Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) delivers a speech to a joint meeting of Congress on the floor of the US House of Representatives, in front of US House Speaker Republican John Boehner (C) and Republican Senator from Utah Orrin Hatch (R) in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, USA, on March 3, 2015. (EPA/Shawn Thew)

Opinion: Satire Versus Bibi

by Diana Moukalled | Mar 10, 2015 | Opinion

US President Barack Obama has appeared weak and nervous ever since what can only be described as the insult leveled at him by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who exceeded the limits of diplomatic decorum last week when he addressed the US Congress while...

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Civilians walk near a destroyed building after a Syrian Air Force fighter jet launched a bomb in the city of Aleppo on September 3, 2012. (Reuters/Youssef Boudlal)

Opinion: “Better off than Syria or Iraq”

by Diana Moukalled | Sep 15, 2014 | Opinion

An Egyptian television anchorwoman recently expressed her disapproval of a new development in social media live on air. With some shock—and with an intensity bordering on the contrived—the anchorwoman denounced the use by young Egyptians of a certain hashtag as highly...

Opinion: Why Hezbollah is scared of satire

by Diana Moukalled | Nov 21, 2013 | Opinion

A satirical Lebanese show that poked fun at Hezbollah Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah last week angered many Lebanese people, so they blocked some roads in protest. This is not the first time such a manifestation of popular anger has occurred. It has happened...

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In this Sunday, March 31, 2013 file photo, a bodyguard secures popular Egyptian television satirist Bassem Youssef, who has come to be known as Egypt’s Jon Stewart, as he enters Egypt’s state prosecutors office to face accusations of insulting Islam and the country’s Islamist leader in Cairo, Egypt. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

Egyptian satirist angers both sides of the political divide

by Mahmud El Shafey | Oct 27, 2013 | Media

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egyptian TV satirist Bassem Youssef has caused anger across the political spectrum in his much-anticipated return to TV screens on Friday following a four-month hiatus. The day after his controversial—but popular—show aired, at least four...

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A picture taken on January 22, 2013 shows Egyptians walking past posters of Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef outside a theatre in Cairo. (AFP)

Bassem Youssef is Back

by Mahmud El Shafey | Oct 25, 2013 | Media

London, Asharq Al-Awsat—Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef is set to return to our screens on Friday after a 100-day hiatus. Youssef’s popular show, Al-Barnameg, which takes a satirical look at Egyptian politics, returns after the country has experienced huge political...