Amer Zahr is an Arab-American of Palestinian descendant. He is known for his stand-up comedian, writer, filmmaker, producer, adjunct law professor at the University of Detroit Mercy, and former lawyer. He was born in Jordan to refugee parents of Palestinian heritage originally from Nazareth and then moved to the United States when he was three years old.
Zahr was raised in a Christian-Muslim family in the Philadelphia area. His father is Christian and his mother is Muslim.
He now lives, and is based in, Dearborn, Michigan.
Amer tackles many of the issues that faces Arab Americans through his comedy. Here, he shares his funny, heartfelt and eye-opening perspective on home, growing up and where we are “from from”.
He was recently in Palestine, where he had done some stand up comedy:
He wrote “Being a Palestinian Makes Me Smile”. 
Amer Zahr writes about his views and experiences as a Palestinian-American comedian. This book contains passages describing Amer’s feelings, many times through comedy, about various happenings affecting Palestinians. As the child of Palestinian refugees, society, politics, and everyday fall victim to comedic ways. The book is a collection of passages from Zahr’s blog, “The Civil Arab,” and is a mixture of diary, biography, political analysis, and prose.
Here, Amer Zahr reads a selection from the book in the Dearborn Open Mic where he gives advice to President Barack Obama visiting Israel/Palestine:
And he reads here a section about how Palestinians were expected to “act appropriately” that he has written in July of 2014:
Zahr made the documentary We’re Not White, which was released in August 2017.
You can find more of the work of Amer Zahr on his website amerzahr.com or his blog:
www.civilarab.com
