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STANDUP FOR PEACE is the disarmingly funny comedy show that brings Jews, Arabs, Muslims and people from all backgrounds together to laugh, and encourages a dialogue in support of a peaceful, political resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The groundbreaking comedy show standup for peace was born in June 2002, when Scott Blakeman and Dean Obeidallah produced a series of comedy shows to benefit Seeds of Peace, which promotes understanding between Palestinian and Israeli teenagers by bringing them together in a summer camp in Maine. In the summer of 2005, Scott and Dean were the only comedians to perform at the historic Leadership Summit at the Seeds of Peace camp.

"We were not only happy that Arabs and Jews were sharing the stage for a great cause, but also because Palestinians, Israelis, Arab-Americans and Jewish-Americans were sitting side by side in the audience laughing together," Obeidallah says.

Blakeman adds, "Just by standing on stage together, and bringing Arabs and Jews together in the audience, we're making more progress than they are right now in the Middle East."

Blakeman and Obeidallah have received critical acclaim and drawn standing room only crowds at theaters, colleges, Jewish and Arab-American Community Centers, Temples, and comedy clubs. Scott and Dean have performed at numereous colleges including Yale, Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, UC Santa Barbara, William and Mary, George Mason University and Carleton College. They were featured on MSNBC, NPR and Air America, and have been the subject of articles in a wide range of publications.

Blakeman and Obeidallah begin the show together, perform their own acts separately, and then reunite at the end for an entertaining and revealing question and answer session.

"I had the honor of working at the Seeds of Peace International Camp in Maine for the Leadership Summit, where I was captivated by your StandUp for Peace show. It was not only incredibly funny and entertaining, but also carried peaceful messages of understanding. It was truly amazing to witness the Israelis and Palestinians come together after the performance later that night and reenact jokes, making both sides laugh."

-Vera Chang, Carleton College

Learn more  about StandUp for Peace in Scott and Dean's Common Ground News Service article distributed to more than 400 news outlets internationally, and translated into Hebrew and Arabic.