Maysoon Zayid: Stand Up and Speak Out

Maysoon Zayid on Current TV

Every single year I go to Palestine for Christmas. Every time, I go to Bethlehem. And every single year my best friend Tina says, “Who the hell goes to Palestine for Christmas?” And I say …”Mary and Joseph went.” – Maysoon Zayid

When I first started researching this article I considered writing a tale of two comedians. It all started when I watched former Saturday Night Live comedian Victoria Jackson make some outrageous anti-Islamic comments on her cable program Politichicks. In the segment, Jackson states, “the Muslim Brotherhood has infiltrated our highest positions in government…Islam is our enemy.” Jackson goes on to rattle off why she believes Sharia law is being enforced in America. Of course, this is complete hogwash. There is nowhere in the United States where Sharia Law being imposed on Americans. Nor, is there any evidence that Hillary Clinton and Barak Obama are operating under the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood, as Jackson claims. However, that doesn’t stop bigoted Tea Party members, like Victoria Jackson, from spreading their destructive, hate filled lies. Jackson’s goals, and folks of the same ilk, are clearly aimed at creating fear of Obama by demonizing a group of people she obviously knows nothing about.

One of the most effective ways to counter bigotry, be it racial, gender oriented, or religious, is to simply get to know those that are different from us. I have to admit; I was born in New Jersey and grew up in a small town in the northwest corner of the state. There were very few Black people in my town and I knew of no Muslims. In my last year of High School, my parents moved down  to Georgia and I eventually took a job at  New Leaf, a book distributing company near Atlanta. One of my bosses was a super kind, motherly like, Black Muslim woman named Felicia. Often we worked in the same small room and I remember I always enjoyed our time together. Twenty years later, I wrote to New Leaf inquiring about the company and Felicia responded to my email. She had remembered me and together we took a nice little trip down memory lane.

I have found, once you get to know people that are different than you, you find they’re not all that different after all. Racial, gender oriented, and religious bigotry is a product of profound ignorance. And of course, the best way to counter ignorance is through education. This is what drew me to the comedian Maysoon Zayid. In many ways, Zayid is the perfect counter-balance to Jackson’s hateful and profoundly ignorant beliefs.

On stage and in interviews, Zayid has describes herself as “a Palestinian Muslim virgin with cerebral palsy, from New Jersey”. (Well, she is married now). Yet, Zayid is far more than a Palestinian, Muslim, comedian or actress, from New Jersey. Zayid has become a powerful educator and activist working on behalf of children with disabilities and against Islamophobia.

Zayid was born in New Jersey and attended Arizona State University (Go Sun Devils!). Zayid graduated with a BFA and went on to appear on the TV soap opera As the World Turns, bit roles on Law and Order, and other TV programs. In spite of Zayid’s early acting success, she often found her disability and ethnicity was hindering her acting career.

That is when she turned to standup comedy. In 2003 Zayid co-founded, with Dean Obeidallah, the now highly acclaimed New York Arab-American Comedy Festival. Remarkably, Zayid is said to be the first American Muslim woman comedian. Zayid is also reportedly the first person to ever perform standup comedy in Jordan and Palestine. I first discovered her comedy early two years ago.

Zayid currently co-hosts a radio program and is a frequent contributor to Keith Olbermann’s new show on Current TV. Click on the Olbermann link to watch Zayid comment on Lewes home supply store pulling their advertisement on The Learning Channel’s new program All American Muslim.

After this latest interview, Zayid was viciously attacked by right-wing extremists. The following is just one example she posted on her Facebook page, “This biatch is shaking in her taqiyya boots and she’s all drugged up too. She’s slurring her lies.”  This crap reminds me of the time Rush Limbaugh mocked Michael J. Fox or when Ohio Tea Party members mocked a man with Parkinson’s disease because he supported the Affordable Health Care Act (Obamacare).

While Zayid’s success in acting, stand-up comedy and even as a commentator are all commendable actions, it is her work with children is what is most commendable. You see, three months of each year, Zayid works with program for disabled and orphaned children living in Palestinian refugee camps. Zayid uses art to help children cope with trauma and disabilities. Eighty percent is funded by her comedy.

Recently, I asked Maysoon Zayid to comment on her work with disabled (or as she says “differently-abled”) children and Islamophobic bigotry, serious stuff for a comedian. Nonetheless, Zayid graciously responded to my request. As you will see, Zayid uses her intelligence, wit, and humor to address many of the profound challenges confronting the Palestinians, Muslims, women, and people with different abilities:

DW:  Recently, I read Alice Walker’s book “Overcoming Speechlessness”. As you may know, Walker devotes more than a third of the book to her experience in Palestine. In one section of the book she writes about women wearing a headscarf. In our phone conversation, you mentioned that you choose to not wear a headscarf. I’ve also heard you joke about how you planned on putting your bridesmaids in burkas. Still to this day, some people take real issue with the headscarf. Can you please share your thoughts on headscarves, your faith, and why you choose not to wear one?

MZ: I choose not to wear a headscarf because frankly nowhere in the Qaran does it say it’s required. Yes. It’s true. There’s nothing about a woman having to cover her hair. What it says and I’m not quoting, but the jist of it is, “cover”. I take a more Adam and Eve approach than scary ninja. I have met many women who choose to wear the hijab in all different ways. They are not forced, it’s a choice, and I respect that. Who knows, someday I may wear hijab, but I promise you I will never see me in a Burkini. There are also women who are forced to wear it, (yeah, I’m looking at you Saudi) that is sacrilege. In the end Islam has no hierarchy – what you believe is between you and God. Not covering my hair doesn’t make me any less Muslim and I doubt it will send me to hell in a hand-basket. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again, I am good with God even if my hair is flappin’ in the wind. As for the burka joke, the reason I do that joke is to show that forcing a 37 year-old spinster to wear a sea-foam green ballgown is just as absurd as forcing a woman to wear a burka because that means “cover” to some man. Also, honestly, I was just trying to pick something (that) looks good on all different body types.

DW:  I’m very much interested in your work with The Friends School of Ramallah and El-Bireh. Can you share with us a little bit about The Friends School, how you got involved, and what have been their challenges and accomplishments since you started volunteering at the school?

MZ: We don’t give people money, we’re very much hands on to “teach a refugee to fish.” Due to the political climate, I am not allowed to travel to Gaza, but we work everywhere else in (Palestine). Past projects include art and wellness programs, summer camp lunches, eye exams and glasses, Mommy classes, physical therapy equipment for rehab centers, tutoring seniors preparing for college, and providing shoes, clothing, and milk locally made for orphans.

In June of 2011 we were proud to have our first Maysoon’s Kids university scholarship recipient graduate with a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work from Bethlehem University. Currently we are partnered with three organizations. Our first partnership is with the Friends Quaker School in Ramallah. Friends is currently the only school in Palestine that mainstreams differently-abled children, otherwise they are left to glorified babysitting U.N. facilities where they learn nothing. It is our goal to provide scholarships that cover the entire K-12 education of a differently-abled student with no other financial means to attend. Our dream is that schools all over Palestine will mainstream, but for now we just want to get as many kids into Friends as possible. Our second partnership is with Playgrounds for Palestine, who we partnered with to build a locally-made accessable playground for the Silwad Disabled Center. We are planning to partner on a second playground. Finally, we are working with the Bethlehem Orphanage to facilitate the adoption of special needs orphans in search of a family. For more information please visit www.maysoon.com\charity.htm.

DW:  When I look at biographies written about you online we often see claims about you being the “first stand-up comedian in Palestine and Jordan”. I know you have cast some doubts about this claim. Nonetheless, can you share with us a little about your experiences doing comedy in Palestine, Jordan, and Egypt? How free are you to joke about the governments, culture, gender, and other “hot button” issues?

MZ: The reason I never like to say I’m first is because what if there is someone who came before me? How disrespectful would that be? I did stand-up comedy in Jordan and Palestine not knowing it was groundbreaking. I was a comic in America, and my friends and family wanted to see me perform. So why not do a show? The first show was in Amman Jordan, followed by Bethlehem about two months later in 2002. I will never get to do another Amman show like that, because at the time I was completely under the radar and unaware of the country-to-country censorship in the Middle East. Luckily, Palestine has remained censorship free. Believe me, I challenge it every time I’m on stage there, just to make sure. You can’t really compare Egypt to Palestine. Contrary to popular belief, the Middle East is not one amalgams Arab blob. I was totally culture-shocked when I went to Egypt in 2009 even though I grew up spending summers in the Middle East. I had my ass grabbed more than a Kardashian. This would never happen in Ramallah, because if you do that to a Palestinian chick she’ll break your arm. I also got that really famous Pharaoh’s food poisoning the second I got to Cairo. Dean Obedallah was looking for me between shows for the curtain call and couldn’t find me because I was on the floor of the dirtiest bathroom in Cairo throwing up my shoes. Like a trooper, I got on stage for the second show. Unbeknownst to me Fayza the Minister of Tourism was perched front-row. I knew Egypt had strict censorship laws. I couldn’t make fun of Mubarak, Islam or talk about sex, but nobody said anything about Egypt Air. I did a joke about how I was happy for the first time ever that I have Cerebral Palsy because if I wasn’t flapping my arms the plane would have crashed. I then mentioned in passing that the plane was so filthy my lice had gotten fleas. Fayza didn’t find this funny and she charged up on stage screaming, “You’re not funny!” in English. She then attempted to slap me on my head. She was restrained by two Egyptian comics who had they known who she was would have let her beat me to death. After the revolution I was excited to finally be able to go back but unbelievably the maniac Fayza despite the revolution is still in power and is responsible for jailing a bunch of American NGOs. So I guess I’ll stick to Palestine where no one would dare try to censor or slap a disabled Palestinian J-Lo.

DW:  Recently, presidential candidate Newt Gingrich called Palestinians an “invented people.” All the while, Pamela Geller has said “there is no such thing as Palestine”. Can you comment on these statements?

MZ: First of all, let’s be very clear, there is no such thing as a Pam Geller. Moving on to Newt Gingrich, this doughy man is a self-proclaimed historian, yet he seems to have missed the part in the Balfour Declaration which was the basis of the creation of the state of Israel where it states, “It being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine.” That was 1917, yet Newt claims we were invented in 1970, so my question for Newt is this, “Who were these non-Jewish communities Balfour was yakkin’ about?” I am fully aware that Newt was paid twenty million dollars to help with his confusion, but let me be clear, I can trace my own family back no less than six generations and that is way before 1970. Palestinians are not invented, we exist and he’d have better luck proving Romney was invented which I believe is an actual scientific fact.

DW:  Speaking about Pamela Geller, Ms. Geller states on her website, Atlas Shrugs, “(Maysoon Zayid is) an open supporter of the genocidal Hamas and Hezb’allah but she finds me “really terrifying”. Can you please address Geller’s accusations?

MZ: I try to make it a policy to never directly address someone with clearly untreated mental illness. But I would start with this; does Pam Geller walk into a room and say, “bye” instead of “hi” because she can’t resist the urge to lie? A simple Google search will show you that I have the words “I hate Hamas” basically tattooed on my forehead and Hezb’allah has about as much to do with me as fly fishing. Note to reader: I have Cerebral Palsy and if I ever attempted fly fishing I would most certainly yank out my eye. But even knowing almost nothing about them, like fly fishing, I despise Hezb’alla because I am 100% against any religious involvement in government. Hamas and Hezb’allah are both religious groups and I am secular, something Pam Geller would know if she ever bothered to read anything but her own drivel. Other than that, I feel like she should consider joining me for a duet. She can accuse, I can answer, it can go viral and probably save the world. But until that juncture I’m going to go back to pretending she doesn’t exist.

DW: As you may know, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, anti-Islamic hate groups are on the rise. Why do you think that is so and how might we reverse this trend?

MZ: Southern Poverty Law Center would be less impoverished if they, too, became an anti-Islamic hate group because there is big money in Muslim malevolence. Over $42.6 million was spent by seven charities, not to provide tolerance, but to actually promote hate in America. How’s that for charity? Obviously this is one of the main reasons hate is on the rise. I think the other major factor is that post-9/11 vilifying Muslims became part of campaign strategy the same way LGBT rights and abortion have been in the past, and continue to be. These are issues used to distract and terrify folks and sadly, they are very effective. While Robert Spencer and Victoria Jackson are given platforms left and right to spew hate, rarely are Muslims given a platform to dismiss this vile bigotry. As far as reversing this trend, the onus lies with the media and parents.

 (Originally published at Expats Post).

The Other Face of Terrorism

Anders Behring Breivik by AP

“When was it that multi-culturalism ceased to be an ideology designed to deconstruct a European culture, traditions, identity and nation-state?” Those are the words of Norwegian right-wing extremist turned terrorist Anders Behring Breivik. Now here are the words of a young, but becoming increasingly popular, blogger, “Multi-culturalism, once beyond question, is now increasingly under attack for the damage that it has done to a sense of a common national identity, allowing people to embrace alien ideologies at total variance with a [ ] way of life.”  I deleted the name of the nation in order to protect the young blogger’s identity.

After reading excerpts from Breivik’s manifesto and dozens of pages from his online comments I was struck by the common themes I have read from Islamophobic bigots like Pamela Geller, Tea Party Terrorists, and even a young blogger that has gained some degree of popularity.

For several years now, I have been deconstructing right-wing extremist arguments in order to expose the dangerous, racist, bigoted, fear and hate mongering that underlines their rhetoric. In the aftermath of the Norwegian massacre, it is important to look at the extreme right-wing’s central premise that multiculturalism or “cultural-Marxism” is such a great threat to civilized society that it must be rooted out at all cost. Thus, providing crazies like Breivik the justification to blow up government buildings and go on a shooting rampage in a park full of liberal-minded teenagers.

The New York Magazine noted that large parts of Breivik’s manifesto was actually plagiarized from none other than Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. However, Kaczynski’s screech was specifically directed toward “leftism”. Breivik tweaked Kaczynski’s words to declare multiculturalism to be the root of all evil. The New York Magazine provides the following example:

“For instance, Kaczynski wrote: ‘One of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of our world is leftism, so a discussion of the psychology of leftism can serve as an introduction to the discussion of the problems of modern society in general.’

Breivik’s manifesto reads: ‘One of the most widespread manifestations of the craziness of our world is multiculturalism, so a discussion of the psychology of multiculturalists can serve as an introduction to the discussion of the problems of Western Europe in general.”

Breivik uses the words “multicultural” and “cultural Marxism” interchangeably. If you really want to understand Breivik’s right-wing ideology and don’t want to spend the next week reading his 1500 page rambling Kaczynski lifted manifesto, Breivik sent out a 12 minute video in which he presents a four part synopsis of his beliefs. It is important to remember that much of what Breivik is saying is now openly embraced by many, extremely vocal right-wingers both in Europe and in the United States.

For the sake of brevity, I will mostly address part one of the four part synopsis. Part two has already been somewhat addressed in previous articles. The four parts are titled:

1)      The Rise of Cultural Marxism

2)      Islamic Colonization

3)      Hope

4)      New Beginning

According to Breivik, after WWII, the Soviets began spreading their Marxist ideology into the West. He explains, “The Marxist were allowed to infiltrate school institutions and media companies.” By 1968, a full blown, non-violent Marxist revolution had taken place in both Europe and the U.S. and they began a full-fledged communist plot to indoctrinate our children.

As a result, according to Breivik, left-wing, Marxist liberals began persecuting cultural conservative, Christ loving nationalists. He claims conservatives and nationalists have been subjected to a form of  “political correctness” in which folks that speak-out for “monoculturalism” are called harsh names like “fascist”, “racists”, and “Nazi” in order to silence their voices. Of course, as my grandmother would say, “If the shoe fits, wear it”.

Breivik goes on to say that the Marxists, who he believes should be severely punished and deported to Russia, have been involved in an unholy alliance with hippies, gays, environmentalists, peace activists, and a host of other left-leaning groups which he describes as “suicidal humanists” and other right-wingers have labeled “useful idiots.”

You see, according to Breivik, and many on the extreme right-wing, this liberal group of “useful idiots” opened the door to allow Marxists and Islamic Jihadists to invade and ultimately colonize and enslave the entire Western world.

What the right-wing and the Breivik’s of the world are pushing for are nation states that represent a utopian view of a culturally pure nation. The extremist right-wing view believes the “suicidal humanists” are allowing for the “demographical genocide of your own culture and people.”

Breivik’s ultimate message is simmered down into four points. What the right-wing extremists are envisioning for the world? Here is Breivik’s list:

1)      Unity not diversity

2)      Monoculturalism not multiculturalism

3)      Patriarchy not matriarchy

4)      Isolationism not imperialism

My young liberal bashing blogger friend highlights the anger and hatred the right-wing has for the left. Here is another passage from the young blogger:

“This is a small, vulnerable democracy fighting for its very survival against some of the most reactionary, obscurantist and misogynist forces on earth, the very antithesis of the western tradition of liberalism and freedom. Yet these obscurantist forces command the support of socialists and ‘progressives’ in the west, a group for whom my sense of contempt is absolute; people who advance such things as gay rights and the rights of women in [ ] who suddenly become blind to these causes in Baghdad.”

Of course the “obscurantist and misogynist forces” are the Islamic Jihadists. The fact that the “progressive” movement actually does speak-out against the treatment of women in Baghdad, in the Middle East, and throughout the world is completely dismissed in this bloggers statement. Women’s rights in Islamic countries are not new nor ignored in liberal, progressive human rights organizations.

But this statement goes to show the vitriol and hate that has been fomenting amongst the extremist elements of the right-wing. The fact that young, popular bloggers are now openly expressing similar hatred as the far right-wing mass murders, should be a warning bell to all. I warned this young blogger she should not be stoking the fires of such hatred, but she just blew me off.

Yesterday, The Nation magazine republished a 2009 article by Gary Younge, a Alfred Knobler Journalism Fellow at The Nation Institute and a New York correspondent for the Guardian.  I find Younge’s article and point to be spot on and therefore I’m provided an extended excerpt:

“There are a handful of nihilistic young Muslims keen to bomb and destroy and a far larger number sufficiently disaffected that they are prepared to riot. There are also many Europeans keen to see equality and meaningful integration, defending civil liberties and opposing wars against predominantly Muslim lands.

But the primary threat to democracy in Europe is not “Islamofascism”–that clunking, thuggish phrase that keeps lashing out in the hope that it will one day strike a meaning–but plain old fascism. The kind whereby mostly white Europeans take to the streets to terrorize minorities in the name of racial, cultural or religious superiority.

For fascism–and the xenophobic, racist and nationalistic elements that are its most vile manifestations–has returned as a mainstream ideology in Europe. Its advocates not only run in elections but win them. They control local councils and sit in parliaments. In Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France and Italy, hard-right nationalist and anti-immigrant parties regularly receive more than 10 percent of the vote. In Norway it is 22 percent; in Switzerland, 29 percent. In Italy and Austria they have been in government; in Switzerland, where the anti-immigrant Swiss People’s Party is the largest party, they still are.”

Gary Younge is right to point out that there are currently two faces of political terrorism plaguing the West. There are the right-wing Islamic Jihadists and then there are the right-wing fascists/hard-right nationalists and anti-immigrant groups (like the Knight’s Templar Europe group Breivik believes he is involved in). Both groups are arming themselves and willing to do grave harm to all those caught up in the middle. Both groups are using hateful rhetoric and ideology to feed into each other’s delusions and creating a self-fulfilling downward cycle of evil.

Hope and new beginnings do not occur through violence and terrorism. It does not happen as a result of divisiveness and deranged beliefs in monothinking and monoculture. There is no, nor have there ever been, such a thing as a monoculture. Culture, whether you are from a culturally diverse nation like the U.S. or an isolated indigenous tribe, changes with time and over generations. We can’t go back in time.

The right-wing extremist attacks on the West and liberals are rooted in a belief system based on so called “traditional” values. Both the Islamic fundamentalists and the cultural/national fundamentalist feel their world is being attacked by a liberal agenda which conflicts with the more traditional values they treasure. In order to combat the influence of liberal ideology, both the Islamic Jihadists and the white right-wing nationalists have been engaging in campaigns to mass murder and mayhem.

What can we do? Well, I have only one suggestion. Liberals and progressives need to educate the mainstream and their right-leaning friends about the dangers of far right-wing fear and hate mongering. We should encourage other writers not to promote Islamophobic bigotry, or any type of bigotry for that matter, including anti-Semitic language or gay bashing. Bigoted rhetoric only helps stoke the flames of hatred and leads a group or some lone wolf crazy to justify unthinkable acts of violence.

Call it political correctness if you like, but hate speech, no matter where it comes from should be shunned in a civil society. It is one thing to want to share and pass on certain traditions one believes are important. Often, these traditions hold valuable life lessons and add to the richness and texture of one’s own identity. However, to force onto others a selected understanding of the proper traditional values and demand others assimilate to such values is in essence denying the individually of others. This is what the totalitarians do, whether they come from the political left or right.

Breivik’s hard-line nationalist/Islamophobic rhetoric is every bit as extreme and totalitarian as the Islamic Jihadists waging their war on the West. We need to reject both as they wish to deny diversity of opinions, beliefs, and ultimately the individuality of others. We need to reject those that say there is only one way a culture must be defined. We need to reject those that insist on the patriarchal way or the highway to Hell.  We must to reject those that believe violent attacks on innocent civilians are a necessary way of achieving political goals.

We need to realize the world is now the melting pot. As each and every one of us becomes more and more connected, there is no way of stopping the influences of multiculturalism. Instead of scorning our differences, we need to learn to understand, accept, and even embrace our differences. The right-wing whines about “political correctness” when liberals scorn bigotry, fear, and hate mongering, so be it. If the shoe fits, wear it.