Egyptian satirist back on TV with new targets for mockery
By Nehal El-Sherif, dpa
Cairo (dpa) – Egypt's favourite satirist, who used to poke fun at ousted president Mohammed Morsi, is back on television after a break of more than three months, which left the country wondering if he would be able to criticize its new military-backed administration.
Bassem Youssef, whose show came back on the air Friday night, continued to ridicule supporters of the Islamist Morsi and another former president, Hosny Mubarak, who ruled for 30 years, but he also had new targets: the new president, Adly Mansour, and excessively pro-military Egyptians.
In the latest episode of Al-Bernameg, which means The Show, he made fun of the craze for cakes and chocolates depicting army chief Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi in what some have been calling “al-Sissi mania.”
Since the military's ouster of Morsi, al-Sissi has became the most popular figure in Egypt. His posters are seen everywhere, and campaigns have been launched urging him to run for president.
One of Youssef's cast members, dressed as a baker, came on the set Friday night selling cakes and chocolates.
"Do you want some Sissi-fours?" he asked, making a pun on petit fours.
Youssef also criticized the divisions in Egyptian society since Morsi's July 3 ouster.
"Do you support reconciliation?" Youssef asked the baker. “No, but we report anyone who buys them," said the cook, referring to his Rabaa croissants, named after a square where Morsi's followers staged a sit-in in July.
More than 1,000 people have been killed since the army dispersed protest camps of Morsi's supporters. Hundreds have been arrested. While Western powers have urged political reconciliation, many Egyptians reject any inclusion of Islamists in politics.
Youssef, a heart surgeon, rose to fame after the January 2011 uprising that ousted Mubarak by making online videos following the style of US comedian Jon Stewart's spoof newscast The Daily Show.
A few months later, he had his own show, which aired weekly on local private television. Over the past year, he mainly targeted Morsi, his Muslim Brotherhood and radical Islamists.
During Morsi's rule, Youssef faced several investigations for allegedly insulting the president and Islam.
Some people expected that attempts to prosecute Youssef for his political humour would end with Morsi's ouster. However, a panel of judges recently recommended reopening a case against the satirist, saying it was unacceptable to insult the president, regardless of his unpopularity.
Yet, now, Youssef faces attacks from a different direction.
Some of those who cheered his mockery of Morsi are not happy that he is now targeting al-Sissi and the general's fans.
“We thought you targeted those who deserve to be mocked, but if you use simple people's affections like this, then satire becomes banal,” one Twitter user wrote.
The comedian said he anticipated the attacks ahead of the show.
“The truth is, there is no tolerance among Brotherhood members nor among those who call themselves liberals,” Youssef wrote in a column published a few days before the show. "Everyone is looking for a pharaoh to suit him."
Youssef ended Friday's show vowing not to back down in the face of censorship and condemning random mass arrests and the security force's excessive use of force.
“We are a free voice,” Youssef said as a member of his cast raised an arm from behind the desk to try to censor him. "No one can tell us what to say. ... We want freedom."
