AND HERE’S MODI
Jonathan Elkhoury
Episode 110: Modi and Periel are joined by Jonathan Elkoury as he discusses his experience as a gay, Israeli-Lebanese, Christian living in Israel. He and his family were forced to leave Lebanon for Israel after the Lebanese Civil War and he is now prominent Israeli activist, working tirelessly to educate and advocate for Israel on US college campuses.
Modi's special "Know Your Audience" is available on YouTube now!
For all upcoming shows visit www.modilive.com.
Follow Modi on Instagram at @modi_live.
Episode 110: Modi and Periel are joined by Jonathan Elkoury as he discusses his experience as a gay, Israeli-Lebanese, Christian living in Israel. He and his family were forced to leave Lebanon for Israel after the Lebanese Civil War and he is now prominent Israeli activist, working tirelessly to educate and advocate for Israel on US college campuses.
Modi's special "Know Your Audience" is available on YouTube now!
For all upcoming shows visit www.modilive.com.
Follow Modi on Instagram at @modi_live.
Welcome to Andy's Modi. Now we are in the studio with Periel, hi Hi, periel, hola, and we have Jonathan El Khouri, el Khouri, el Khouri.
Speaker 2:Khouri yes, Khouri yes.
Speaker 3:Khouri.
Speaker 2:Khouri.
Speaker 3:He are the Ri Ri Ri Ri Khouri yes Khoury, yes Khoury Khoury.
Speaker 2:He are the Ri Ri Khoury Khoury.
Speaker 1:So I'm saying you're right. Why are you guys, why are you looking like that? You look insane, khoury.
Speaker 2:Khoury, khoury, khoury, yes, khoury. The last one was perfect, perfect.
Speaker 1:Khuri.
Speaker 2:Al Khuri, but it's with the Al Al.
Speaker 1:Khuri Al.
Speaker 2:Khuri, al Khuri.
Speaker 3:Al.
Speaker 2:Khuri, it's the priest, in Arabic the priest, so you can call me the Kohen.
Speaker 1:Oh wow, al Khuri walks into a bar and it's funny that you're named. Your last name is priest, because you are Christian.
Speaker 2:Yes, I come from a really long descendants of priests in my family Really 14 generations, Wow. Actual priests. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Actual priests. Greek Orthodox priests Wow.
Speaker 1:And you are. We have to tell the audience. We got to tell the audience what's happening here.
Speaker 3:Wait, I have the-. Do you have a good profile, Of course.
Speaker 1:We're horrible at this. I'm sure every other podcast, the thing you've done they come out with your full bio.
Speaker 2:We are horrible at this I have a full, I could have sent you something I have a full.
Speaker 1:Well, don't do an obituary, do just like the highlights. Which one of them should be comes from a long line of priests. He's from Lebanon, right, a Lebanese.
Speaker 3:Israeli Christian and part of the LGBTQ plus community. He's a public diplomacy activist and he thought it would be amazing and he's right to get along and speak about Israeli minorities, in particular in the LGBTQ plus IAGWP community in Israel, in deference from the rest of the Arab world. And how come the wider community chose Hamas' side on this war instead of Israel, which we have been talking about a lot on this show?
Speaker 1:Let's get back to you for a minute. No, oh, there's more, there's more. What did you? Let's get back to you for a minute, wait, no, oh, there's more, there's more. What are you? What did you?
Speaker 3:that he fled Lebanon to Israel when he was nine years old. Wow, that's.
Speaker 1:That's where you should begin. Okay, you fled. Nine years old, you left Lebanon.
Speaker 2:Yeah alone, that will none. No, not alone. I was with my mom and my brother, okay, um. But my dad, for example. First he fled during May 2000 when Israel withdrew from South Lebanon after 18 years of being present in South of Lebanon, and he was in the South Lebanon army that basically fought shoulder to shoulder with IDF soldiers against the PLO, the Palestinian Liberation Organization, and then later on against Hezbollah. And because Israel withdrew, there was a major threat on his life. So he fled to Israel and after a year or so we discovered that my dad shouldn't go back to Lebanon because his life would be in a real threat and that we should move to.
Speaker 2:When I say we, it's my mom. She made all the decisions and one night she woke me up at around 5 am in August of 2001. She told me, jonathan, we're going to visit some relatives in Beirut. You should take something really important for you, because we might not get back here soon. She said travel light. Yeah, wow. And I took two teddy bears. I was nine years old, I was holding them beneath my shoulders and we started driving towards the relatives in Beirut. And then suddenly we arrived at the airport and from there my mom told me that we're going to the States we landed after 30 minutes. It was Cyprus, and from there, 24 hours after that, we fled to Israel, to Israel.
Speaker 2:Yeah with our Lebanese passports.
Speaker 1:Wow, and Israel let you in.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because my dad already gave the information to the authorities that his family is going to join him, so that's how we did that.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 3:What an incredible story.
Speaker 1:What an incredible story my mother told us when I was seven we're going to America, it might work out. We're not selling the house. For a year we came to America and then but this was obviously on a fun thing and this is this is insane that you like fled and it's so, so incredible. And then when did you realize, thank God, because you're gay, you don't want to be gay in Beirut and Lebanon, do you? Oh, that's crazy, yeah.
Speaker 2:Thank God, because you're gay. You don't want to be gay in Beirut and Lebanon, do you? Oh, that's crazy. Yeah, well, beirut had its peak with the gay community, but then around 2017, the gay activists were arrested for doing a gay parade or stuff like that. So it's technically still forbidden by law to be gay in Lebanon. Depends on the judge, okay.
Speaker 2:But I come from the south, we are farmers from the south, so it's much more difficult in the south. Like I remember coming out to my parents and it was like it doesn't exist in our community, like no, it's like for the jews and the liberals, like we don't have gays in our community, really, and that was something that that was like repetitive and like I was giving verses from the bible against being gay, right and uh, but it's. It's super difficult because the society, a lot of it, is still religious, still more kind of conservative, and they don't really accept that. So, thank god, I was able to find myself in this uh liberal place that is called israel and I was able to actually live my life as I am. That's amazing.
Speaker 1:You live in Haifa now. Yes, you live in Haifa, do you?
Speaker 2:go to church. I used to, okay, like the age of 20.
Speaker 3:Goes to gay church.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, that's nice, I'm sure. Well, I, unfortunately we don't have gay churches in Israel, but I'm really looking forward. I was walking here new york actually saw, like in chelsea there's like this gay church. I was like, oh my god, I really want to bring that to israel, but I'm afraid that I will be crucified if I do so.
Speaker 3:so first of all, that must be so amazing for you to see that here, as I mean, it's insane that that doesn't exist in Israel. I think we take that for granted here, yeah there's gay synagogues here.
Speaker 1:There's gay. I mean. The synagogue I go to is Orthodox. There's a mechitza, the men and women sit on different sides, but there's a lot of gay people that come to the synagogue. They just prefer to pray in a Orthodox setting. Yeah, but still be okay being gay, and I don't know how the church works. You guys just sit for 45 minutes and then the priest speaks and then you leave.
Speaker 2:No, it's not like Exactly, there's church choir. When I grew up, I was kind of sent to church in order to kind of deal with my gayness, because I like spoke with my dad about it when I was 13, 14, and he was like, no, doesn't exist. And then I was led to go to the church to be more kind of a Christian.
Speaker 3:You were already in Israel.
Speaker 2:Yes, yeah uh, and then I was in church choir, I was teaching in Sunday school. I was like 100% focused on the church. All in Haifa? Yes, in Hebrew. No in Arabic. In Arabic, yeah of course, this is our tongue language, so this is how we pray.
Speaker 1:No, I don't know. I've stopped pretending to know.
Speaker 1:I used to pretend, oh yeah, yeah yeah, of course, of course, in Arabic, in Israel, of course. I don't do that anymore, I have stopped, I have reached. When Leo starts throwing around like acronyms of things, I go what does that mean? I don't know what that means. I don't know what that means. I don't know, I don't know what that means. Oh, we were at the Kennedy Center. We had a show at the Kennedy Center and there were the women that were doing the sign language. There were two women who were going to be signing and they kept saying ASL, asl, this and this. And I go what does ASL mean? Hilarious? And then he goes American Sign Language. Okay, okay, so that's what that is. I had no idea what that meant and it was a whole, so I didn. I figured it was in Israel, that the service was in Hebrew. Oh no.
Speaker 2:But it's in Arabic. There's a vibrant Arabic community that lives in Israel about 25% of the Israeli population Muslims, Christians, Right. So the prayers happens in the language that you're familiar with. There is one church that is like more of a Messiah Jews that do their serving in Hebrew, but 95% of the churches, even more than that, are in Arabic.
Speaker 1:Arabic, but 95% of the churches even more than that are in Arabic, arabic. And you always see like Christian Arabs always wear a cross like you do, just so no one thinks that they're Muslim. I'm Christian. The name is Ahwala Halil bin Halul Halulul, but it's still. I'm Christian. I'm Christian.
Speaker 3:Because there was a lot. There was serious, like war between the Muslims. In Lebanon too, the Muslims were killing the Christians, weren't they?
Speaker 2:Yeah, christians are really going through, even till today, persecution in the Middle East and especially in Lebanon.
Speaker 1:And Syria too, Syria, Iraq.
Speaker 2:Jordan, egypt, all of these places, and it was something that is also kind of to show that. I don't know if it's like we're different, but this is some sort of like. If you wear the Magin David Right, it's like more of a zehut, like your identity. It's something that is connected to you. Zehut, is that Arabic? It's.
Speaker 1:Hebrew. It's Hebrew, yeah, hebrew Okay.
Speaker 3:You? Is that Arabic? It's Hebrew? It's Hebrew? Yeah, hebrew. Okay, you speak Hebrew fluently, I imagine I have a couple of very good friends who are from Lebanon, who fled during various wars. One of them got carried out in a suitcase Wow by a Christian.
Speaker 1:Named Houdini.
Speaker 3:Was it a Christian or Muslim, I don't remember. But shit is out of control, is the bottom line here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, Could you imagine having the koyach, the energy to they're Christians? Let's go, really. So they go sit in a church on Sunday. You go down the floor on Monday, tuesday, wednesday. Who? Has the energy for this? Who has the energy to hate someone because they're Christian or because they're?
Speaker 2:it takes so much, oh yeah and I mean that's why, at the end of the day, my dad was in this coalition of Christians in Lebanon and basically a lot of also Druze or Muslim Shia that connected with the Christians to join the Jewish people in some sort of coalition to protect each other as minorities in the Middle East. That was kind of what formed all of that during the 70s against the PLO and then Hezbollah, because we always say, after Saturday comes Sunday, and there's a reason for that, because when the Arab world got rid of their Jews, they came for the Christians afterwards, and it happened also in Lebanon. It's happening also all across the Middle East and that's something that we need to do as minorities is to protect each other and help each other out.
Speaker 3:Yes, so let's get into it. One of the things that you wanted to talk about is how the most of the LGBTQ community we only have an hour to do this.
Speaker 1:So when you start doing the LGBTQ community, we only have an hour to do this. So when you start doing the LGBTQ, let's just end it at that. You have to do everything else afterwards the whole ABCs, afterwards the gay you just go gay. The gay community you don't need to. Lgbt ABC.
Speaker 2:DG. Will we be canceled because we're just saying the gay community we might, we're not.
Speaker 1:I don't think we'll be canceled. We're not, don't. I don't think we'll be canceled. We're not Well, we're Zionists.
Speaker 2:We're already being canceled, yeah.
Speaker 1:And those of you who want to cancel us, kiss my ass. We don't, okay, so just don't.
Speaker 3:Get into the queers for.
Speaker 1:Palestine. Oh wow, Is that the most insane thing you've ever seen in your life? Did you ever?
Speaker 2:think that could happen. I have never expected gay people to support Hamas I Not in my lifetime. Shooketh Wow.
Speaker 1:I was shocked. The only other shocked I could have been I explained to people is I had no idea that when the vaccine for COVID came out, people would be anti the vaccine. I thought we would be running. I had no idea that could even happen. It was so out of my head. Maybe that's because I'm just so stupid, no, but to see gays and lesbians standing there screaming pro Hamas, anti Israel, where and they've, and they're just, and the best videos are when the actual Palestinians go and yell at them. We don't need your help. Don't scream for us. You're going to hell. Don't drag our name into it with you. Tell me what happened in your head when you saw this happening.
Speaker 2:I would never imagine that someone that is pro-life or someone that is for human rights would actually support a terrorist organization. That all that he did throughout the years was to oppress minorities under the rule, to oppress the LGBTQ plus community and basically to persecute them for being gay. That was, in my opinion. That was something that I've never even in my wildest dreams, I've never expected something like that to happen. And you have here these kind of I call them those comfortable people that, like, live their comfortable lives and have no idea what's going on in the Middle East. Woke we call them woke, oh, woke, yeah, woke, nebuch, although I think they're asleep really hard.
Speaker 2:They're fully asleep they're fully asleep, they're not even half awakened from what's going on actually in the Middle East and they just go there and yell slogans like from the river to the sea or intifada we support the intifada Right, where it's literally meaning killing of innocent people in the Israeli-Palestinian perspective. And they didn't even go to educate themselves a little bit on that matter. I saw that video the other day. He was asking someone in an anti-israeli rally so how did you like get to know what's going on like in the region? And he was like well, I've been watching videos for the last two weeks on tiktok and this is like how I got myself informed about the situation. I'm like is this your sources?
Speaker 1:yes, yes, that's how that that's. That's the world we're in um, it's, it's, it's insane. But how do you, how do you, how can you so you're going around explain? Hi, I'm gay, I live in israel I'm from lebanon from lebanon. Israel has accepted me and I'm. I can go to parades and raves and and dances and and then have a boyfriend and a husband or whatever you want to have, and that's okay. But in Hamas, where you're supporting, I, would be thrown off of a building.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, then they tell me that this is pinkwashing.
Speaker 3:Yes, it's like as if it's what washing.
Speaker 2:Pinkwashing.
Speaker 1:No, vos idos. No, no, I'm no longer pretending I know anything. What is pinkwashing?
Speaker 2:Pinkwashing is basically a word that accuses Israel of using its LGBTQ plus progress in order to wash their aggressions against the Palestinians or, like their oppression against minority groups in the Middle East.
Speaker 3:I've been called a Zionist pink washer.
Speaker 1:I've heard you called a lot worse than that. I've called you a lot worse than that to your face. But okay, a Zionist pink washer, okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean but this is here is another deal that they take all of the progress that we did as an LGBTQ community in Israel. They take that progress and just minimize it as if we don't care, as if we didn't fight since the 70s and 80s to get our rights from the Israeli government. They just take that as if we don't exist in their opinion. And that's kind of demonizing us in so many levels where they even tell me I'm supposed to be and I've been told that by by a few people that the breathing definition of multiculturalism in Israel. I'm gay, I'm part of the Christian community, I'm Lebanese, I'm Israeli, yet I've been called a tokenized Arab by anti-Israeli groups because suddenly this minority voice doesn't count to them, because I don't sound like them, because you don't fit the narrative.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they don't want you to be telling the truth because it doesn't fit their version of what bullshit they saw on TikTok.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Like you, are in many ways a typical Israeli right. Israel represents the only democracy in the Middle East, the only place that you can be, Jonathan El Huri.
Speaker 2:Huri.
Speaker 3:Huri.
Speaker 2:I love how both of you said Huri the same time.
Speaker 3:It's because it's ha and ra.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but, like the Israelis, don't know how to say the ha and suddenly, when there is a ha and they need to say, the Israelis don't know how to say the ha and suddenly, when there's a ha and they need to say the ha, they say ha ha, okay, okay, well, hold on, but you are.
Speaker 1:First of all, where's your?
Speaker 2:English from well in Lebanon. I studied in American school, so I had that till the age of nine and then I practiced when I was in Israel, because the English is the spoken language of the world and you need to connect with absolutely so you speak arabic, hebrew, english. Yeah, that's it, that's it yeah, I'm supposed to know french. Yeah, it's right, but thankfully I didn't.
Speaker 3:I didn't go to nun school in lebanon, because they would be the worst but then you could learn French, not just the Har from French to Lebanese he's gay, though, so he covers it, and I have the R from the Hebrew, so I have the R and so how does the Arab community take you as a gay Christian in Haifa?
Speaker 2:It's difficult because there are some parts of the gay community in Israel, from the Arabic community, that are not really supportive of Israel, so to speak, or my activity as like 100% Zionist that speaks in favor of Israel around the world. But there is a huge Arabic community that kind of sees that without Israel, we're not being able to live as who we are as Christians, as not only Christians, yeah as Muslims, as minorities, being protected by the law. If something happens, we have the police there to protect us, although we have some difficulties in that issue, but it's still a democratic state that values its citizens. Yeah, and they have seen that. So this is, for example, since october, and you also vote exactly. Yeah, we have our representatives in the knesset.
Speaker 2:Uh, last government, there was also an arab party inside of the coalition. That was huge. That was basically calling for full integration to the israeli, that we need to take parts of what decisions are happening in Israel for our future and not just sit aside and yell all day and complain about the situation without doing anything about it. So that was pretty good. I was part, also involved, with the Christian Empowerment Council. Back, I was the spokesman for what it's called the Christian Recruitment Forum for the IDF or national service. That was done by a priest. He created that organization because he wanted to call the Christians in Israel to be part of the military. Were you in the military? I did national service. Okay, pretty old and I didn't know back then how advanced the IDF is about LGBTQ rights. Right, that I might have different, uh, shower hours or like separate bedroom.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, but isn't it just very? I used to have a joke. I said Israel doesn't give a damn, you're no part of your LGBT LGBTQ IDF. Go, go, go in there. Exactly, I didn't that, I wasn't really informed about that.
Speaker 2:So, although I received a draft of the IDF, because my community, the South Lebanon community, will receive a draft of the IDF because they know that we're going to be part of the community or part of the service. My brother did three years of IDF service. I did national service and that was really uplifting because it's about time that we don't just get from the country. You give back, I give back to the society that I live in. That's something that my dad always taught me growing up.
Speaker 1:Yes, very, very nice. Yeah, and your parents still go to church and all that.
Speaker 2:My mom, your mom, my mom yeah, she's a devoted Catholic. Yeah, since birth, I've been conflicted with my identities dad being greek orthodox, mom being catholic, then getting out of the closet, then moving to israel there's that like a real to us.
Speaker 1:It's greek orthodox catholic, it's just. It's goyish, it just, it's just. We don't. It's just like you don't know. Sephardic Ashkenazi, it's the same.
Speaker 2:But so that's yeah, I also go by the gay goy guy. Lately I've been called goy by anti-Israelis so much on social media because they think that the Jews use the word goy as an insult.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So they would comment me oh, shut up, you goy, but they're also goys because they're non-Jewish.
Speaker 1:Jews are also a goy. We are a nation and those of you who haven't seen my special know your audience. You should watch it and I will describe very well all of that in the special. I talk about that in my special. But so what's your next moves? What's your? You're like? So you're the spokesman of, of, of being gay, christian and Israeli, and and From Lebanon.
Speaker 2:And a refugee.
Speaker 1:And a refugee. I mean there's a lot.
Speaker 2:There's a lot. It's like God shows, I'm like I'm going to have this person, and so what is your response to everybody who says that Israel is an apartheid state?
Speaker 2:I mean just look at me On the way that I live, on how I'm being able to advocate for my own community inside of Israel To make sure that our rights are 100% received. That's something that a lot of people don't know they think also, by the way, I've traveled in so many campuses that one time an SJP. This is like Students for Justice in Palestine that are on campuses SJP yes.
Speaker 3:Not Sarah Jessica Parker. Yeah.
Speaker 2:Students for Jewish For Justice in Palestine. Students for Justice in Palestine? Yeah, students for Jewish For justice in Palestine, students for justice in Palestine Although, like between them and justice it's as far as here and Israel. That's how huge that is. I've been talking to one of their activists on campus and she was like, yeah, I've been to Haifa and Haifa is an apartheid city. I'm like, okay, I live in Haifa, can you please educate me about my city? And she was like, yeah, there's like separate theaters, there's separate buses for Jews and Arabs, there are separate schools for Jews. And I'm like, wait. I'm like, wait, wait. I studied in a Jewish school and I'm non-Jewish. My dad works in Eged. This is the public transportation system of Israel that is funny.
Speaker 2:Government funded yeah, exactly and I'm like, okay, what's going on here? Like, are you that stupid or uneducated about literally my own city? It's so crazy. She got so frustrated where, like other students that were listening to us, were like why, why are you angry? And she was like, well, he has answers for everything. I'm like, of course I'm going to have answers for that, because you're talking about my own experience living in Israel and of course, I'm going to be correcting you about the huge mistakes that you're doing about my way of living. So this is.
Speaker 1:I mean just so, just to. This is for a nugget of just information. You are going to campuses where people are telling you that in Haifa there are separate buses, theaters, schools for Arabs and Israelis. Yeah, they're telling you who comes from Haifa and you are telling the students, no, I went to a Jewish school. My father is a member of the bus company in Israel. It's like a unionized thing, whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, although now it's less than it was before Of course, whatever, but you have to tell these students you're idiots, yep, you're absolute idiots. This is not what it's like in Israel. Do they listen and go oh, I've learned, and now I'm wrong. Or do they just say, no, I'm, I'm JCPZZ. Whatever the Jewish pro-Palestinian justice is, do they listen?
Speaker 2:to you after oh, they don't, they don't, they don't even believe that I'm not Jewish. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there was one time on electronic antifada. I've been on campus and I've spoken to those students in Arabic.
Speaker 1:Electronic antifada. Is that like Fortnite? Is that what's electronic antifada? What is electronic antifada?
Speaker 2:Don't pretend you know, because I know you don't know I don't have no idea, don't look at me like I know, how did we get to a point where a non-Jew is explaining to a bunch of Jewish people about, like anti-Israeli online groups, what's electronic antifada? This is a website that is hugely anti-Israeli. They're basically taking the word antifada like the meaning of like killing of innocent people, but they want to do it like electronically, so they publish a lot of misinformation about Israel, a lot of misinformation about Zionists, social media stuff. Yeah, it's a website. So they did one time a piece after I visited uc irvine, and they were like uh, israel sends mistarvim, like those uh soldiers who speak in arabic, to college campuses to intimidate college students from not talking about Israel. Wow, like, okay, I've been accused of stealing the language Arabic by an anti-Israeli student for speaking to her in Arabic. You're kidding me? No, no, no, that's how crazy campuses are. Since 2016, I've been doing that. Oh, they should.
Speaker 1:I'm all for closing down colleges. I literally you know this is no need anymore. It's too expensive and no one's getting, and anyway they all come out of there. They're creative contenters, it's, it's, it's. And now they're just running around being justice for palace. Wow, what a world.
Speaker 3:That is insane. Insane I mean really the level, how, frustrating is it for you?
Speaker 1:it is how absolutely frustrating is it for you to have some woke dingbat dingbat tell you that you stole arabic, that you're, you're living in an apartheid state, you have no rights in israel and meanwhile you're like killing it in israel. It must be what do you what?
Speaker 2:do you do? How do you wish they knew that all my exes were jewish?
Speaker 1:like this is also like something that all the exes you like, that you're like what's his name? Uh, oh, wow, you're the one that the guy who's not jewish and he's like yay, israel, israel.
Speaker 2:Daniel daniel's folding oh, I love this guy so much.
Speaker 1:He just like he'll do anything to be with Jewish guys Israel, israel, yes but like he's a Christian.
Speaker 2:He's a.
Speaker 1:Christian he is, he's not Jewish. I don't see Christian. I don't want to identify as that.
Speaker 2:I don't know what his. He's non-Jewish, that's for sure. But I do see a lot of non-Jewish LGBTQ people that also like joining that kind of voice because they know the truth.
Speaker 3:Daniel has spent so much time in Israel.
Speaker 2:He educated himself also about the matter. He didn't just go with the stuff.
Speaker 1:No, and he has his cute angle and he has his cute angle.
Speaker 2:I think he's bringing it through comedy. That is super important because, also, I think he's really concerned about what's going on in this world. Yeah, that he wants kind of to show people that wait a minute, you're just going blinded through this uh um herd of hatefulness towards Jewish people in Israel, but just like, look around you and see what's going on, what's really funny is that you're, you're, you are doing amazing work.
Speaker 1:You're going around campuses educating these, trying to at least putting in their head that they might be wrong. But you know, I think really just could bring all it's comedy. Comedy could bring it all together. Yeah, daniel, what daniel's doing. Um, you know, I looked out in uh, I forgot what theater it was in we had shows and I saw women with the hijab Kafir, not the kafir, the hijabs and just like just two women, they were in the balcony, two of them there cracking up All the Jewish material I'm having fun with the non-Jew in the front row and they were just having a blast. I don't know who brought them, or they're just fans and Christians, or they're just fans and Christians.
Speaker 1:And you know, liz Luxemburg, liz Arthur's daughter, the sponsor of our podcast showed up to my show last night in Tarrytown and I go, liz, what are you doing here? She goes, my friend. She shows me this girl, blonde, sh shiksa, complete, not jewish with the cross and everything. She go. She says to me I love jewish comedy. I've been following this comedian modi to liz luxembourg and she's like I have tickets to a show. You want to come and, like liz looks, I'm at your show it was just that's my sheikh.
Speaker 1:Liz's non-Jewish friend is bringing Liz to my show. Is that the most insane? That's why I really think that it's comedy. Yes, you have to do what you're doing, but comedy is what can bring everybody together. Just laugh together. We just have to laugh together.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I mean Jewish people are like super comedic people.
Speaker 1:You fell asleep in that shit no. I'm just really thinking about how insane it is for some fucking moron on a college campus because she curses the limitation of our clips that we post.
Speaker 3:That's not true. They just bleep it out To have the audacity, like the level of privilege and entitlement and ignorance, to go up to somebody like you whose family has literally Fled, fled this country, their homeland, so that they don't get murdered. Yeah, and they're like no, no, no, that they don't get murdered. And they're like no, no, no, no, no, no. Let me tell you what I learned on TikTok last week. Yeah, so insane, it's insane, so not nothing.
Speaker 1:Wow. So I don't know if you know what that means. Yeah, of course, lots of straight energy for more success. And then let's just about you. What's up? How's the Haifa gay scene? What's happening there?
Speaker 2:Well, it's happening. It's not as much as Tel Aviv, but it's happening. I mean like there's one gay cafe that we go to. Yeah, it's like two people that goes there, but it's nice. It's nice, two people that goes there, but it's nice, it's nice.
Speaker 3:What about starting a gay church?
Speaker 2:Since the beginning of the war. Yeah, yeah, we have GPS interruptions all over in the north of Israel and now it's going to the center, since Iran's threats towards Israel, and we have been finding ourselves in Beirut airport. So when you open Grindr, you're at Beirut airport. Shut up, oh my.
Speaker 1:God yes.
Speaker 2:And this is hilarious. I mean, like I've always like spoken with gay Lebanese men when I'm visiting Nahariya. It's like 10 minutes from the border, but now, like everyone, all across the country is like, whether we're in Beirut airport or in Amman or in Egypt, that's like crazy thing happening.
Speaker 1:Those of you who don't know, grindr is like a ways for gay men. You can just log on and it tells you how far a gay guy is from you, yeah, and then you can say hi and meet up with them. And you know, it's a little. Get to know each other A little shotgun for a little shur for uh. So you're logging on in haifa and it's telling you where guys are in beirut airport because, yeah, they're like close by, so there's a lot of conversations going on.
Speaker 2:It's hilarious, that's so fun. Yeah, also, tinder has been like having that problem also because we have gps interruptions all over do you still have family in lebanon?
Speaker 1:yeah, the majority of them are still in lebanon, oh, like uncles and aunts and all that really parents.
Speaker 2:They're all wow, but we're not in contact with them because of the situation we live in, technically an enemy state, so it's really difficult and we made sure that there's no way to get them out. Do they want to get out of lebanon? I don't know. I haven't checked with them. We haven't spoken to them since we left Lebanon, but it's like where would they go? They can't come to Israel because they weren't part of the South Lebanon Army community Right and weren't fighting alongside with the IDF. So it's like also, it's their home.
Speaker 3:We weren't supposed also to come to Israel. I got you. But we lost the war, unfortunately. And uh, but lebanon doesn't want to be at war with israel, it's just hezbollah that wants to be at war, which is iran, which is yeah, which is an iran?
Speaker 1:proxy. I'm not sure when this is airing. I don't know what the schedule for airing is, but this podcast is happening right now. This is the monday after the saturday where iran did their fourth of july show, uh, and threw all the rockets over, and then israel and america, and jordan and syria, I think too blocked their, their uk and the uk and france and everybody just showed iran that, okay, we got it.
Speaker 1:And you were telling us also that that night there was a Jewish, a Jewish, there was a gay rave party, and no one did not go. They all went. They just went home afterwards for the attack.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's like you have also to see what went on Israeli social media like Twitter and stuff like that. Everyone was making jokes that it's taking more than five hours for the missiles to arrive to Israel from Iran, or the drones. So, for example, we have the equivalent of like Uber Eats in Israel, walt, and it was like waiting till delivery 534 minutes. So it was like, come on, guys, guys, you could do it faster. Like we're just sitting there and waiting.
Speaker 1:Israelis the best. They can laugh at anything they can. It's. That's so great yeah it's to be able to laugh at that. It's so, it's hysterical.
Speaker 2:That's like an uber eats those ridiculous missiles so crazy oh yeah, I mean, it just shows you how much Israelis cherish life and they do try to find the positive maybe not positive, but a way to kind of go through it and pass it.
Speaker 3:Yes, anybody who has ever been to Israel during a war, it's miraculous.
Speaker 1:It's unbelievable. We were there and you know it's miraculous. Yeah, it's unbelievable, it's um, we were there and but and you know it's funny we, today, we were on that. We were on the phone today with the promoter because we're going to do a show in Jerusalem on um July 16th. And like Leo and I looking at each other like how do you know it's going to be July 16th, how do we know if that's not the next time Iran's going to do their shtuyot and then, but you have to just keep going, you keep going, you do it. And he said that the promoter says people buy tickets and they're planning on events and they're going to shows and they're living their lives. You can't let that control you. It's amazing, it is, it's amazing.
Speaker 3:It is. It's really, it's incredible. So, out of all of your experiences, what do you see like a path for the way forward? Like what do you think happens now?
Speaker 2:Well, you're talking about like Israeli internally, ori internally, or like, yeah, it was a very broad yeah question what was that?
Speaker 1:what is he? Saying now, yes, he's, he's no. Ariana grande should should release another. What do you mean?
Speaker 3:I mean, how do we get out of this like what out?
Speaker 1:of what out of out of the students that are idiots?
Speaker 3:telling him out of the studio, out of the students that are idiots, and telling him Out of the studio. Out of the studio. Oh, what we got? No, I'm kidding no. Yes, yes, yes, it's one battle at a time it's one battle.
Speaker 1:Every college campus he goes to is its own battle. Am I right? Oh yeah, for sure. Every idiot you meet online or every Instagram DM you get. It's one battle at a time.
Speaker 3:No, but there have to be some takeaways of like things that, like you've learned from being here, of a way to bridge gaps so that people are not so dumb.
Speaker 2:So first of all, I think, like if you're talking about like US campuses or in general, like, why are you killing my question?
Speaker 1:It was so. It was so do you. What's your, what's the path to?
Speaker 3:yeah, well, how do you reach people?
Speaker 1:okay, on what issue? He? This guy's battling 19 different battles. He is battling a thousand. His mother's uh, catholic, the father's Greek, orthodox, the from Lebanon. He's gay.
Speaker 3:He's a priest. He's this, he's that, he's trying to get us to be able to pronounce his last name.
Speaker 1:He's on Grindr, but he's only getting pilots in Beirut. There's a thousand battles he's going through and you're like what's the path to get?
Speaker 3:through this? Are you kidding me? I'm trying to find the light.
Speaker 1:Oh, I'm really, I mean, I believe, just I believe. Every night I go to bed and I think the next I'm going to open this phone and Mashiach energy and just every hostage is going to be released. Everyone's going to cease fire, and just you. That's just an inner belief that I there's a goal I hope for. What's yours, what's yours, what's your, what's your, how do you want it to? Just to get to a good place.
Speaker 3:That is such a V question, oh someone scorned.
Speaker 1:Hell hath no fury than a scorned girl from Queens. Oh my God.
Speaker 2:That's so good.
Speaker 3:I feel like a third wheeler right now you're gonna go back to haifa and um you're gonna build the first gay church.
Speaker 2:This is something that I'm really thinking about. Lately I almost became a priest, like I really wanted to become a priest, but then you have to gay, you have to get a hot Jesus.
Speaker 1:Like, have you ever gone to the church? And they're like, they're the one that he's really the one that's like Jack, yeah, it's almost like.
Speaker 3:You see like the veins in it.
Speaker 1:It's more like this, like, and you just see like.
Speaker 2:You see his biceps, biceps.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and there's a vein coming through it, like coming through like a hot Jesus up there. Yeah, so you have to get a good crucifix up there, unless you guys don't have the crucifix. Oh yeah, I have it here, I mean with Jesus on it.
Speaker 2:Well, it depends on which church, but usually it's on there. I think there's some churches, leo took me into.
Speaker 1:We went to when we were in. Leo also grew up Catholic.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:But he stopped, um, uh, what's it called? Uh, we were in um vienna, we went to this, to this church, and we he took there was services, mass. I was being very loud, um, and he, but the jesus up there was, like I, I said to leo, you think you're having a bad day, do you? Look, you think you're having a bad day, do you look? Look, you think you're having a bad day. Just look up he's. It did not go well for him this day.
Speaker 2:I think no, but he has risen after three days. So he had a blast. Yeah, he came back right. Yeah, in the Christian belief. That's why, for example, also when they accused like, they tell me oh, they crucified Jesus. The Jews Like how can you support the Jews? They crucified your Lord. I'm like, but he was supposed to be crucified. This is like the whole Christian belief is built on him being crucified and risen after three days. So why should we blame the Jews for crucifying?
Speaker 1:him.
Speaker 3:It is insane. Should we blame the? Jews for crucifying him. It is insane.
Speaker 1:To blame the Jews for crucifying Jesus is the craziest thing. Could you see two Jews heading out there? Murray, did you bring the nails? You thought I was bringing the nails. Help me with the cross. With my back, I'm picking up this cross. No, no, the Armenians, there's a whole. I just don't understand how we are armenians, no, the romans the romans put them up there. No, yeah, I thought the armenians put them up there. No, no, the roman, no, the roman empire. How?
Speaker 3:many thousands of years old is this like this is what we're killing people over. It's so ridiculous, it's insane, it's Passover now.
Speaker 1:Do you need some Christian blood?
Speaker 2:It's Pesach now. Do you need some Christian blood for your?
Speaker 1:matzot no, why.
Speaker 2:When's that? It's also like a blood libel that they used to take Christian children's blood to make matzot from. Where'd you get this from? Over social media.
Speaker 1:It's not. We never use Christian kids blood for anything. Are you kidding me? No, we just eat that miserable matzo, it's not kosher.
Speaker 3:I like matzo really it's passable.
Speaker 1:I can't believe by the time this airs it'll already be like we'll be deep into it was just Easter.
Speaker 3:Did you celebrate Easter?
Speaker 2:well, I was here in the States. Go to church During events. No, I missed that.
Speaker 3:I was in.
Speaker 2:Ohio. I was in Cincinnati, cincinnati, yeah, I went to the Air Force Museum to see Air Force One the previous one.
Speaker 3:Amazing. Do you come to the States a lot?
Speaker 2:I usually do. I usually, like, I collab with a lot of organizations. My main one that I'm speaking with right now is Diplo Act, and we do a lot of tours all over the States. We help students also combat anti-Semitism during anti-Israeli weeks or pro-Israeli weeks. We just go there on campus and speak with other students because I believe that this is how, like, if you ask me, where do I see that it's being present on the ground.
Speaker 2:This is the most important thing that we need to have, especially as Israelis, because we've meant, through this dehumanization throughout the years, that people stop seeing us as humans, and I believe that once we're there on the ground and they see us, they say, okay, maybe it's more complicated than I think it is, because there's two sides of this story and also my other belief is a lot of people, like criticize me for going and doing a lot of conversations with the Jewish community about me being a Christian in Israel and stuff like that. They will be like you're preaching to the choir, I'm like, but also the choir needs rehearsal and how many people actually learned about the minorities living in Israel that were 25% of the population? So this is also something that the choir needs to learn for them also to use against anti-Israelis around them.
Speaker 1:Good gizuk. Well said, very well said. That's it. So how do they are we? Yeah, we can. We can start rapping.
Speaker 3:no, yeah, what's going on with you oh so much, so much.
Speaker 1:It's. I'm so happy, everything we are um, yeah, okay, let's meet later. We're finishing the know your audience tour and that the last show is at the red bank. Uh, we've just. We just did two shows at um in Tarrytown. Who the hell knew there's a theater in Tarrytown the musical. It was amazing. One of those old, old theaters haunted. You can tell it's an old theater, but it was amazing. It was lit. The audiences came sold out shows. We have Passover shows. They're gonna be in Florida. Be in Florida, we'll be in Florida for shows. And, most important, know your audience. The special, my special, is out. It will probably be on YouTube by the time this airs.
Speaker 3:Wow, have you been getting so much fun feedback from your special We've been getting amazing feedback.
Speaker 1:My favorite feedback is hearing that people who aren't able to come to a show elderly, sick people, people in the hospital have been watching it. And that's like that makes my day, my mother's bedridden, my, this is that and they're able to watch it and not just see clips, see a whole hour and eight minutes of comedy. That makes me so, so happy and so know. Your audience is out and should be on YouTube by now and it's also on modilivecom and that's also where the tickets are for upcoming shows. I mean, I'm letting you know this london, australia, israel um, they might be already on the website. If not, they will be. And just fill out the contact sheet. That's the most important. You'll be the first to be emailed and specific to where you are. We don't just send emails to everybody and, um, leo's been killing it. We've just been Leo and Michael Grinspan from UTA. We've just, it's been amazing, it's so, so full Moshiach energy.
Speaker 3:What are you doing for Pesach?
Speaker 1:Pesach. We are going to be in three different programs in Florida, all in the same area.
Speaker 3:Wait, I do have a question for you. You told me that before Passover, you're supposed to hide a piece of matzah and shut off the light, and then look for it with a feather.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Can you?
Speaker 2:That's for the cleaning part. Is that? I don't know.
Speaker 3:I have no idea what that means. I didn't know.
Speaker 1:It has many meanings.
Speaker 3:Like is that for real? Yeah?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Like you clean the whole house and then you have one piece of chametz.
Speaker 3:What if you don't clean? Can the cleaning lady come clean the house?
Speaker 1:So do it as a spiritual experiment. No, no, when you clean for Pesach, it's kind of like you're cleaning Chametz. In Kabbalistic terms means it's like ego. You're cleaning out your ego. Right, you're cleaning out your ego.
Speaker 1:So you clean the house and you go crazy and you vacuum and you wash the upholstery, people go crazy, okay, but I'm trying to tell you I'm not going to do that. I know you're not. So if you want to have a little symbolic thing, take one piece of bread and say, okay, this is my ego and I'm, because of Passover, the energy of breaking your ego, going out of your limitations, out of Mitzrayim, which we spoke about before, and burn that Also. You might want to write things that you want to stop doing negative things about yourself, that you want to burn also and put that in the fire too.
Speaker 3:I don't have anything negative about myself.
Speaker 1:Just don't do it, and then that's not your. Like I said, the Jews are not the chosen people. We're the choosing people.
Speaker 3:You don. Like I said, the Jews are not the chosen people, we're the choosing people. And then set it on fire like you actually set it on fire. And what's the feather?
Speaker 1:the feather is to collect it. The little, it's all little, just to refocus. We're going into the energy now of Pesach, which is in one night you get all this great. The energy of seder. It's the energy of organization. When you're sitting at your Passover seder, take a moment instead of like this is the craziest thing. I can't believe they're going. I could just imagine her to seder Really.
Speaker 3:Is that what they had to do? No, no, no, no, that's not true. I just say you guys have half an hour to do whatever you're going to do. You've got 30 minutes.
Speaker 1:Whatever you do, you should be in a consciousness of seder, bringing order into your life in wherever you need order. Okay, Wherever you need order. Remember, before the special, I said I wanted order in my jokes. I had all the jokes for the special. I literally meditated on an order for the way the jokes would be and then they it all came together with the special and all the jokes and things, financial stuff, to make sure you know we use money coming in. It has where to go to and be in the right places to do investments and bring order into your life Whatever you're doing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that's what. That's the energy of the sedo.
Speaker 1:That's the energy of this to bring order into your life. That's good and that's it. And for you, you should find someone to invite you to a sedo.
Speaker 2:I'm going, I'm invited, but I'm like looking forward for the five hours of reading.
Speaker 1:No, so go with that. When you get bored, just go into your whatever prayers you do in your Christian prayers your Ave Maria's, your Our Father's, your, whatever it is and just think to yourself. This is, cosmically, we are at a time where we can get blessings for order.
Speaker 2:Cosmically. Well, the Seder is technically the beginning of our Passover, also for the Christians for Easter, Because the Seudah Hona, the Last Supper, is technically or people believe that it was the Pesach Seder yeah, Cute Love it.
Speaker 1:Love that, tell our audience, I love that for you, love that for you love that for you. Love that for you, love that for you. Yes, tell our audience how they can help you find you and be a be on the journey with you well, you can follow me on social media, on instagram accounts.
Speaker 2:uh, instagram is my name, jonathan El Khoury Spell that out for them, Jonathan easy. Jonathan is easy. El Khoury is E-L-K-H-O-U-R-Y. Okay. And also on Twitter and Facebook. Someone uses Facebook, they do. I just like, linked it to my Instagram and it automatically goes there. Tiktok also. And Grindr. If you want to find me, I'm also there. What's your handle on Grindr? If you want to find me, I'm also there what's your handle on Grindr?
Speaker 1:you don't want to know, I do the whole podcast was just so that we get to hear your.
Speaker 2:I've kind of set up let's go verse refugee.
Speaker 1:Is it verse refugee? No mask, not mask anything. No, it verse refugee, no mask, not mask anything. No, it's definitely not mask anything. The shade, the shade.
Speaker 2:No, I said put your glasses on before you start reading. I said.
Speaker 1:I said I was being kind, mask, put your glasses on before you start reading. No, so what? So good, so hold on, what would your? So? It's, it's on a mission, on a mission, on a mission. Is that your Grindr profile? Oh, come on. No, no, give me a hint.
Speaker 2:Well, it kind of represents who I am.
Speaker 1:Leb. That's what I am. Leb Chris, leb Chris. Um leb leb chris. Leb chris.
Speaker 3:Leb chris four leb, chris four leb, chris, four twink.
Speaker 1:I don't know what kind of guys you like. I have no idea either. What's your handle on Grindr. It's Softie Softie.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 3:Oh, oh, because you're Softie, your sweetheart. Oh, although you might be sending the wrong impression, well, I don't care. Good for you.
Speaker 1:Good for you, so look for him. So look for him on Grindr under Softie. I'm going to change that now.
Speaker 2:No, you might get some really hot guys. Yes, can you search?
Speaker 1:for someone I have no idea. I have not been on Grindr for nine years. Wow, I met Leo. I love that and the best thing that ever happened to me was just I've not. Grindr is amazing for whoever it is, and people meet and people get married off of Grindr.
Speaker 2:Well, it's Israeli created yeah, he's.
Speaker 3:Israeli Grindr is Israeli 100% oh yeah, we know him yeah.
Speaker 2:Sinkai. Jonathan Sinkai yeah, I wanted to do like something. Hey Gates, for Gaza, you should stop using Grindr because it's an Israeli invention. But I didn't want to hurt his business. But I.
Speaker 1:I want to tell you something. So I haven't been on Grindr for nine years, but now my friends, leo's friends, and I see their conversation. Sometimes they clip a conversation and send it like in the group because it's so funny the things that they say. But when Grindr came out it was like hi, hey, looking to travel, can you host 328 East 11th Street on my way Done? Now it's like like what are you into? How you identify? What pills are you taking? What's your pharmaceutical regimen? How do you moisturize until they no one at the end hooks up, no one at the end. They all, they keep going and going. And also politics. I've been.
Speaker 2:I've got oh, do they get political on it like Arabs here in New York or like just woke people? They're like you're a zionist. You're like you should be ashamed of yourself. Someone this morning texted me uh, you're a shame for arabs and christians. I'm like why you should be like you should be okay with yourself being gay. And he was like no, no, I'm proud of myself for being gay, but you're zionist. I'm like thank you for your concern, but I'm proud of myself for being gay, but you're Zionist.
Speaker 1:I'm like thank you for your concern but I'm proud of myself for being that. You should be also proud of your Zion. No, those of you who don't know Zion is Google that no.
Speaker 2:Don't Google that baby. No, don't do that.
Speaker 1:It's so funny when you hear Zionist, Zionist. Zionist Zion is also a letter Zion, the Zion is Zion.
Speaker 2:Zion is also a letter. Yeah, zion, the letter seven.
Speaker 1:It's the number seven. It's the seventh letter in the alphabet. I'm going to tell you a funny, funny story what else is Zion? Zion also means a penis.
Speaker 2:But do you know where it comes from? No, it's technically a weapon. So, for example, there's like videos of I think it's Yitzhak Shamir or someone that is yelling at one journalist and he's telling him it's like take yourself with, like be like more restricted, or like be like it's like Be patient. It's like reserve yourself with patience. Yeah, Because it's also weapons or like something to hold on.
Speaker 1:Okay, I don't know. I just know Zion always meant it's a letter, but it also could be used as a penis. It's how you use it. So I will tell you a very funny story. One time somebody donated a Sefer Torah a brand new Torah scroll that when you, when you make the donation, you have a ceremony at the end to mark and you fill in a letter. And the woman who made the donation of the Sefer Torah, they gave her to fill in the letter Zion, and she just turned afterwards. They gave her to fill in the letter Zion, and she just turned afterwards. They gave her a microphone to say thank you. She goes.
Speaker 1:There's nothing like starting the day with a good Zion and it was the funniest thing. It was so hysterical. The people who got it, people who didn't. She's so sweet, this woman. Anyway, we're finished. They know how to reach you. Thank you all very much for listening to and here's Modi. Thanks again to A&H Provisions and Weitz in Luxembourg and let us know what you think, and, of course, modilivecom for all of your tickets. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, modi. Thank you.