‘I have to make the audience laugh to make them listen. Then I can say something awkward’

Published: 7 October 2017

Last updated: 4 March 2024

AT GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY, where Sayed Kashua is speaking about his dual identity as a Palestinian living in Israel, a clean-cut student stands up and introduces himself as an Israeli Jew. “So, on one hand I agree with you, Israeli society is very racist towards Arabs,” he says. “But on the other hand, you really succeeded within a secular Israeli Jewish elite.

“Aren’t you being a little unfair towards us?” Despite murmuring in the crowd, he continues, “If Israeli Jewish society was as racist and unfair as you make it seem, maybe you wouldn’t have gotten where you are. So don’t you think you should appreciate it a little more?”

“One of the things I wanted to escape from in Israel is not being considered a citizen,” he says. “That the ‘be thankful despite your position’ is such a humiliating issue when it comes to minorities.‘ Be thankful because you can’t compare yourself to the people in Syria or Jordan or whatever.’ It’s one of the things I think I was so painful for someone who thought he was a citizen.”

Photo: Reorient

FULL STORY A conversation with Sayed Kashua on Arab-Israeli identity (Moment)

AND SEE:
An Arab and a Jew walk into the Israeli Consulate in Chicago (Haaretz)
SAYED KASHUA Even while waiting in line, Arab and Jew quarrel over the eternal question: ‘Who was here first?’

Comic-serious film dissects complexities of Arab-Israeli identity (The Jewish Independent)