ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates (AP) American comedian Dave Chappelle said Thursday a genocide is striking the Gaza Strip amid the Israel-Hamas war to cheers during his performance in the capital of the United Arab Emirates, while urging Americans to fight antisemitism so Jews dont feel like they need to be protected by Israel.

Chappelles comments come as Abu Dhabi has maintained its diplomatic relations with Israel even as it has increasingly criticized its conduct in the seven-month war.

Meanwhile, while pro-Palestinian marches have swept across the wider Middle East since the war began, protests and speech remains tightly restricted in the Emirates, a federation of seven sheikdoms on the Arabian Peninsula.

Even before coming on stage, the full crowd at Abu Dhabis Etihad Arena cheered as DJ Trauma, who accompanied Chappelle on the trip, played the song My Blood is Palestinian by the Palestinian singer Mohammed Assaf. The thousands there agreed to place their switched-off mobile phones in locked pouches for the performance a standard feature of Chappelles shows.

About halfway through in a wide-ranging comedy set in Abu Dhabi, Chappelle, a Muslim, initially said he had been told by his friends either to discuss the war or not. From the audience, a woman screamed: Free Palestine! The crowd cheered.

Chappelle then said the Gaza Strip faces a genocide. He also said that making Jews safer in America amid rising cases of antisemitism would make them realize they dont need Israel as an ultimate protector.