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ARAB-AMERICANS FIGHTING RACISM WITH JOKES
By United Press International
Nov 14, 2006

NEW YORK, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Several Arab-American stand-up comedians have begun combating what they see as racism against their culture in the United States through comedy.

With Muslim and Arab stereotypes rife in a post-Sept. 11 United States, comedians such as Dean Obeidallah have taken to using such racial misconceptions as punch-lines to their jokes in an effort to ridicule such concepts, said the Christian Science Monitor.

The newspaper said the comedy counter-attack would be featured during New York's fourth Arab-American Comedy Festival, which Obeidallah helped found and which began its limited run Tuesday.

Obeidallah said that through lampooning the racial stereotypes that have plagued Arab-Americans since the deadly 2001 attacks, comedians are able to not only ease tension but also challenge individual's concepts of their culture.

"The humor in the beginning was, and now I'm paraphrasing: 'Don't beat us up, don't hurt us, we're not terrorists,'" Obeidallah told the Christian Science Monitor. "That's still there, but on a lesser note. Now we're much more challenging and confident."

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