‘Israel is ISIS’: Egyptian comedian’s interview on Gaza war goes viral
A video clip of Egyptian comedian Bassem Youssef countering British TV talk show host Piers Morgan in an interview for allegedly comparing Israel to the terror group Islamic State or ISIS has gone viral on social media.
During his show, Morgan claimed it would be difficult to eradicate Hamas, as Israeli authorities have vowed to do, “without massive, colossal damage” that results in mass deaths among innocent civilian population of Gaza.
Youssef replied, “So if I can understand this correctly, basically Israel is doing this to pressure the Palestinian community in Gaza to turn against Hamas, is that right? This is exactly what terrorist organisations do.”
He added, “Terrorist organisations would have no chance beating a whole nation in battle. So, they terrorise and kill the civilians in order to spread fear and terror so (that) they (the civilians) can turn against their government to change their policy or to resign”.
“You have just compared Israel with ISIS,” he told Morgan.
Morgan, however, rejected the suggestion that his words could be interpreted as making such a comparison. Youssef replied, saying that the big headline in newspapers the following day would be: “Piers Morgan: Israel is ISIS.”
Youssef also referenced his Palestinian wife and Gazan in-laws when asked to give his opinion on the brutal Hamas terror attacks.
“Oh, it was terrible, of course,” 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 also was bombed. We haven’t been able to communicate with them in the past three days. Communication has been lost so we don’t know how they are doing, but we are used to that!”
“Those Palestinians, they are very dramatic. ‘Ah, Israel is killing us’, but they never die,” he said. “I mean, they always come back. They are very difficult to kill, very difficult people to kill. I know, because I am married to one. I tried many times. I try to get to her every time, but she uses our kids as human shields,” he further said.
I am posting this video again with the disclaimer that it was cut in the end . @piersmorgan @PiersUncensored said right after the end : the comparison is between Hamas and ISIS I am not posting this to score points over Piers . I disagree with Piers about a lot of things . But I… pic.twitter.com/F3tZmn1z0p
— Bassem Youssef (@Byoussef) October 18, 2023
When Morgan said he understood it was a “dark humour” by Youssef on the issue, Youssef replied, “No, it’s not dark humour. I really try to get her every time but she uses our kids as human shields!”
Youssef also took a dig at US columnist Ben Shapiro for his public stance on Israel defending themselves, questioning how an occupier can be defending themselves.
Shapiro had earlier on the show had said, “The only solution to the Israel-Gaza war is that Israel should annex Gaza and kill as many people so that what is happening does not happen again.”
Youssef said, “More than 3,500 people have so far been killed. How many more people do we need to kill so that Ben Shapiro is happy?”
Youssef then went on to mock the Israeli Defence Forces or IDF and said, “I applaud Israel for doing something no military force in the world does. It warns civilians before bombing them, that is so cute.”
“I asked my wife’s family if Hamas forced them to stay home so that they could be bombed and can be used as human shields and she denied it,” he told Morgan.
Youssef agreed that Hamas fighters should be eradicated, but asked why people were being killed in the West Bank where there is no Hamas presence. “What is there excuse to kill people there?” he said.
On being asked if he was Israeli and had this happened to him, Youssef said, “I would kill as many people as I can because the world is letting me do it.”
“Hamas is the source for all evil. Let’s imagine a world without Hamas. Let’s name this world the ‘West Bank’. Thirty-seven Palestinian kids were killed – no music festival, no paragliding, no Hamas,” he added.