Israel's right to self-defense against comedians

Katie talks to Lana Salah & Bilal Sharmoug, who were detained and deported by Israel for trying to perform at a comedy festival.

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Lana Salah is a Palestinian-American comedian based in Los Angeles, known for a dry, deadpan style that starts conversationally and takes turns audiences should have seen coming. Armed with a computer engineering degree, two decades in marketing, and a long history of questionable career decisions, she mines identity, politics, current events, and the everyday absurdities of modern life. She has performed at The Comedy Store, the Hollywood Improv, and the Netflix Is a Joke Festival, sharing stages with Tim Dillon, Bassem Youseff, and Andrew Santino, and co-produces Bigfoot Comedy, one of LA's fastest-growing independent comedy shows, featured in LA Weekly.

Bilal Sharmoug is a Palestinian-American actor, comedian, and digital creator. He is known for his roles on the television series Star Wars: Skeleton Crew (2024) and as El Oso on Amazon Prime's On Call (2024) and for performing in comedy showcases like Skankfest, Arab American Comedy Festival and the Palestine Comedy Festival.

Ahmed Al-kadri is a Yemeni-American comedian based in Los Angeles whose stand-up blends his cultural upbringing, everyday absurdities, and straight-up goofy fun. His relatable and high-energy style has taken him around the world—from America to Asia and everywhere in between. You may have seen him on the series David Diamondhands, OFTV, or his many viral videos across all social media platforms.

Dana Alexander draws her material from raw life experience with an original and hilarious outlook.She began her comedy career at the age of 18 years old in Canada. Before long she began touring nationally with Yuk Yuk's Comedy Clubs, completed 5 television galas and several radio spots for major stations. In 2011 Dana moved to the U.K. where she premiered her solo hour at The Edinburgh Festival for which she received rave reviews and nominations including "Best Comic" and "Best International Act" from Chortle and Black Comedy Awards. Dana has featured on British television on programmes such as “Question Team”, "Russell Howard's Good News", "Edinburgh Comedy Fest" and "The Culture Show". Her solo comedy special also aired in Canada's popular Stand-up show "Comedy Now" and she has been named in the Top 10 Comedians 3 years running by NOW Magazine in Canada.Dana can be seen on stage within in the U.K. and Internationally. She has performed in more than 40 countries such as Bahrain, Dubai, Switzerland, Croatia, France, The Netherlands, Norway, Serbia, The Seychelles, Hungary, Malta and South Africa. She has also performed for the British Armed Forces.

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