Like so many of us, I have spent the last 9 months watching and grieving (and protesting) the horrific devastation in Gaza and Israel.
What Israel is doing to the 2 million Palestinians who call Gaza home is more brutal and heartbreaking than anything we could have ever imagined. A crime against humanity on every level. Meanwhile, Hamas has committed atrocities of its own since well before October 7th. And here in the U.S., Congress is giving Israel a blank check to keep bombing, Susan Sarandon is getting in trouble for speaking up, DJ Khaled is getting trouble for staying silent, and every progressive organization across the country is debating every other progressive organization for not putting out the same exact statement about this tragic occupation/conflict/insert-whatever-euphemism-you-want that’s been going on for 75+ years.
And as a Jew, as an American, as an artist, an activist…shit, as a human being with functioning eyes and a heart, I needed to do something more.
So I called my old friend Sammy Obeid.
Sammy is a brilliant Palestinian-American comedian: a genius on the mic, politically astute with a huge heart and math jokes for days. Sammy and I both knew that our communities need to have honest dialogue and debate. We need to grieve and have each other’s backs. We need to laugh to keep from crying – and then cry some more so that we can keep on living.
In that spirit, we cooked up a project with a name as ridiculous (and totally serious) as ourselves: Friday Night Semites.
Friday Night Semites is our new video podcast that combines insightful opinions and comedy to break down some of the toughest issues in the Middle East and the U.S. Our first guests include rabble-rousing comedian Amanda Seales, Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsour, Arab Jewish artist and mystic Hadar Cohen, and U.S. army veteran turned anti-imperialist Greg Stoker.
Sammy and I dive into big topics like Islamophobia and antisemitism, “From the River to the Sea” controversies and the college protests fallout, and the most important question of all – WTF is a “semite” in the first place?
You can find us on Youtube, Instagram, Spotify, and more. Subscribe, share, you know the deal.
Our little podcast may not stop this brutal war and occupation in four episodes or less (sorry, no spoilers), but we hope it can help shift the culture towards greater understanding, solidarity, and a permanent ceasefire and justice for all.
Watermelon + Bagels forever.