They “compared Israel to ISIS!”
Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef accused British tabloid host Piers Morgan of comparing Israel to the terrorist group ISIS in a combative interview on Tuesday in which Youssef repeatedly used his trademark dark satire to address the horrific violence in Gaza.
During a lengthy appearance on Talk TV Piers Morgan uncensored, Youssef – described as the Jon Stewart of Egypt – referred to his Palestinian wife and in-laws from Gaza when asked to give his opinion on Hamas’s brutal terror attacks.
“Oh, of course it was terrible,” Youssef replied. “I mean, we get all our news secondhand because my wife’s family lives in Gaza. They have cousins and uncles there and their house was also bombed. We have not been able to communicate with them for the last three days. Communication is down so we don’t know how they’re doing, but we’re used to that!”
From there, Youssef delved deeper into the satirical world to describe the cruel conditions faced by Palestinians in Gaza and the threat of non-stop violence from the Israeli military that they face.
“These Palestinians are very dramatic. “Ah, Israel is killing us,” but they never die,” he explained. “I mean, they always come back. They are very hard to kill, it is very hard to kill people. I know because I’m married to one. I have tried many times. I try to get to her every time, but she uses our children as human shields.”
When Morgan said he understood Youssef was using “dark humor” on the subject, the former Egyptian TV host retorted: “No, it’s not dark humor.” I really try to get her every time, but she uses our children as human shields!”
From then on, Morgan said he wanted to approach the issue “seriously,” which prompted the comedian to poke fun at conservative commentator Ben Shapiro, who had previously appeared on Morgan’s show. At one point Shapiro said that the “only solution to the war between Israel and Gaza is that Israel should annex Gaza and kill so many people that what happened does not happen again.”
Sarcastically, Youssef said he agreed with Shapiro, whom he called “one of the smartest people to ever live in the world,” and said, “We should kill as many sons of bitches as we can” to make sure the violence stops .
“So my question to Ben Shapiro is: How many more sons of bitches do we have to kill to make Ben Shapiro happy?” Youssef asked rhetorically.
Morgan, meanwhile, insisted that Youssef had misrepresented Shapiro’s position before airing a clip in which The Daily Wire founder said he believed in a “disproportionate response” to terrorism.
“What is a proportionate response because it varied from stage to stage? For example, if you look at this graph, this is the death of Israelis and Palestinians, and it changes from year to year. “It fluctuates like crypto,” Youssef shot back, holding up a paper comparing deaths in Palestine and Israel. “So my question today is: What is the rate of loss of life today?”
When asked what he thought was an “appropriate way” for Israel to respond after the bloody terrorist attacks, Youssef continued to use black comedy to make his point.
“I would do exactly what Israel did: kill as many people as possible since the world allows it,” he said. “I mean, I can do it because I can.”
Youssef also mocked Shapiro and other conservatives for praising Israeli forces for “warning” Palestinian civilians before bombing Gaza.
“You said Israel is the only military power in the world that warns civilians before bombing them,” he sneered. “How damn cute! That’s so nice of them, because with that logic, if Russian troops started warning Ukrainians before bombing their homes, we’d agree with Putin, right?!”
The contentious discussion continued for another 20 minutes, with Youssef blaming propaganda that dehumanized Palestinians for the recent murder of a six-year-old child. At one point, Youssef even compared Israel to the evil supervillain from the TV show The young.
“I have never seen a victim besiege and bombard his oppressor 24 hours a day,” Youssef said. “Israel wants you to believe that they are the victim. Dealing with Israel is so difficult. It’s like being in a relationship with a narcissistic psychopath. He breaks you down and then makes you think it’s your fault. People think of Israel as Superman, but in reality they are Homelander!”
After Morgan said it was “very difficult” to imagine how Israel could defeat Hamas “without massive collateral damage,” Youssef turned the British host’s words against him and suggested that Morgan was actually portraying Israel as a terrorist regime.
“So if I understand this correctly, Israel is basically doing this to pressure the Palestinian community in Gaza to turn against Hamas, is that correct?” Youssef wondered.
“I’m sure that’s part of it, yes,” Morgan replied.
“That’s part of it,” Youssef continued. “So that’s exactly what terrorist organizations do, because terrorist organizations have no chance of defeating an entire nation in combat, so they terrorize and kill civilians to spread fear and terror so that they can turn against their government, to change their policies or resign. You just compared Israel to ISIS!”
“No I have not. “I don’t see any comparison between Israel and ISIS,” Morgan argued.
“Tomorrow it will be the headlines: ‘Piers Morgan: Israel is ISIS,'” Youssef quipped.
