“ It’s boring at the end. These Palestinians always overdo it, repeating that Israel wants to kill them. But they never die. They always come back. These are very difficult people to eliminate. I am in a good position to know this, because I am married to a Palestinian woman. Although I tried several times, I never succeeded in killing her.” launches Bassem Youssef on October 17 in the show “Piers Morgan Uncensored” on the British channel TalkTV. He adds : “She uses our children as human shields. » The comedian’s scathing irony barely manages to wring an embarrassed smile from journalist Piers Morgan.
How to laugh in the middle of Israel’s war against Hamas? The 49-year-old Egyptian comedian, who lives in Los Angeles, chooses the absurd to denounce the massive bombings of the Israeli army on Gaza. Asked about the proportionality of this response, he holds up a table listing the deaths on each side during previous wars and compares these tragic figures to fluctuations in cryptocurrencies. “What is the current course of a human life? “, asks Bassem Youssef, his arms crossed and his eyes wide in a comical grimace.
In a few days, the video went viral: it was viewed more than 21 million times on YouTube alone. “In the Middle East, the Palestinian cause is a factor of unity despite political divisions, explains Maha Nagy, Bassem Youssef’s former agent who worked with him for five years in Cairo. The theme is explosive. Bassem is able in his own words to express the frustration of the entire Arab world with the dominant discourse in Western media on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. » The sequence brings back to the forefront the comedian with blue eyes and devastating cheekiness, who had taken his first steps in Egypt.
Laughter despite everything
M The magazine of the World chose laughter as a common thread for its end-of-year issue. In thirteen episodes, find these portraits, reports or investigations on the power of humor.
Episode 1 : Mohammed Amer, once upon a time there was a Palestinian in America
Episode 2: Blanche Gardin, the comedians after her
Episode 3: Waly Dia, fine blade of political sleight of hand
Episode 4: Grandpamini, the art of the satirical cover
Episode 5: Bassem Youssef, a scathing irony on the Israel-Hamas conflict
Episode 6: In Israel, comedians answer the call
Episode 7: Chinese comedians don’t mess around with censorship
Episode 8: In Ukraine, laughter as a bulletproof vest
Episode 9: You asked for Pierre The Police, don’t quit
Episode 10: “I was explaining to them that when I met you, you were the biggest petomane in France”
Episode 11: In Quebec, inclusive humor can be learned
Episode 12: Humor would no longer be what it was or the myth of “it was better before”
Episode 13: Joke to alert, the new mode of action of environmental activists
“No deference to authority”
He rose to prominence in 2011 in the wake of the protests that led to the fall of President Hosni Mubarak’s regime. Coming from the upscale district of Zamalek, in Cairo, son of a judge and a professor, Bassem Youssef, who was 37 years old at the time, was a cardiologist at the time. He participated in the evacuation of the wounded from Tahrir Square, which was attacked by police forces. A few days later, he swapped his white coat for a parody presenter costume. With a few friends, he launched a YouTube channel, called “B +”, which apes programs broadcast by state media. His five-minute singles, shot in his laundry room, were a dazzling success.
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