Ron Jacobsohn reports from the Premiere of Arab Labour in Jaffa

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• published: 15 May 2016
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Ron Jacobsohn, JN1 Correspondent: Keshet's sitcom, Arab Labor, is returning to channel for a third season hot off the heals of winning all the major awards at the Israeli Emmy awards, so we joined the people of the show at their premiere party to find out how a show about Arabs and Jews living together in the same building has become the number one sitcom on the Israeli prime-time. Palestinian journalist and the creator of Arab Labor, Saya Kashua, admits he based the show about his personal experiences but he hopes he is not as neurotic as his alter-ego, Amjad. Sayed Kashua, Creator of "Arab Labor": I based the show on my own private experience sometimes, but I'm not trying to tell the truth about myself. To be honest, I'm not sure what is the truth about myself, but yes, it deals with Amjad who's an Arab, a Palestinian journalist in an Israeli newspaper, just like myself or at least I used to be. He's married to a psychotherapist, just like me and the whole show is about the pregnancy, a very difficult pregnancy of Bushra his wife just like we had with our little baby last year, so yes, but I'm not sure that.. I hope I'm not that neurotic like Amjad in the show. Although my wife, when she watched, she said it's exactly you but I think I'm a little bit smarter than the actor and I'm a little bit more handsome than him. Norman Issa who portrays the title character Amjad admits viewers were hesitant to embrace the show initially because they were afraid to look at themselves closely. Norman Issa, “Amjad” in “Arab Labor”: In the beginning people don't like it very well, because it spoke about themselves, something like this and after that they start to understand that this is a comedy, sitcom, it's a TV show and it's not a documentary, and why it's so successful? I think because the Boss, Jewish and Arab afraid from each other so this serial make them not afraid and to get into the game, without afraid, without say something bad or something, and about comedy; it's very easy to get to these people by comedy and not by facing them about a fact or something . Veteran actor, Salim Dau, who portrays the very comedic Abu Amjad on the show admits fan reactions on the Jewish and Palestinian sides are very different. Salim Dau, “Abu Amjad” in “Arab Labor”: The first season, some Arabs they didn't like this show. They've said to me, Arabs, that we show the Arabs in very bad situation. I thought and I think now, they are wrong. And the Jewish side, they told me many times one thing very interesting; if we think a little bit we can learn, we can learn how to be together, how to live together because we don't have any choice, for that we have to be clever, so clever and so sensitive to understand, and in the show we see that it's possible, why we don't do it in our life? Ron Jacobsohn, JN1 Correspondent: Even though the Palestinian actors in the show seem skeptical about the influence of the show, with 30% average rating per episode there is no doubt the show captures all sides of the Israeli audience. For JN1 I am Ron Jacobsohn at the Arab Labor Premiere Part at the Peres Peace House in Jaffa.