When I was in Israel in January I saw a CNN piece about the "Israeli Palestinian Comedy Tour." There are four comedians, including a Palestinian Arab American, who are evidently doing a bang-up business telling jokes throughout Israel. (In fact, a couple of them were staying at my hotel in Jerusalem.)
I have no problem with this tour, and I wish them the best. But I can't help noticing that Arab countries do not seem to be on their itinerary.
On the contrary, one of the comedians mentions in his blog a letter received from a Lebanese comedian friend of his which says "there is good reason for the conflict between Palestinians and Israeli’s, it is not as if you can say that palestinians and israeli’s should live in peace and what is going on has no basis, the people of palestine have no country, they are constantly murdered on a daily basis by Israeli aggression, although Israeli media controlled outlets will have you believe otherwise."
Israeli audiences are loving their humor - and Arab audiences want no part of it. It speaks volumes about who truly wants to live in peace and who wants the other side to disappear forever.
