The Muslim Student Association (MSA) and the Jewish student group KADIMA co-hosted their first event Wednesday night, a comedy show called “Stand Up for Peace,” featuring Scott Blakeman, a Jewish comedian, and Dean Obeidallah, a Palestinian-American comedian.

The two comedians have been performing since 2002 in an effort to bring Muslim and Jewish people together and promote peace and understanding between the two groups.  They began by performing shows for Seeds of Peace, an organization devoted to bringing Palestinian and Israeli teenagers together.

“When we found out about Stand Up for Peace a few months back, we thought, ‘What better way to do this than co-sponsor this with MSA?’” said Alison Goldberg ‘11, president of KADIMA.  She said that she and Nargis Alizada ‘12, president of MSA, had wanted the two organizations to put on an event for a while.

“We wanted to raise awareness to the fact that Jewish and Muslim students don’t hate each other,” Goldberg said.

Alizada said that she thought it was a great idea, and that it is important to show that there is no tension between Muslim and Jewish students on campus.

“We’re just students coming together to work for something that is important to both of the clubs, which is peace,” she said.

Blakeman and Obeidallah opened the show with some playful banter before each performed a comedy set.  Blakeman’s comedic style is based on observation and pointing out the ridiculousness of everyday life.  His set touched on his Jewish upbringing, weddings, the Olympics, and liberal political topics such as defense spending and gun control.

Much of Obeidallah’s comedy comes from his upbringing in a mixed Arab and Italian home.  He talked about his experiences as an Arab, as well as his visits to various Middle Eastern countries.  He also talked about subjects such as dating, Barack Obama, and living in New Jersey.

There were about 75 people in attendance, many of them students.  The two comedians interacted with members of the audience, asking them where they were from and about their experiences.

After the comedy segments, Blakeman and Obeidallah came on stage together.  They opened the floor for questions and discussed their goals to bring people together through laughter.  They encouraged students to take action and work towards bringing peace and understanding.

“You can have an impact much easier than you think,” said Obeidallah.

“It’s not just about being pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, you have to be pro-peace,” said Blakeman.

Afterwards, both comedians said that they were happy with the way the concert went.

“We had no idea what to expect in terms of turnout, but it was a very diverse crowd,” said Obeidallah.

Dr. Ellen Umansky, the Chair of Judaic Studies, felt that the event was a success.  “It’s important to be able to laugh at ourselves, and to feel free to laugh with others,” she said.

She hopes the two groups continue to co-sponsor events in the future.

“The Middle East is a volatile place,” she said.  “It should be something that students care about.”

Blakeman added that they will continue to touring the show, including bringing it to the Middle East.

“People may not agree about things, but we try and get people together and get them laughing,” he said.  “We try to lay a foundation to get people to talk about the issues.”