coffee, yes, i have a meeting in 20 minutes and i would like to have a coffee with food. i've had the 1st shot of the vaccine already because otherwise i can't go anywhere. that's why and i have to go to work. i mean, well, greece is to give citizens under the age of $26.00, a $180.00 to get vaccinated in what the prime minister describes as i saw. thank you from the greek state. the government is also planning additional freedoms for those who have been vaccinated, and it's considering legal options to make vaccination, compulsory for particular job categories, including nursing, home staff. ah and now reminder of the top stories on al jazeera. if u. p. s. government has accepted an immediate and unilateral cease fire in the t drive region. after months of fighting with the rebel forces,

the t great people's liberation from says it now controls the regions capital. making a after ethiopian government appointed officials and soldiers abandoned the city. the government and rebel forces have been at war since november when you have been prime minister, ibm, and sent in troops out the t p. will. unicef says ethiopian forces rated their offices immaculate, dismantling communications equipment that you, what has condemned attacks on humanitarian workers. we condemn any and all attacks on humanitarian workers and assets and remind again all parties of their obligations under international humanitarian law. all parties must ensure the protection of civilians and that all humanitarian assistance provided by the united nations is provided according to humanitarian principles. the safety of our staff is a priority and we are doing everything we can to ensure it. iraq

has condemned us. there strikes along its border will syria, they targeted the popular mobilization forces. now that's an umbrella group of iranian back fighters. the group says 4 of its members were killed, the and it's threatening retaliation. the u. s. as it had face facilities that were being used to launch attacks against its troops. and another body has been found in the rubble of an apartment building that collapsed last week. in florida, it means 10 people are now confirmed dead with that number expected to rise because more than 150 people are still accounted for. rescue efforts at the beach front building in the city of surf side are now into their face that day. those are the top stores i'm going to have one use for you in half an hour coming up next. that with the stream with these really comedian? no, i'm schuster thanks for watching by me

. ah ah ah hi anthony. okay, you're watching the stream. have you heard the one about the israeli activist? he found that telling jokes with an effective piece building strategy between israelis and palestinians. it's a good one. meet. know him, stop everyone. it's your lucky night. the most that it is there, a guy that's getting my name is norm, white liberals can't pronounce my name, so they call me chomsky my last name is schuster. so i have a name of

a jewish european professor from mit in a body of a persian wonder woman. my parents are considered traitors the left wing liberal. so they raised me in a mixed community where jews and palestinians lived together. my best friend an inch of the palestinian. she looks like did you have did i look like i didn't just next to her when we cross check point the soldiers, they stop our car. the heat on her and they look at the mill. i deeply was a clip from the new odyssey, a witness documentary code, reckoning with laughter. we are joined by the subject of the documentary and also by the phil mike as i hello hello to you know, entities yourself to stream audience. hi everyone. thank you for having us. and i'm super happy and excited to be here and speak to you. so i'd love to have

you on the team. tell everybody who you are. what you do? hi, my name is amber ferris, and i'm a documentary filmmaker based in new york, from canada, originally, originally lebanese. and yeah, really excited to be here by to have ladies and youtube audience. you're watching live right now. you can jump into the conversation as well. what you want to know and what he want to amber, the comment section, a wait for day. know when, when i was out, i want to make a documentary, what was your reaction? will my amber and i actually know each other from before? so my 1st reaction was like, yes, because i was going through so much at the time when i was in the us working on my comedy and of the question i was constantly getting from everyone is this being documented is, is being documented. and i love amber and i love her work and we've been friends for years also. and i know that she gets me also is a woman. is

a woman with middle eastern heritage with you know, we met in romano and she was working on her previous film. so whenever was like, i'm grabbing a camera and following you. it was november 2009. dina has no idea what was going to happen next. and i was like, yeah, let's do it. i didn't know what i was agreeing to crazy. and what was a story that you're telling in reckoning with laughter? well, we're really telling a story about at the know i'm and her curity from a un working at the u. n. to, to, to comedy. and she had this opportunity to sort of to, to be a comedian in the us. and cobra took her home and it left her to deal with like sort of all of the things that she had left behind, that she was like escaping from in israel. and it's really just her, her own personal story. now, do you consider yourself now be

a full time comedian. this is what you do. this is your life. this is your career path. i am super lucky to say, yeah, yeah, i made a huge change in my life. and i used to work for the you when actually i was working on a project building project. it was aiming to counter extremely in israeli society and make the story short or we failed. and, and i, and i was fired from my job that was like 4 years ago. and i was literally sitting alone in the dark with not really a clear idea what's happening. and i think my creative muscles were thirsty for expressing themselves. and i think my generation, our world is thirsty for creativity, for air resistance through creativity. and i wanted to offer that with my languages, with my skills, with my capabilities on stage with my identities, with my life story,

sorry for the ambulance in the background. and it's incredible that is a comedian, i feel like i'm being listened to more then when i was in the diplomatic or political world, i have a heart of an activist and it was always in between the serious work and the creative work. and today i'm super, super, super lucky to to, to say that, yeah, i'm 100 percent committed to impact through the tire writing through creativity. we need to retail. the story is you, we need to resist in any create. you mean means that we can, as our politicians continue to fail in the system continues to fail. us people are thirsty for new voices. what light bring an oil you know, is performing because you've got to see that and you get to feel what that feeling

is like in a comedy space where you have somebody who's unusual in where she comes from. and the story that she sharing. yeah, i mean it's, it's really amazing. what's amazing about no, i'm seeing when she's, when she's performing in front of palestinians, is really interesting or in front of eric's in general like she did at the, at the coffee festival that comedy festival in dearborn. it's just what she creates on stage with them is really something special. because at 1st they're very late kind of like suspect and then they sort of warm up to her. and then as well as when, you know, when she's the times that i've been able to be with her, it's been in the, in the us and, and yeah, it's just been, it's been magical. it's really interesting to see how, how everyone to, to laugh at the same, at the same job, to sort of a common language. and in comedy, no, i'm going to put this the, this is from lower friedman. she's

a president of the foundation for middle east peace. she has a question for you have a listen and then come immediately off the back of the video here we got this sort of a tradition of really sharp political humour. and here i'm thinking of sounds like they're at and i'm thinking of the famous guess have the jewish people suffered enough? and what i'm wondering is today as the base for political discussion around until the 20th and treatment of palestinians gets ever a narrower insight. israel is the role and the importance of humor in getting past people's defences and keeping these issues in the public debate even greater than offend before. oh yes. i can't even tell you how much of a big, big, big yes it is. and you know, it sounds like a cliche, but comedy i think,

saved my life or save the ways in which that i think about change or it's not a good a. let's think you know, let's take my identity. for example, i'm jewish. i have a run in heritage my mother's and you run into was born in iran. i heard far as the home and i grew up with posting in so my arabic influence and i have been an activist all my life and i've tried to do so many things throughout my life . and the only space in which i'm able to dress the stories and to use the talents that i have to use the language that i have in order to reframe and retail, the stories that are so crucial to retail them here is through this through this outlet and i think that this is something that jews and something that we have in common. our tragedy on our side, being the, on the person inside,

also being the not but the person in catastrophe. our suffering is central to our comedy, our suffering, and the survival mode. that we've been in, or what we need to address for the future is at the center of also what we should be laughing about. very, very crucially. when i do, my said i or comedy in our be, can i speak directly as a jewish israeli woman to the arab world, to arab palestinian. i'm not only doing comedy and i become also telling the look there is an alternative identity here. there is a woman who looks middle eastern and she is not for intelligence purposes. not sure what we were taught here, that i need to spy on you to be. army structures is not followed up. this is me trying to create something completely new with the audience that is meant to voice criticism in our shared language. i have to show yourself a,

i don't thing know that just correct me out. and it was just a look. a look at the end of it, i know is rolling her eyes in an epic way. this gentleman with what you did on stage. this is just after again what you did on stage. it was amazing, wasn't comedy, it was cultural activism. and then no, as a whole. so eyes around around the rounds again. and why did you leave in? as a no, you can tell us what you were rolling your eyes at coat to activism. as you start, i left it in because it was, it was really cute. it was funny and also rami is non friend, is when it's friends and it's the no way that your friend is you know, being so gracious and you're just like, come on like no, i'm explain yourself, luke, i'm in the idea of being

a committed to harvard and having like 3 i called my show at harvard club, my because i could take myself seriously at this point. i'm a comedian, i'm trying to like, break down the seriousness of this. and you know, it puts me in an embarrassing position. sometimes when i'm like your comedy changes the world and create the blah, blah, blah, blah. i'm like, oh my god, i want to make people laugh and like, you know, there again is that wonderful ira. thank you for doing it for us. the island tv, appreciate it. so you cheap, come in 5, this is live you constantine. thank you. live you for, for watching this or maybe getting everyone to jo can laugh, could be the bridge that could connect them, move forward and put everything behind. after all this pilot can accommodate all of off. he's got ny, iif you start. ember. did you john?

no, go ahead. go ahead. i mean, it's not me, vate, and it's okay to be in a navy not negative. it's just i'm not sure this is been, you know, this is the need. the point is that i know that at this point we have no who way of really getting people together. we have no way of, you know, doing these like failed dialogue groups and trying to think about, you know, no one wants to hear the word piece. and, and therefore i think that's where the creative muscles have to really, really, really engage in work. so the, if the point is just to bring people together, then there is something missing there. the point is to suggest something new to be an alternative, to smash the people in power with joke so that they look at

themselves and hear me and think of what they're doing to make the voice. people who are oppressed, heard by someone, was supposed to be on the other side, but he's actually, you know, in solidity with them. so it's like a lot of things that come into it. yeah, i think non says it in the film. right. like with palestinians. she's not teaching them anything that they don't know. you can't teach the oppressed, they press notes. and so what she's doing with them is sorta just creating something that's like quite special. so they, like, she says they're seen and heard, but i think with israeli than what jewish american, there's a little bit more work there that she's trying to do in trying. it's not necessarily about co existence within in any way. it's really, it's really trying to create like a co invest in, you know, i guess it's, she's trying to move the jewish audience a little bit more. so i think it's more than just bringing people together. there

is an actual strategy and point to it. a new chain because for 89 says i really love the film, especially the sequences shot during quarantine. really demonstrated what is possible. i try not to spoil is take of effort. i want you to spend 25 minutes watching, reckoning with laughter. it's really worth it, but at some point and this was last spring. no, i got sick and she got cove it and she was back in israel help try not to tell over the entire story. and, and she, in her recovery, she was sent to the hotel where people had marco said they would recover from covered there. and they were close safe. and this is where i'm going to hand over to lou exit. so you can experience the cloth as well. have a look a little flash.

okay, got you on the, on the monitor, the exam, as you know this, you don't by month, the simple, the local imbecile. and yet you have this ability to find laughter in dark things and also seriousness in laughter at the same time. so there's something special about this hotel that you mentioned that really comes out that really jealous is your philosophy of israelis and palestinians. take offense exclaim, why was it? it was this surreal. 2 weeks, you know, when you're all sick, we were the only people in the world who are hugging kissing i was

doing comedy shows in the lobby. i was the only comedian in the world that had shows not everything was real, including the way we were treated. we were treated all of us as equal who were getting the same use the same sheets, the same towel. we were 6 people under a system that you know, that intended to take care of his equal in, so that we can all get released. people wanted to stay for a free ride in the hotel and is up and you know, as a, as a child. i mean, i grew up in the only experimental, you know, israeli palestinian community to induce that. i mean to be where there was such a huge experiment for this distance, shared her pace. i'm just going to show us where this place is. so a waste of pieces where you, where you grew up and then liberally,

israelis and palestinians live side by side. and this is why i know i big, i attended the school there. my whole life of been like, i've been raised the, the, you know, the live of peace kind of girl. and i also learned the flow in the peace movement and how well you know the flows the and very can. the center middle class is very much and you know, not reaching out to marginalized community and more and more and more and more criticism that i have also as a means that i me, the eastern jewish, you know, we call it, it may be quality color. we can get, you know, this is a very complex issue, but i grew up not having the common profile of like a left is, you know, i can, i, these really left it. so i grew up with this criticism that i have on the peace

movement. news read and then i walk into the hotel corona and there are people from the, their friends, you know, contradicting sides of society. you know, from all classes, from all different religious communities is really for the students from all walks of the 2 societies. and the radical compassion that i witnessed in this hotel was mind blowing. i could not find the animosity the inferences, the inequality that exist outside. i would disconnect from it for 2 weeks. carry over the been demick is going to kill a, you know, people were and the simplicity of us getting the same resources and treated the same and what it brought from people, what it brought out from people and what equality can do when we are treated the same when the resources are being distributed to, to people what it brought out of people. i was shocked and amazed. and of course,

when i left the hotel, things went back to the same, you know, depressing injustices that exist outside. but i witnessed a very, very small example of what radical compassion and radical ecology a can do when, when it will happen, when we end occupation, when both the new or not oppressed, also internally in the really society when we have so much fixing to doing the entire system here, and it was just a glimpse of an example that i'm trying to hold onto its memory. i have a question for you, if so rough a l. sherman, of, and he wants to know about the film making process of particular question. have a listen, have a look. as someone who films a lot of left movement work in particular left as jewish movement in the us,

my question to amber. ah, one of the most moving scenes that was captured was in the hotel during covey lockdown what norm called the microcosm. there was so much going on that you brought to us, but so much was going on simultaneously. so you must have missed the moment that happened in the periphery or heard of one that happened after. is there a moment that you've heard of in that space, or really anywhere in the film that you wish you could have captured and brought to us? maybe you could bring it to us now. sure. i mean, they, yeah, there was so much going on at the hotel and there, you know, there, the filmmaking process during that time was quite difficult because it's hard to self fill. so it's hard for me to have a camera like sort of on herself the whole time as she's experiencing everything. and so i was having to get up really early in the morning based in brooklyn,

and talk and find the people that were around her, which were, you know, sort of younger palestinians. and israelis that could, that could film for me. and there was a lot of, you know, really amazing touching stories that came in relationships that know i'm had and what relationship with, with a woman named rafa who became very close to in the, in the film who was, i believe you can probably feel it her in a bit more, but she was and she had nurse so she was like, what did she do? i mean, she was the midway. right. and who is there had left her her i think her husband had just passed away and. and she had 5 children or something like that. and i think just the relationship with her. no, i was just really, really touching, but we weren't able. we didn't have like the footage to be able to sort of tell

that story completely. now i want to show you some of the comments that we've had back from the reviews of reckoning with laughter. have a look. it was really special, unique c, no. do stand up for people of all different kinds of backgrounds, from israelis, to americans, to palestinians. and i hope in the future we could see more inclusiveness. here in the united states. we had the chance for no arm to come speak on persian real podcast back in 2019. so right before she began her studies at harvard and it was pretty amazing just to watch that journey unfold and you know, we had her on because the same issues that are prevalent in her comedy routine is the same for us being that where persian and jewish and, you know, we knew that we did for on some of these topics, but we love speaking with her and she has this lightness that she's able to bring

when discussing these issues. i think the documentary highlights really well. oh, do you feel the power of jokes? that's what they're saying. is that there is power in being funny, but it also being political as well. the politics and the jokes. they kind of go hand in hand fee a yeah. i always make fun of myself that i don't know from the only committee in the after. i tell jokes i cry like and i told, i mean amber, you know, when we met in november 2019 in brooklyn and amber looked at me. and she's like, i'm grabbing a camera and i'm following you. i had no idea what's going to happen. i knew,

you know, i was, i was touring with months. you brawny and iranian comedian that i admired that really, really put me on the stages to, you know, to, for his opening act at the kennedy center. the big comedy club that i didn't think that i'll get to so fast and things were being booked and i was writing and there is something about being far away from israel. stine and doing my comedy over there . it was easy. i was fueled with laughter with material. you know, i went to do to see the dolly landline in this meeting with the dalai lama brought me like that was the segment of my show and supposed to happen. and i went to columbus, ohio in march on march a to perform for a women's day in front of the jewish community in ohio. and i come back and they say the film, my emails are no installation. i can to watch more of you guys have to watch

the out of 0 witness stop commentary is called reckoning with laughter. no, she returns to israel. no shift. ferris. thank you for joining us here on the string today. really appreciate you. ah, ah ah ah, with energy to every part of our universe or small to continue the change all around the shape by technology and human ingenuity,

we can make it work for you and your business. ah, al jazeera well needs to be good. who left the middle east and built remarkable lights of all the findings in germany of the united states. yet never forgetting their homelands at the rock and palestine. inspiring human stories of the world, the designer of the atomic times analogy. the world's lungs are being seen. the amazon rain forest is diminishing it a rate of 2 football pitches a minute to meet the market insatiable appetite for logging, mining and farming. as both scenarios, government seek to relax conservation laws and increase production. indigenous communities on the brink of extinction. no,

it's the bite of their life. people empower brazil's amazonian battle on al jazeera, the time, the differences and similarities of cultures across the world. and you take it will bring you the news and current affairs that matter to you. oh i hello barbara, ferris london, these are the top stories on al jazeera. we begin with some breaking news. ethiopia, government has accepted an immediate and unit lateral ceasefire in the northern te gray region. after months fighting with the rebel forces that the great people's liberation front says and now controls the regions capital mcclay. after e, c o, p, and government appointed officials and soldiers abandoned the city. but government and rebel forces have been at war since november when you feel p and.