Raja Abdulrahim
Appearances
The Headlines
Iowa Moves to Eliminate Trans Rights, and Zelensky Heads to the White House
Syria is a country that I've covered for a long time, and one of the things that I've noticed is how much Syrians have this sort of dark, gallows humor, and that they used it as a way to cope and to sort of almost poke fun or laugh at their situation, which really was tragic.
The Headlines
Iowa Moves to Eliminate Trans Rights, and Zelensky Heads to the White House
Basically, just a few weeks earlier, those jokes would have landed people in prison, possibly gotten them killed. These were jokes that people would not have even said in their own homes, you know, among relatives, because Syria was a country that basically lived under the warning that the walls have ears.
The Headlines
Iowa Moves to Eliminate Trans Rights, and Zelensky Heads to the White House
But one of the things that we're not necessarily hearing jokes about are the new leaders, the new rulers of Syria. Comedians and Syrians in general are very unsure about what this new government, which is dominated by Islamist officials, will they tolerate an open comedy scene and what red lines will be drawn, if any.
The Headlines
Iowa Moves to Eliminate Trans Rights, and Zelensky Heads to the White House
So basically, these comedians are trying to take advantage of the opportunity now and get their lines in while they can.