Diana Moukalled CAIRO's streets were almost empty as people sat at their homes and popular coffee shops to watch last Friday's episode of Bassem Youssef's satirical program. This was after less than a week from being summoned for investigation of charges of contempt of Islam and insulting the president.
That night, Youssef announced via Twitter that viewers of his program's channel on YouTube exceeded one million. This is a number that no other YouTube clip achieved. All it takes is a quick glance to notice that the number of followers of Youssef's Twitter account exceeded the number of President Mohamed Morsi's followers. Global media interest was very keen on what would be the outcome of this battle for ‘freedom of expression'. It is not possible to limit a coverage that spread from the American continent to East Asia. It is a preliminary simple transient calculation for the direct result of the battle that the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt decided to launch against one person, a witty host who mocks their lapses and contradictions. Did the Muslim Brotherhood expect another positive result? Did they really expect the horde of lawyers who prepared lawsuits against Bassem Youssef to prevent the doubling of the deterioration of their image and position in Egypt and the world? It is no surprise that the Islamists' authority does not possess any sense of humor...seriously, how can a segment that distinguished itself with scowling and seriousness, as signs of faith and godliness, harmonize with the wit and lightness that Bassem Youssef used to fight them? What is surprising, however, is the grave failure in estimating the repercussions of pursing someone who skewered them with his sharp wit. All he did was present a satirical show. The principle of listening and obeying the leader and the emir may produce anger, violence and mobilization of the people but it is impossible to produce creativity and art, and it definitely does not achieve a victory. The Islamists have gone so far in using violence and suppression as their favorite tools to control and lead, that they have met their match in Bassem Youssef, who too will go out of his way in his satire…The material on modern means of telecommunications needs to be different. It will not spread and will not be broadcast if it is loaded with ideological contents and the Brotherhood does not know anything other than that. While Bassem Youssef is a lot more capable of providing materials that portray their weak image and of showing them for their emptiness. The Brotherhood in their battle with Bassem Youssef seemed strangers to Egypt and its revolution's principles. The revolution produced narrated literature, values and images. None of these look coherent with the path that the Muslim Brotherhood is heading towards. The Egyptian revolution produced music, literature and culture. The revolution was also not void of a satirical spirit. Can we ever forget that protester who held a banner reading "Leave already, my arm hurts." Bassem Youssef wittingly made use of this rich memory in his battle against them. The weakness of the Muslim Brotherhood's management of public life and the repeated mistakes committed by the president made it easier for Youssef to mock them and lampooned the Brotherhood with amusing material, whose influence proved graver than any other weapon that confronted them. It is not a usual spectacle that Cairo's streets were empty of passers-by during the time of Bassem Youssef's show. Yes many do like the show, but not all of them. Cairo fits 25 million Egyptians at daytime. And the streets were empty. The same 25 million Egyptians would not have cared to listen to a speech that President Morsi could have made at the same time. This is the night when Bassem Youssef won. — Diana Moukalled is a regular columnist. She can be found on Twitter: @dianamoukalled
