Tucked into the box set or foreign section of your local video store
you may find this wry 10-episode sitcom straight from Israel, about
Amjad, an Arab journalist and his high-strung family. A familiarity
with Israel based only on heated headlines will have no bearing on
Arab Labor, whose characters seem only indirectly effected by
politics and war, though not immune to ignorance and mistrust, which is
always the source of the humour. The show actually resembles Curb
Your Enthusiasm in its intricate scripting and a main character
that is a magnet for socially explosive situations. Wildly funny
Arab Labor, however, is exclusive to Israel, happy to barrel
through taboos.
This article appears in Aug 6-12, 2009.
