Festival Facebook Page for all showtimes and info!

We can only make the festival happen with your help! So, why do we need money?

All sponsorships will be used for:

• Flying all comedians round-trip from America to Palestine
• Performance fees for 6-8 shows for each artist
• Hotels and meals for the artist during the stay
• Rental of stages in Palestine
• Production costs (lighting, sound, staging, organization, etc)
• Promotional costs (online advertising, flyers, banners in Palestine)
• Lots of shawarma sandwiches

Also, while in Palestine, the artists will all be participating in workshops on stand-up comedy for young artists, through coordination with youth groups, theatre groups in refugees camps, and NGOs in Palestine.

Major donors:

Dr. Souheil Elia – $10,000
Farouk Shami – $8,000
Faisal Saleh – $5,000
Judy Aburmishan – $5,000
Janet Amighi – $1,700
(Don’t you want me to add your name here too?)

The sponsorship levels are:

Platinum: $5,000
Gold: $2,500
Silver: $1,000
Bronze: $500

You can also specify whatever amount you wish in the form below. Remember, your sponsorship is a tax-deductible to: Palestine Foundation | PO Box 791 | Palos Verdes Estates, CA 90724 | (Tax ID #47-5082577)

All sponsors will be recognized in the festival programs, and on stage at each show! But most importantly, you will be a supporter of this historic event!

After you complete the form, you will be directed to Paypal where you can use a credit/debit card to pay for the sponsorship. (You don’t need a Paypal account.)

Festival Facebook Page for all showtimes and info!

The “1001 Laughs Palestine Comedy Festival” made its debut in August 2015, and it convened a second edition in 2016.  The festivals give the audiences of Palestine five consecutive days of live stand-up comedy in Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, entertaining over 2,000 people.  It is one of a kind.  I, Amer Zahr (amer@amerzahr.com), am the festival’s producer and founder. I’m a Palestinian-American comedian, writer, and law professor living whose comedy travels have taken me throughout America, Canada, and the Arab world, including dozens of shows in Palestine.

Check out the CNN story from our first festival!

The festival does not only seek to entertain.  Comedy serves an important social purpose as well.  Laughter is a universal language, shared by all peoples.  Laughter also humanizes. Perhaps the greatest challenge for Palestinians is that we are too often misunderstood or mistreated in the media, frequently depicted as “non-human.”  Comedy, like much art, can help to solve this issue.  Comedy is about preserving narratives and championing freedom of expression in the arts. The festival will only be a success if it serves as a gateway to the world to discover more about our culture and people.

The festivals to date have garnered worldwide media attention, and we hope to get even more in the future. I will work diligently to ensure that all major international media outlets stay aware of the festival, in order to cover it on an international scale.  We hope that through this festival, our Palestinian laughter draws the ears of the world.

In the past, the US State Department funded this project.  For a number of reasons, we no longer seek nor desire the sponsorship of the American government. We are looking for sponsor/s to help us raise the budget of at least $80,000 that we need to make the festival a success.

Sponsors would be featured on all promotional material, thanked at every show, and have the option to display or advertise at every performance. The tentative dates for this year’s festival are August 13-18, 2018, with performances in Ramallah, Jerusalem, and Bethlehem, Jenin, and Khalil. My production partner on the ground is Maestro Productions, led by Ramallah native Hani Kashou.

We look forward to your support in this historic endeavor, and we hope to share the success of the festival with you.

“If you can make someone laugh, he will listen to you.” – Amer Zahr