Sayed Kashua is an Israeli Arab

Arab citizens of Israel

Arab citizens of Israel refers to citizens of Israel who are not Jewish, and whose cultural and linguistic heritage or ethnic identity is Arab....

 author and journalist born in Tira, Israel, known for his books and humoristic columns in Hebrew.

Biography

Sayed Kashua was born in Tira in the Triangle

Triangle (Israel)

The Triangle , formerly referred to as the Little Triangle, is a concentration of Israeli Arab towns and villages adjacent to the Green Line, located in the eastern Sharon plain among the Samarian foothills; this area is located within the easternmost boundaries of both the Center District and...

 region of Israel

Israel

The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

. In 1990, he was accepted to a prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem - Israel Arts and Science Academy

Israel Arts and Science Academy

The Israel Arts and Science Academy , or IASA for short, is a high school for gifted students from all over Israel. IASA is a boarding school. The school, located in Jerusalem, was founded in 1990 by the Society for Excellence through Education. Approximately 200 students live and study in IASA...

. He studied sociology and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem

Hebrew University of Jerusalem

The Hebrew University of Jerusalem ; ; abbreviated HUJI) is Israel's second-oldest university, after the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. The Hebrew University has three campuses in Jerusalem and one in Rehovot. The world's largest Jewish studies library is located on its Edmond J...

. Kashua was a resident of Beit Safafa

Beit Safafa

Beit Safafa is an Arab neighborhood in south Jerusalem midway between the Jerusalem neighborhoods of Patt and Gilo, on the outskirts of Bethlehem. Beit Safafa had a population of 5,463 in 2000. It covers an area of 1,577 dunams.-History:...

 before moving to a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem with his wife and two children.

Literary career

Kashua writes satirical columns in Hebrew for Haaretz

Haaretz

Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...

newspaper and a local Jerusalem weekly, HaIr

Hair

Hair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....

. In a humorous, tongue-in-cheek style, Kashua addresses the problems faced by Arabs in Israel, caught between two worlds.

Television

Avoda Aravit, or in English, Arab Labor

Arab Labor

Arab Labor is a sitcom television series, produced in Israel. The series which premiered on Keshet Channel 2 in Israel in 2007 and on Link TV in the Fall of 2008, was created by Sayed Kashua....

, is a satirical sitcom written by Kashua and aired on Israel's Channel 2

Channel 2 (Israel)

Channel 2 is an Israeli commercial television channel.- History :In 1990, after 13 years of deliberations, the Knesset passed a law that paved the way for the establishment of commercial television in Israel. The goal was to enhance pluralism and create competition. Channel 2 began broadcasting on...

. A large part of the dialogue is in Arabic

Arabic language

Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 with Hebrew subtitles. The show is about a young Arab couple, Amjad (Norman Issa) and Bushra (Clara Khoury

Clara Khoury

Clara Khoury is an Israeli - Palestinian actress.Clara works in film, television and theater, acting in Arabic, Hebrew, English and French.- Biography :...

), and their young daughter, who live in an Arab village on the outskirts of Jerusalem. Amjad is a journalist working for a Hebrew newspaper (much like Haaretz

Haaretz

Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...

) who desperately seeks to assimilate into the prevailing Israeli Jewish cultural milieu with mixed and hilarious results.
The show holds a mirror up to the racism and ignorance on both sides of the ethnic divide and has been compared with All in the Family

All in the Family

All in the Family is an American sitcom that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, a new show, Archie Bunker's Place, picked up where All in the Family had ended...

.

Awards and prizes

• In 2004, Kashua won the Prime Minister's prize for literature.
• Arab Labor won the Award for Best Television Series at the Jerusalem Film Festival
  Jerusalem Film Festival
  The Jerusalem Film Festival is an international film festival held annually in Jerusalem, Israel. The festival was the brainchild of Lia van Leer, who inaugurated it on May 17, 1984...
  
  .
• Kashua won the 2011 Bernstein Prize
  Bernstein Prize
  The Bernstein Prize is an annual Israeli literary award for writers 50 years of age and younger. The prize is awarded by the Bernstein Foundation, named after Mordechai Bernstein, who left money in his estate to establish a foundation in order to encourage young Hebrew writers...
  
  for his novel Second Person.

Published works

• Dancing Arabs (2002)
• Let it be Morning (2006)
• Second Person (2010)

Documentaries

A 2009 documentary film produced by Dorit Zimbalist, Sayed Kashua - Forever Scared, documents the upheavals and events that changed Kashua's life over a period of seven years.

External links

• Pulled through from fear Sigrid Brinkmann, Germany Radio. 2005-06-21