Hani Almadhoun

Pranks are popular in the Arab world, and they are often known by the name "Hidden Camera". Egypt is often the best place to pull such stunts, as their people have an unmatched sense of humor in the Arab world. But in most Arab countries, filming such a show might...

I called my older brother Mazin the other day, but he was not at home. I learned that due to the power shortage in our town, he has been spending more time at his workplace. They have a generator, and thus he can utilize actual electric light bulbs there. Most...

In 2005, the municipalities of Gaza had a cat shortage. Cats are important to Gaza as they serve a great purpose, munching on rodents that gather by the local landfills. Apparently, the local governments used a strong kind of poison; so strong that it killed both the rodents and the...

Sure, they are the most loving, caring family who often stay close, which means you can never escape them. They are like capitalism where greed is good. They keep moving the goal posts as you approach them. At times, it seems that your own family is never happy with what...

So what does a Muslim, whose best friends are Mormons, do for fun in Washington, D.C.? When I first moved to the District, I had not seen many drunk/drinking people before. I went straight from The Gaza Strip into the Motherland of the Mormon faith, Utah -- so much for...

1. Watch the Access of Evil Comedy Tour! Nothing can cheer you up faster than realizing that all you need is an hour or so of overdone and repetitive airport jokes to make it big in comedy. As a Muslim anyway.
2. Watch the extended version of Kingdom of Heaven. Murderous Christian...

Palestine has never really been considered a breeding ground for mega-popular, pan-Arab entertainers. The Palestinians have been consumers of Arabic music, not producers. Egypt and Lebanon rule the music scene in Arabia and act as the talent factories that never cease or slow down music production. Palestine has not had...

A few days ago under the banner of the Women's Initiative of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), a leading civil rights organization, a special night celebrating Arabic fashion, music and traditional dance took place at the historic Lincoln Theater in the heart of Washington DC. The lineup of the evening...

In my book, the coolest pop-rock in Arabia will always be UTN1. UTN1, or Unknown to No One, is an Iraqi band that started in 1999 in Baghdad, Iraq. Their relatively early beginnings make them one of the pioneering groups of the Arab indie rock genre. UTNI has...

Hipsters are having the time of their lives this year, from the streets of Cairo, the Suburbs of Tunisia, the Squares of Madrid to Occupy Wall Street protestors. It seems the world is having a hipster outbreak of great proportions. It seems to me that hipsters of the world have...

Co-written by Sarah M. Weatherbee

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), a leading national civil rights organization that advocates on behalf American people of Arab descent is gearing up for a new initiative targeting women. The ADC Women's Initiative was launched in April 2011 by a national consortium of 60 influential...

Watching movies in the United States has taught me a lot about the culture and the language. When I first arrived to this land 11 years ago, movies were the single most useful tool in learning about America. Not only was watching movies educational, it was also fun.

In college...

As a Muslim student on the predominately Mormon Campus at Brigham Young University (BYU), I wasn't alone. There were roughly 100 other Muslims students who attended BYU in Provo, Utah, coming from Arab countries, Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, China and a few other places.

My first Ramadan at BYU was...

This has been the policy of many politicians and leaders in the Arab world: keep the people distracted, give the young people something fun to do. Get them excited about it, bring them into that stadium and bombard them with propaganda about the most awesome leader and his patronage for...

Now it's fashionable to sing praises for the revolution in Egypt, after all this is a winning revolution. A week ago most of these songs started coming out of Egypt to praise the protesters and their work. While no one in the past month released a pro Mubarak song, some...

Reports of internet shutdown and outages has been heard all around Egypt, but it seems to be more of a selective outage of certain news and communication outlets.

Facebook has reported a decrease in log-ins from Egypt, and many subscribers including activists have reported trouble with the site. But, according...

Last week, I went ice skating for the first time in my life. Of course growing up in Dubai and Gaza, never have I seen snow or ice. So skating on ice has been a mystery to me and when I came to the states, I did not get a...

I never thought about Santa Claus having so much in common with the world's number one terrorist. After all, there was news of some wannabe terrorist wanting to blow up a Christmas tree. But it only took me a few minutes to come up with a list of things those...

A few days ago, my grandma passed away in our home in the Northern Gaza Strip. She died of old age and surely, she will be missed. Speaking to my grieving family in Gaza about the burial and funeral service arrangements, I came to learn why Hamas bests any political...

What do Muslims and Mormons have in common? It turns out both want to take over the world. But when they are not too busy doing that, they tell jokes -- together.

My first stand up comedy gig was at my local LDS church where they had...