13.200 --> 01:22:15.720
And then I had to stop the car

01:22:15.720 --> 01:22:16.360
and I saw him,

01:22:16.360 --> 01:22:17.840
he’s coming to me.

01:22:17.840 --> 01:22:21.080
And he did this to the door

01:22:21.080 --> 01:22:23.160
and he went to take his gun

01:22:23.160 --> 01:22:25.080
and my friends were around,

01:22:25.080 --> 01:22:26.760
they were with me in the car.

01:22:26.760 --> 01:22:28.760
And they said, “Let’s go! Go! Go! Go! Go! Go!

01:22:28.760 --> 01:22:30.440
It’s all in four seconds.

01:22:30.440 --> 01:22:33.600
And then I’m like, “What’s going on?”

01:22:33.600 --> 01:22:34.800
And then... [engine noise]

01:22:34.800 --> 01:22:36.960
And I look at him by the mirror.

01:22:36.960 --> 01:22:38.800
And he took the gun

01:22:38.800 --> 01:22:40.120
and he shot.

01:22:40.120 --> 01:22:42.840
And then you see it by the car.

01:22:43.880 --> 01:22:46.160
So it was really hard.

01:22:46.160 --> 01:22:49.040
It was really hard.

01:22:56.120 --> 01:22:59.720
I wake up, in Jenin the streets are destroyed,

01:23:01.720 --> 01:23:04.400
army every night in Jenin.

01:23:06.560 --> 01:23:08.960
Life is black.

01:23:12.080 --> 01:23:14.520
I know myself, how committed I am,

01:23:14.520 --> 01:23:16.520
how much I was believing

01:23:16.520 --> 01:23:19.240
I need to stay in Palestine.

01:23:23.360 --> 01:23:24.800
By being here

01:23:25.640 --> 01:23:27.680
I feel much more useful.

01:23:29.200 --> 01:23:33.560
I just want to say thank you for everyone who was attending today.

01:23:33.560 --> 01:23:35.840
What you’re doing is

01:23:35.840 --> 01:23:38.960
very important for us back home

01:23:38.960 --> 01:23:42.200
because we feel we are not alone.

01:26:15.200 --> 01:26:17.080
Where is Sam?

01:26:30.960 --> 01:26:32.120
Aaah!

01:26:32.120 --> 01:26:33.120
Jesus!

01:26:34.120 --> 01:26:35.320
Oh my God!

01:26:35.320 --> 01:26:36.600
How are you?

01:26:36.960 --> 01:26:37.600
My love!

01:26:37.600 --> 01:26:38.680
Hello!

01:26:38.680 --> 01:26:41.040
Sorry. Hello!

01:26:41.040 --> 01:26:41.840
And the other side.

01:26:41.840 --> 01:26:42.880
Hello!

01:26:42.880 --> 01:26:44.200
I couldn’t quite catch that, you fool.

01:26:44.200 --> 01:26:45.560
How are you?

01:26:45.560 --> 01:26:47.840
Oh can I say it again!

01:26:47.840 --> 01:26:49.080
Hello Sam!

01:26:49.080 --> 01:26:51.080
Regash! Hello!

01:26:51.560 --> 01:26:52.360
How are you?

01:26:52.360 --> 01:26:53.280
I’m good.

01:26:53.440 --> 01:26:55.480
She’s the funny one.

01:26:55.480 --> 01:26:56.520
You don’t know it, look.

01:26:57.040 --> 01:26:59.080
I slept for about 2 and a half hours, that’s all.

01:26:59.080 --> 01:27:00.120
I couldn’t sleep last night.

01:27:00.120 --> 01:27:00.800
Why?

01:27:01.480 --> 01:27:02.240
No idea.

01:27:02.240 --> 01:27:04.240
Life. Is it life?

01:27:04.240 --> 01:27:06.680
I think it's more Alaa Shehada.

01:27:06.680 --> 01:27:07.880
Is it life?

01:27:07.880 --> 01:27:08.720
That’s what did it.

01:27:08.720 --> 01:27:09.600
Oh my god.

01:27:09.600 --> 01:27:11.200
Have you been here before?

01:27:11.200 --> 01:27:13.360
Not in this space, no. The other space.

01:27:13.360 --> 01:27:14.520
They have another space?

01:27:14.520 --> 01:27:16.880
A big space, yeah. The perfect one.

01:27:16.880 --> 01:27:19.440
How much? How many seats?

01:27:19.440 --> 01:27:20.960
How many seats is the other space?

01:27:21.520 --> 01:27:22.640
The big one?

01:27:23.160 --> 01:27:25.600
198? Yeah, almost 200.

01:27:25.800 --> 01:27:26.880
Wow.

01:27:26.880 --> 01:27:30.840
But it would be... it’s perfect,
perfect for the show. But hey.

01:27:30.840 --> 01:27:34.440
Another day, another year.

01:27:35.360 --> 01:27:39.000
So after leaving Jenin, you know, it's tough.

01:27:39.000 --> 01:27:42.240
Being abroad is tough. It's really tough.

01:27:42.240 --> 01:27:46.080
And at the same time
Palestine Comedy Club is an idea

01:27:46.080 --> 01:27:48.520
It's not connected to a place
where it should be.

01:27:48.520 --> 01:27:52.000
An idea of telling the Palestinian story

01:27:52.000 --> 01:27:54.600
with the stand-up comedy
or a comedy frame

01:27:54.600 --> 01:27:58.040
wherever Palestinians are or
wherever the Palestinian story is.

01:27:58.440 --> 01:28:00.280
And I want to keep telling the story

01:28:00.280 --> 01:28:04.280
of who I am as a Palestinian
and of my people.

01:28:04.280 --> 01:28:06.120
And of course, at the end of the day,

01:28:06.120 --> 01:28:09.480
I'm an artist and I'm a performer and

01:28:09.480 --> 01:28:11.320
I want to be on stage, I want to perform.

01:28:11.320 --> 01:28:13.200
And a comedian...

01:28:13.200 --> 01:28:15.360
and a gentleman.

01:32:21.360 --> 01:32:22.880
Let’s welcome,

01:32:22.880 --> 01:32:25.240
Alaa Shehada!

01:32:34.520 --> 01:32:36.000
Thank you, thank you for coming.

01:32:36.000 --> 01:32:38.440
We won’t clap for a whole hour, no. Enough.

01:32:38.600 --> 01:32:40.320
Thank you, what a great, beautiful crowd.

01:32:40.320 --> 01:32:42.880
It reminds me of the number
of my uncles back home.

01:32:45.120 --> 01:32:48.960
Before we start, my name is Alaa, not Allah.

01:32:48.960 --> 01:32:52.160
Because I’m here but God is everywhere.

01:32:52.160 --> 01:32:53.760
Watch out.

01:32:55.440 --> 01:32:57.720
And if you don’t believe in God...

01:32:58.040 --> 01:33:00.400
just enjoy the show, come on.

01:33:00.800 --> 01:33:03.000
I come from a city called Jenin.

01:33:03.000 --> 01:33:04.840
For some Dutch people,

01:33:04.840 --> 01:33:06.600
“Yenin”.

01:33:06.600 --> 01:33:07.520
For the British,

01:33:07.520 --> 01:33:08.800
“Je-NIN”.

01:33:08.800 --> 01:33:12.400
They exaggerate so they
look like they know it.

01:33:12.400 --> 01:33:15.960
So, things are different from Jenin to Europe.

01:33:15.960 --> 01:33:17.200
Really different.

01:33:17.200 --> 01:33:19.840
Even the audiences are different.

01:33:19.840 --> 01:33:20.960
In Jenin,

01:33:20.960 --> 01:33:23.720
whatever I say, people laugh.

01:33:23.720 --> 01:33:25.680
Even if I move my belly,

01:33:25.680 --> 01:33:27.280
people laugh.

01:33:30.800 --> 01:33:32.680
People stop me in the middle of the show

01:33:32.680 --> 01:33:34.600
and they take their phone call.

01:33:34.600 --> 01:33:35.360
“Hi my love,

01:33:35.360 --> 01:33:36.880
Alaa, stop, wait.

01:33:36.880 --> 01:33:37.440
Yes mum.

01:33:37.440 --> 01:33:39.520
Alaa, I said wait.

01:33:39.520 --> 01:33:41.280
Yes mum, what do you want?

01:33:41.280 --> 01:33:44.240
Ah Alaa, it’s my mum, she say’s hi to you.

01:33:45.520 --> 01:33:46.960
Okay, okay, my love.

01:33:46.960 --> 01:33:49.440
Alaa, continue. Let’s go.”

01:33:50.240 --> 01:33:52.960
After the show they bring
their friends and they tell them,

01:33:52.960 --> 01:33:54.000
“Alaa, Alaa, Alaa,

01:33:54.000 --> 01:33:55.200
tell him the joke, he was not in the show.

01:33:55.200 --> 01:33:56.520
Tell him now, let’s go, let’s go, let’s go.

01:33:56.520 --> 01:33:58.360
Let’s go, Alaa my love, tell him.”

01:33:59.960 --> 01:34:02.200
People found everything funny.

01:34:02.400 --> 01:34:04.120
And then, after a while,

01:34:04.120 --> 01:34:05.680
I arrived to Europe, to the Netherlands

01:34:05.680 --> 01:34:08.800
and I found out that

01:34:08.800 --> 01:34:11.840
my stand-up comedy turned into

01:34:11.840 --> 01:34:15.440
“interesting comedy”.

01:34:15.440 --> 01:34:19.160
I hear people mmm-ing during my shows.

01:34:19.160 --> 01:34:21.120
Mmmmmm.

01:34:24.760 --> 01:34:26.720
“Wow, what an interesting joke.

01:34:27.440 --> 01:34:30.480
It makes me laugh so hard.”

01:34:32.800 --> 01:34:35.640
The other night, a Dutch guy
he came to me and he said,

01:34:35.640 --> 01:34:36.520
“Allah”, I said “Alaa”.

01:34:36.520 --> 01:34:39.000
He said, “Allah”
I said “May Allah take you away”.

01:34:40.440 --> 01:34:42.040
He said, “I love all your stories from Yenin.”

01:34:42.040 --> 01:34:44.040
I said “Jenin”, he said, “Yenin”.

01:34:45.480 --> 01:34:48.600
“But first I need to get back home

01:34:48.600 --> 01:34:50.560
process the stories

01:34:50.560 --> 01:34:52.240
and hopefully at the weekend

01:34:52.240 --> 01:34:54.000
I will laugh at them.”

01:34:54.840 --> 01:34:57.000
So together, I know it’s hard again.

01:34:57.000 --> 01:35:00.120
Let’s practise together some laughter.

01:35:00.120 --> 01:35:00.880
Can we?

01:35:01.280 --> 01:35:03.600
Ha ha ha ha ha.

01:35:03.600 --> 01:35:06.040
It’s hard for you, I know.

01:35:06.040 --> 01:35:07.760
And you, it’s hard.

01:35:08.280 --> 01:35:11.480
I don’t know who put
you here in front of me, man.

01:35:11.480 --> 01:35:14.960
We’re going to have a hard time.

01:35:15.880 --> 01:35:17.800
Ha ha ha ha.

01:35:17.800 --> 01:35:18.640
Nice, nice.

01:35:18.640 --> 01:35:20.360
You see the Arab, “Ha ha ha ha!”

01:35:21.480 --> 01:35:24.120
Let’s practice some “Mmm”.

01:35:24.120 --> 01:35:25.400
Mmmmmmm.

01:35:25.400 --> 01:35:28.040
Fucking good at “Mmmmmmm”.

01:35:28.960 --> 01:35:30.680
Now, are we up for the show?

01:35:30.680 --> 01:35:31.480
Right?

01:35:31.480 --> 01:35:33.200
Yes!

01:35:36.600 --> 01:35:38.240
Let’s start the show!