Sayed Kashua (Arabic: سيد قشوع, Hebrew: סייד קשוע; b. 1975) is an Israeli Arab author and journalist born in Tira, Israel, known for his books and humoristic columns in Hebrew.
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Sayed Kashua was born in Tira in the Triangle region of Israel. In 1990, he was accepted to a prestigious boarding school in Jerusalem - Israel Arts and Science Academy.[1] He studied sociology and philosophy at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Kashua was a resident of Beit Safafa before moving to a Jewish neighborhood of Jerusalem with his wife and two children.
Kashua writes satirical columns in Hebrew for Haaretz newspaper and a local Jerusalem weekly, HaIr. In a humorous, tongue-in-cheek style, Kashua addresses the problems faced by Arabs in Israel, caught between two worlds.[2]
Avoda Aravit, or in English, Arab Labor, is a satirical sitcom written by Kashua and aired on Israel's Channel 2. A large part of the dialogue is in Arabic with Hebrew subtitles. The show is about a young Arab couple, Amjad (Norman Issa) and Bushra (Clara Khoury), 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) who desperately seeks to assimilate into the prevailing Israeli Jewish cultural milieu with mixed and hilarious results.[1] 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.
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.