Stand Up for Peace, an event held in Hotung on Sunday night, was a stand-up comedy show which featured Scott Blakeman, a Jewish-American comedian, and Dean Obediallah, a Palestinian-American comedian. Both used comedy in order to bring together Jews and Arabs and discuss solutions for peace in the Middle East by promoting conversation.
The show was done in a few parts. It began with both Obediallah and Blakeman on stage together, then a section with each of them doing their own bits individually, finally ending with a more serious discussion about the Middle East conflict and a question-and-answer period with the audience.
Senior Barry Kaufman, the President of Hillel, organized the Hillel-sponsored event and contacted leaders of several organizations to make sure their members knew of Stand Up for Peace in order to attend.
"I thought that it would be great to bring them to Tufts because we have such a diverse student body that represents many different religions, cultures, and backgrounds," Kaufman said. "In addition, we have many groups on campus that are active in trying to achieve peace in the Middle East so that the show would appeal to them as well."
Students from Hillel, Friends of Israel, the Muslim Student Association, the New Initiative for Middle East Peace and Pathways as well as many other students attended the event.
"Dean was really funny because he played up Arab stereotypes for a laugh," said senior Arielle Traub, who attended the event. "He also poked fun at a lot of the current policies which have been implemented since 9/11."
"They both use comedy to provide Jewish and Palestinian views on contemporary politics and the upcoming elections," Kaufman said.
The comedians asked students to be aware of the news and to get involved by sending letters to Senators and Representatives in Congress to encourage them to continue to strive for a solution to peace in the Middle East.
- by Leticia Frazao
