Merna Hesham - Ahram
“This is not an eye for an eye anymore. This is an eye, a limb, a life, a house, a neighborhood, and a whole population-- for an eye” was one of Bassem Youssef’s many memorable quotes from the 2-hour special on the Piers Morgan Uncensored show on Wednesday,
The renowned Egyptian satirist used his second meeting with the well-known British media figure in less than two weeks to demonstrate the suffering of the Palestinian people over the past 75 years.
The Egyptian satirist detailed "the story of Palestine," including all the atrocities committed by Israel against the Palestinian people, which he said the international community seems to turn a blind eye to.
He explained why Egypt and Jordan should not "take" the Palestinians as proposed by Zionists who promote the expulsion of the Palestinians from their own homeland to neighboring countries.
Youssef also defended Queen Rania of Jordan's comments in her interview with CNN.
He recounted stories of the Tareks and Mohameds of Palestine, innocents who were violently tortured and killed by Zionists, and the Palestinian families who still wear their house keys around their necks after being displaced during 1948's Nakba.
At the start of the interview, Morgan admitted that Youssef had “savagely dark humor” and that he had been taken aback by him during their previous discussion, which has garnered over 20 million views since it was uploaded on 17 October.
"I didn’t know how to react to that, whether to laugh or be silent," Morgan said, calling it "savagely satirical and extremely effective."
Youssef explained to Morgan how he utilizes satire, which works to exaggerate reality, in order to show how stupid certain arguments actually sound.
His opening act on Wednesday built on his dark joke in the first interview about how his attempts to kill his Palestinian wife failed because she was using their kids “as human shields.”
He updated the joke by saying he now goes out and randomly slaps other neighbors after failing to kill his own wife. The interview then really kicked off by Youssef’s prompt: discussing charges of anti-Semitism leveled against those who are actually anti-Zionists.
He noted the absurdity in the fact that Jewish people who protest Israel’s actions are criticized as "self-hating Jews."
Youssef called out, “This is the way to shut down conversation. Anti-Semite, Islamophobia, you hate America, you hate the military, war on Christmas! An environment that does not allow disagreement is an environment made for control.”
Referring to the start of the Hamas Aqsa Flood operation on 7 October, Youssef said, “What does the Western audience see? They see people rejoicing over the death of innocent civilians in Israel. This is what the Arabs have seen for years.”
Youssef listed some of the many crimes committed by Zionists against Palestinians, including murder, torture, and displacement before adding: "At what point does what Israel is currently doing to the Palestinian people become terrorism?"
"All roads point to the conditions that created Hamas," Youssef said. He suggested that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu is complicit in keeping Hamas in power because it suits him politically.
Youssef, a heart surgeon himself, demonstrated his point by posing a question to Morgan: "How do you treat a flu patient?" "You give them nutrition, fluids, and rest, so the immunity of the body gets rid of the virus on its own."
Israel has big plans!
"But it’s not about Hamas anymore,” he told Morgan. "It’s about Israel wanting to push Palestinians in Gaza into Sinai," a point Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi reiterated countless times over the past month.
In response to a question from Piers about what he thinks would constitute a "proportionate response" by Israel to Hamas’ attack on 7 October, Youssef said: "If there is no justification for what Hamas did then there is no justification for what Israel is doing now."
"If somebody tells you who they are, listen. Israel has been telling the world they need to clear the Gaza Strip into Egypt." He added that Israel will target the West Bank next.
Youssef quoted former US President Barack Obama’s back who once said that the problem with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is that "one side is extremely powerful and one side is extremely weak. There is absolutely nothing to oblige that strong side to give anything."
Rejecting all olive branches?
Toward the end of the interview, Youssef took off all gloves.
“Israel is a racist apartheid country that is projecting this "shiny example of secularism and democracy for the people" so people can accept whatever they do because they look at Palestinians as lesser people.”
For the most part of the interview, Youssef refrained from his usual brand of scathing sarcasm but there were a few laugh-out-loud moments with jokes about Hummus, cows, and Israeli soldiers.
At the end of the interview, when he and Morgan shared bread dipped in herbs and olive oil from the West Bank, Youssef quipped,
"Since 1967, Israel has actually uprooted Palestinian 800,000 olive trees," he noted.
Youssef and Morgan's second interview has gained over 9 million views in less than 24 hours.
