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‘Comics for Conversation’ Event in NYC Featuring Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestinian Comedians Aims to Promote ‘Dialogue Over Discord’
A police officer removes a Palestinian flag from the William Tecumseh Sherman monument as anti-Israel demonstrators attend a protest near the Met Gala, an annual fundraising gala held for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute in New York City, New York, US, May 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
A live comedy event taking place this month in New York City will feature pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian comedians coming together to share some laughs and have meaningful dialogue about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“Comics for Conversation – Because It’s Not Always a Laughing Matter” will take place on Dec. 16 and will include comedians performing stand-up sets followed by a moderated discussion on stage. The event will be the first initiative of a new movement called Don’t Hate Debate, a joint venture between the marketing platform The Heart Monitors and Stand Up NY. The format of the show showcases the mission of the Don’t Hate Debate movement, which is “to spark civil discourse through culturally relevant, grassroots activations that resonate with younger generations and diverse communities,” according to a press release for the upcoming event.
The names of participating comics and the location of the event will not be released in advance due to safety and security concerns, as well as protests against the show. Two of the pro-Palestinian comics who originally joined the lineup dropped out after facing pressure from anti-Israel activists who are against the event’s efforts to promote peaceful dialogue, Dani Zoldan, the founder of Stand Up NY and the Chosen Comedy Festival, told The Algemeiner.
“I’ve personally found that many comics do not feel comfortable speaking about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in public due to fears of repercussions such as not being booked at a club or being ‘cancelled,’” Zoldan said. “Unfortunately, a few comics dropped out of our upcoming event due to pressure from one side. If we can’t have dialogue, then what else is there? It’s more reason to have this event to bring both sides together and not allow the mob and ‘keyboard warriors’ to tear us apart.”
The event hopes to promote “dialogue over discord,” offering a literal stage for people to comfortably discuss their opposing views together in a public setting. Organizers also hope to engage what they describe as the “moderate middle” who “feel disillusioned by the extreme rhetoric dominating public spaces.”
“Our Don’t Hate Debate launch of ‘Comics for Conversation’ is by no means an attempt to make fun of anyone or any issue. Quite the contrary,” Robin Lemberg, co-founder of The Heart Monitors, explained to The Algemeiner. “The first part of our event are comedic sets not poking fun of anyone. Rather, they are the ice breakers to lead to a moderated serious discussion on the issues of our time. The conflict is a microcosm of many other societal issues and one of most emotionally charged. Laughing together is a shared experience which opens us up perhaps to being more able to engage with empathy and understanding.”
Lemberg and Jon Bond co-founded Don’t Hate Debate at the beginning of last year in response to the protests and issues on college campuses related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. “Our initial approach was to engage the student leaders in constructive debate,” Lemberg said. “We pivoted to the idea of using influencers to model civility, as it became clear that without other role models such as professors and certainly not politicians, student influencers were far more reluctant.”
“Comedy is just one lens to find common ground and shared humanity,” she added. “We intend to bring together other influencers from the realms of music, sports, cooking from opposing sides on the issues that matter to most to model for all how we can engage civilly and celebrate what we do share.”
The post ‘Comics for Conversation’ Event in NYC Featuring Pro-Israel, Pro-Palestinian Comedians Aims to Promote ‘Dialogue Over Discord’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd
Magdeburg Christmas market, December 21, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Christian Mang
i24 News – A suspected terrorist plowed a vehicle into a crowd at a Christmas market in the German city of Magdeburg, west of the capital Berlin, killing at least five and injuring dozens more.
Local police confirmed that the suspect was a Saudi national born in 1974 and acting alone.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz expressed his concern about the incident, saying that “reports from Magdeburg suggest something bad. My thoughts are with the victims and their families.”
Police declined to give casualty numbers, confirming only a large-scale operation at the market, where people had gathered to celebrate in the days leading up to the Christmas holidays.
The post Germany: 5 Killed, Scores Wounded after Saudi Man Plows Car Into Christmas crowd first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister
A person waves a flag adopted by the new Syrian rulers, as people gather during a celebration called by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) near the Umayyad Mosque, after the ousting of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad, in Damascus, Syria, Photo: December 20, 2024. REUTERS/Ammar Awad/File Photo
Syria’s new rulers have appointed Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency which toppled Bashar al-Assad, as defense minister in the interim government, an official source said on Saturday.
Abu Qasra, who is also known by the nom de guerre Abu Hassan 600, is a senior figure in the Islamist Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group which led the campaign that ousted Assad this month. He led numerous military operations during Syria’s revolution, the source said.
Syria’s de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa discussed “the form of the military institution in the new Syria” during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA reported.
Abu Qasra during the meeting sat next to Sharaa, also known by the nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Golani, photos published by SANA showed.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said this week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former rebel factions and officers who defected from Assad’s army.
Bashir, who formerly led an HTS-affiliated administration in the northwestern province of Idlib, has said he will lead a three-month transitional government. The new administration has not declared plans for what will happen after that.
Earlier on Saturday, the ruling General Command named Asaad Hassan al-Shibani as foreign minister, SANA said. A source in the new administration told Reuters that this step “comes in response to the aspirations of the Syrian people to establish international relations that bring peace and stability.”
Shibani, a 37-year-old graduate of Damascus University, previously led the political department of the rebels’ Idlib government, the General Command said.
Sharaa’s group was part of al Qaeda until he broke ties in 2016. It had been confined to Idlib for years until going on the offensive in late November, sweeping through the cities of western Syria and into Damascus as the army melted away.
Sharaa has met with a number of international envoys this week. He has said his primary focus is on reconstruction and achieving economic development and that he is not interested in engaging in any new conflicts.
Syrian rebels seized control of Damascus on Dec. 8, forcing Assad to flee after more than 13 years of civil war and ending his family’s decades-long rule.
Washington designated Sharaa a terrorist in 2013, saying al Qaeda in Iraq had tasked him with overthrowing Assad’s rule and establishing Islamic sharia law in Syria. US officials said on Friday that Washington would remove a $10 million bounty on his head.
The war has killed hundreds of thousands of people, caused one of the biggest refugee crises of modern times and left cities bombed to rubble and the economy hollowed out by global sanctions.
The post Syria’s New Rulers Name HTS Commander as Defense Minister first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels
View of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) building in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Photo: Abed Rahim Khatib / Flash90.
i24 News – Sweden will no longer fund the U.N. refugee agency for Palestinians (UNRWA) and will instead provide humanitarian assistance to Gaza via other channels, the Scandinavian country said on Friday.
The decision comes on the heels of multiple revelations regarding the agency’s employees’ involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel that triggered the war in Gaza.
Sweden’s decision was in response to the Israeli ban, as it will make channeling aid via the agency more difficult, the country’s aid minister, Benjamin Dousa, said.
“Large parts of UNRWA’s operations in Gaza are either going to be severely weakened or completely impossible,” Dousa said. “For the government, the most important thing is that support gets through.”
The Palestinian embassy in Stockholm said in a statement: “We reject the idea of finding alternatives to UNRWA, which has a special mandate to provide services to Palestinian refugees.”
Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Sharren Haskel thanked Dousa for a meeting they had this week and for Sweden’s decision to drop its support for UNRWA.
“There are worthy and viable alternatives for humanitarian aid, and I appreciate the willingness to listen and adopt a different approach,” she said.
The post Sweden Ends Funding for UNRWA, Pledges to Seek Other Aid Channels first appeared on Algemeiner.com.