Can a Palestinian Comedy Rewrite Hollywood’s Script?

In a media landscape often dominated by one-sided narratives, ‘Mo’ Season 2 emerges as a quiet revolution. Netflix’s Peabody Award-winning series, created by and starring Palestinian comedian Mohamed Amer, is both a comedy and a defiant assertion of Palestinian humanity. For Cherien Dabis, the Palestinian-American filmmaker and actress who plays Nadia, Mo’s sister, the show is a groundbreaking step forward in a long struggle for authentic representation in Western media.

“This, what Mo has done, is so, so vital,” Dabis tells CairoScene. “It’s such a huge step forward for us in media representation.”

Set in Houston, Texas, ‘Mo’ follows the life of Mo Najjar, a Palestinian refugee navigating the complexities of identity, family, and survival in the diaspora. Season 2, which premiered in January 2025, delves deeper into the Najjar family’s struggles, balancing humour and heartbreak with a deft touch. For Dabis, the show’s ability to humanise its characters while addressing the political realities of Palestinian life is one of its greatest strengths.

“The show is so much about survival,” she says. “It’s about how different people with different challenges and different levels of privilege survive. It’s about compassion.”

One of the most powerful moments in the season comes in a scene between Nadia and her mother, Yusra, played by Farah Bseiso. Sitting by a pond, they grapple with the weight of watching the horrors unfolding in Palestine while trying to maintain a sense of normalcy in their daily lives.

“It was about how we watch these horrific images on social media and then go about our lives,” Dabis says. “And we must, it's imperative that we do. We can't all slowly allow ourselves to die.”

The scene, which Dabis describes as a “beautiful discovery” on set, is emblematic of the show’s ability to balance humour and heartbreak. Directed by Mo Amer himself, the moment showcases his knack for improvisation and his commitment to authenticity, as the scene was not even written in the first place.

“I think that even the laughter at the end was an idea that Mo came up with while we were shooting. He pushed me as an actor to go there emotionally, and I didn't realise that he wanted it to be so emotionally heartfelt,” Dabis shares. “Mo is a master of improvisation. He’s so sharp, and he brings that to his acting and directing. That scene by the pond is a great example of how he works - finding the life of the moment, keeping it human.”

In a media landscape saturated with stereotypes and propaganda, ‘Mo’ offers a nuanced, humanising portrayal of Palestinian life. From the detention centre scenes at the border to the emotional journey of visiting Palestine for the first time, the show breaks stereotypes and opens doors for future storytellers.

“We need more art, more films, more shows,” Dabis says. “We need more streamers willing to take risks. Mo has proven there’s an appetite for this. The show was in the top ten on Netflix in the US for two weeks. There’s a hunger for these stories. It’s a revolution in the most beautiful of ways. I wish Mo could do another season. He deserves it. But even if this is the last season, it’s opened so many doors. It’s shown us what’s possible.”

Dabis, who recently premiered her own film, ‘All That’s Left of You’, at Sundance Film Festival, knows the challenges of telling Palestinian stories in Hollywood. Her debut feature, ‘Amreeka’, broke records as the most-screened Arab-directed film in US cinema history, but the road to authentic representation remains long.

“We need gatekeepers to open the doors for us, to support our work. We need to increase the number of our stories and their accessibility. It's time that we take even more responsibility in our art,” Dabis says. “We've definitely made really big strides but there's more to do. Change comes very slowly sometimes.”