THE NEIL SIMON OF THE ARAB WORLD. (UPDATED) Youssef Ibrahim writes about Ali Salem

Sunny Arab Satire Slaps Anti-America Reflex

"Why do they hate us?" is a question that has bedeviled a myriad of Western analysts since September 2001, but Middle Eastern humor may have the best answer to it yet.

No one is better at poking fun at the dysfunctional obsessions of Arabs than the brilliant Egyptian playwright Ali Salem — the Arab world's equivalent to Neil Simon. In a cute essay the other day, he answered the question by showing how Arabs are programmed to oppose anything America says or does.

His funny tale is set at a fictitious press conference held somewhere in the perpetually angry Middle East by a very exasperated Secretary of State Rice, who ends the encounter by sighing that, when all is said and done, "The sun shall again rise in the east."

A crisis immediately ensues.

Read Ibrahim's description of Ali Salem's essay.

Ibrahim concludes that Salem's humor is not far off the mark:

Ali Salem's opposition to Arab dictators, rotten regimes, and faux militancy has long been a hallmark of his humorous plays and film scripts. It has not earned him friends in high places, but to judge from his immense commercial success, it seems he speaks for a silent majority.

And his explanation for mindless anti-Americanism among Arabs resonates: Not too long ago, an Arab anchorman and former Al-Jazeera superstar television presenter, Hafez Al-Mirazi, invited other TV anchor superstars to discuss what makes a program a success on Arab networks. One cut to chase: "Frankly," he said, "the more anti-American, the bigger the audience."

Sad? Maybe, but no one in the panel disagreed.

Update: Speaking of Anti-Americanism, Jonah Goldberg writes:

I'm watching this MSNBC rebroadcast of the 9/11 attack coverage. In one pretty jarring moment, Katie Couric cuts away to images of Palestinians cheering in the street, handing out candy and literally jumping for joy over the news that the World Trade Center was destroyed and then-untold thousands of Americans killed. Couric tried to provide context by explaining that the "U.S. government" is increasingly unpopular in the Palestinian territories. She repeatedly emphasized "the U.S. government." Okay, fair enough. And if memory serves she wasn't nearly as bad as Peter Jennings was in apologizing for Palestinian glee over American deaths. But Couric's emphasis on the American government seemed to gloss over the fact that these joyful Palestinians weren't celebrating an attack on the government but upon the American people. It is a cliche when making allowances for Arab anti-Americanism to say "they" don't hate the American people, just American policies. It's worth keeping in mind, that when put to the test, this distinction often evaporates amidst all of the celebrations over spilled American blood.

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