May 2, 2014

MPAC is proud to serve as a co-sponsor of a special screening of the hit sitcom “Arab Labor,” which will be hosted by KCET-Link and the Levantine Cultural Center on Sunday, May 4 at 5 p.m. at the Harmony Gold Theater in Los Angeles. Join us for your chance to watch two episodes of the hit sitcom and participate in a public conversation featuring invited guests Clara Khoury (who costars in the show) and Dr. Yigal Arens, along with comedian/writer Aron Kader.

Arab Labor is a hit Israeli sitcom series created by Sayed Kashua, an Israeli-born Palestinian columnist for Haaretz and a novelist, author of Dancing Arabs, Second Person Singular and Exposure. Arab Labor is translated from the Hebrew "Avoda Aravit", which colloquially implies "shoddy or second-rate work."

The series pokes fun at the Israel-Palestine cultural divide. It focuses on Amjad Alian, a Palestinian journalist and Israeli citizen in search of his identity as he seeks high status in the society into which he was born, but where his car is searched everyday when he drives to his job in Jerusalem.

The series plays on religious, cultural and political differences to daringly depict the mixed society that is Israel. This show was the first Israeli program to present Palestinian characters speaking Arabic on primetime.

A reception will follow the Q&A. You must RSVP to rsvp@levantinecenter.org or call 323.413.2001 (provide names of members in party, and a phone number). For more information about the event, click here.

The event is organized by KCET-Link TV and the Levantine Cultural Center, with support from community partners CODEPINK Women for Peace, Friends of Sabeel North America (LA), LA Jews for Peace, Muslims for Progressive Values and MPAC's Hollywood Bureau. Interfaith Communities United for Justice and Peace is also a community partner, along with the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) for Greater Los Angeles.