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Jackie Mason's favorite comedian is back in town.

But Ray Hanania - whom Mason booted from Chicago comedy club last year after discovering
 that his opening act was a Palestinian - wants the legendary Jewish comedian to know that
 there are no hard feelings.

"Take my wives, please!" joked Hanania, who looks back on the Mason incident with amusement.

"The funny thing is that I may be Palestinian-American, but I'm not a political comedian,"
 said Hanania, who is married to a Jewish woman. "Many Americans think that all Arabs are
 militants. Jackie believed that stereotype and then became hostage to it."

To mend fences, Hanania - who will open for Rabbi Robert Alper (a Jew!) and Ahmed Ahmed (an
 Egyptian!) at the Hudson Theatre later this month - even invited Mason to his Passover
 Seder this year.

"My wife makes a great brisket," Hanania said. "But he never responded, so we had two empty
 seats: One for Elijah, one for Jackie."

Mason, an outspoken supporter of Israel, tangled with the wrong guy. Hanania may be of
 Palestinian descent, but he's also a Vietnam vet, a former City Hall reporter for the
 Chicago Sun-Times, and a person who is just as quick to mock his own people as Mason's.

For example:

BULLET "Want to know why there are no terror attacks on Saturday nights? It's because all
 Arabs are watching 'America's Most Wanted.' Of course, when it's translated into Arabic,
 the show is called 'Meet the Neighbors.'"

BULLET "Arabic and Hebrew both have a lot of words that start with that 'khx' sound. No
 wonder Arafat and Sharon can't make peace. Every time they talk, they spend three hours
 spitting at each other."

BULLET "The big problem is that Arabs are misunderstood by Americans. Dromedaries are not
 cows doing Shakespeare. The tree on the Lebanese flag is not a car air freshener, although
 maybe it should be. To an American, 'three sheets to the wind' means getting drunk, but to
 an Arab, it's just a risque tuxedo. And Libya and labia are two different things - and let
 me tell you, guys, you don't want to go to Libya."

But Hanania isn't just going for laughs; he believes he's changing Americans' minds one joke
 at a time.

"Being funny is just so counter to Americans' understanding of Arabs," he said. "It's
 because we don't understand how to present ourselves to Americans. For example, we don't
 say, 'Hi, I'm Ray. Nice to meet you.' We say, "Hi, I'm Ray and you stole my country.'"

Despite Mason's prior run-in with Hanania, Rabbi Alper said he's looking forward to
 appearing with the anti-jihad jokester.

"I'm delighted to perform with any comedian who is non-political and funny," Alper said.
 "Acts like Ahmed and mine prove that through laughter, every American can get along. I love
 him like a brother.

"Then again, we never talk about politics," Alper said.

--30--

Tickets are $65 (includes dinner) and benefit Americans for Peace Now. Showtime is 7 pm on Oct. 26 at the Hudson Theatre (145 W. 44th St. Call 202-728-1983 for more information).