Jackie Mason and Ivor Dembina are both Jewish comics, but the style and substance of their comedy couldn’t be more different, especially when it comes to their views on Israel, writes William Cook in The Guardian.Read more about A humorous occupation?
At the Qalandiyah roadblock, the state of Palestine is being established, according to author and playwright Salman Natoor, who found himself there one hot summer’s day. Read more about Weapons of the weak
Palestinian American comedienne Maysoon Zayid is a rising force who has appeared on MTV, As the World Turns, and 20/20.EI’s Nigel Parry caught up with Zayid at the annual conference of the Arab-American Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) conference where she performed to a packed and appreciative crowd at the Friday dinner honoring Arab American achievements. Listen to EI’s first audio interview in MP3 format. Read more about Interview with comedienne Maysoon Zayid
“American singer Steve Earle, no stranger to rehab himself, has a few prescriptions for an ailing America,” Robert Everett-Green writes in the Toronto Globe and Mail. “I’m not anti-Semitic, but I am anti-Zionist,” says Earle. “Why do we expect the Palestinians who have lived there for a couple of thousand years to accept that they should be second-class citizens in their own homeland?” Read more about Doctor Earle's diagnosis
Richard Gere, the famous American actor and star of many Hollywood movies, visited the West Bank town of Ramallah today. After a short wait at Qalandiya checkpoint, Gere drove into Ramallah which has been under military curfew for the past 24 hours, and had a briefing with several prominent figures in Palestinian civil society. Read more about Richard Gere visits Ramallah under curfew
On Wednesday 14 May, British-Palestinian filmmaker Omar Al-Qattan and his two-member crew from Belgium, Olivier Pulinckx and Cosmas Antoniadis, were denied entry into Israel on grounds of “security.” No further explanation was granted. There have been many similar cases of arbitrary action by Israeli police in recent months, and particularly in recent weeks, targeting individuals and organisations working with Palestinian civil society. Read more about Palestinian filmmaker denied entry to Israel on "security" grounds
Although the film Jeremy Hardy vs. the Israeli Army was “on one hand [intended for] a British audience,” as explained by director Leila Sansour, it also aimed to communicate to the rest of the world that Palestine isn’t just a land of “sad faces and dead bodies.” Sansour wanted to show a universal audience “that it’s a hospitable place” like the Palestine that lives in her memory. Maureen Clare Murphy writes about Sansour’s documentary about the ISM. Read more about Documentary review: "Jeremy Hardy vs. the Israeli Army"