Mo Amer: Palestinian star ‘proud and hurt’ after Netflix hit

Reflecting back on the Netflix hit based on his own life, there are two things that come to mind for Palestinian comedian Mo Amer.

Pride and hurt.

“It’s very difficult to talk about without breaking down at some point,” he tells BBC Newsbeat.

He is the star of the semi-autobiographical show titled Mo, playing the role of Mo Najjar.

The character is a Palestinian refugee learning to adapt to his new world as he seeks to gain US citizenship by navigating a complicated immigration process – all while trying to bring together his cultures and languages.

Making a show so closely tied to his life was “very taxing” because of “the sheer amount of emotion” involved.

“I’m extremely proud of it. I put my soul into it and I’m still hurting from making it,” Mo says.

There was another challenge to navigate – when this second season would be set.

The final episode, which depicts Mo’s visit to his family home in the West Bank, is set on 6 October 2023.

That’s a day before the armed Palestinian group Hamas launched an unprecedented cross-border attack on Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 250 hostages.

This triggered a massive Israeli military offensive in Gaza, which has killed more than 48,000 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.

Avoiding 7 October in the storyline was “very intentional”, Mo says.

The show is ultimately “grounded in comedy”, he says, and episodes set post-attack drew focus away from the storyline and the characters.

“You weren’t really tracking them, the emotions of them,” says Mo.

Mo says he wanted to keep the “greater context” in mind and that focusing on 7 October and its aftermath “almost insinuates this just started”.

“That couldn’t be further from the truth,” he says, referring to the long history of the conflict.

There was a practical consideration too, he says, due to the length of time between filming and release being over a year.

“That was kind of like scary territory to write about something, and then all these things would happen.

“And then whatever you had written and composed in the series could be irrelevant.”

The show has broadly had a positive reception, with the finale being emotional for fans – and Mo.

It tracks the character’s journey with his family to the Israeli-occupied West Bank and their experience of life there.

From his perspective, it shows the complicated day-to-day Palestinians can face, such as being subjected to closer scrutiny at checkpoints controlled by Israeli soldiers.

Mo’s character is also shown being tear-gassed.

The West Bank – land between Israel and the River Jordan – is home to an estimated three million Palestinians and half a million Jewish settlers.

Along with East Jerusalem and Gaza, it is part of what is widely known as the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

Israel occupied the areas in the 1967 Middle East war and built settlements, which are considered illegal under international law. Israel disputes this.

Palestinians claim the areas for a future independent state and want all the settlements removed.

“I’ve gotten so many calls from people just completely in shambles after watching the last episode and how meaningful it was to them to watch,” Mo says.

He adds it was “not only Palestinians” contacting him.

Mo says the final episode – originally 60 minutes long – was “almost like we filmed a movie” before it was eventually edited down to 39 minutes.

He says he wanted to cover “the main strokes”, which included how difficult it can be to enter and live as a Palestinian once there.

“Immediately, you’re not on vacation,” he says. “You’re on edge, actually.”

Mo feels there has generally been limited representation of Palestinians in TV and film, which means more pressure on his shoulders.

“There’s a lot of [pressure] from the fans… more outside voices of what I should say and not say – both Palestinian and non-Palestinian,” he says.

“You really have to put the blinders on and stay focused on telling the story that I know and that I’ve experienced first-hand.”

Mo says he can’t “walk away” from being seen as a spokesperson for Palestinians, admitting to feeling “like public property at this point”.

“I think that everyone just needs to manage their expectations. But I’m not going to shy away from it,” he says.

“Those that agree with me or disagree with me… it’s important to continue the dialogue and have a conversation.”

The ceasefire agreement in Gaza has provided some hope that there could be an end to fighting, but it has also felt fragile with concern that deal could collapse.

Mo says he is “always hopeful” things can get better.

“I never lose hope.

“If you do, then it becomes a really, really sad place whenever you’re devoid of hope,” he says.

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