The appearance of Egyptian political activist and tweep Gigi Ibrahim on The Daily Show brought a wave of support and protests from fellow tweeps, who covered the Egyptian revolution.
In the six minute clip from the show, hosted by Jon Stewart and famous for the sarcasm and humour infused with seriousness when it comes to political issues, Gigi spoke about the Egyptian revolution and how she was introduced to politics, mocking the hypocritical US foreign policy towards the Middle Eastern uprisings and how Egyptians and Arabs are perceived in the media.
On its official Twitter account, The Daily Show announced:
@TheDailyShow: Tonight: Digital journalist @Gsquare86 educates us on the revolution in Egypt in just 140 characters. Perhaps less. She’s that good.
After her appearance in the show, Gigi went to watch it with Wael Ghonim and our very own Arabic Lingua contributor Raafat Rohaiem, who lives in New York. They discussed the show and the mixed reactions on it on Twitter.
Gigi Ibrahim with Jon Stewart
First, here are some positive reactions:
@k8shep: Thought @Gsquare86 interview on @TheDailyShow was great! Funny and informative. Well done, Gigi. @basma_aal: I liked how @Gsquare86 touched on the tears gas that is made in USA. She was epic :) @demaghmak: @Gsquare86 ur interview was amazing and funny too. and i didnt know that @3arabawy was the reason that u become an activist. he helped a lot. @WhatWouldJNDo: @Gsquare86 saw you on the Daily Show you were great. You're absolutely stunning! Hope this doesn't sound weird but your skin is gorgeous!Yet, others weren't as pleased with the show. Some hated how she referred to the class she attended at the American University in Cairo as the source of her political awareness. They felt she's giving the US undeserved credit for the Egyptian revolution. And others just hated the fact that she's called one of the faces of the Egyptian revolution.
@CirclesOwner: So @gsquare86 took a class to realize that we needed to revolt!! A trip to Mansheyet Nasser* would have done the job…much cheaper too :) @HerMaeness: Unbeknownst to her, Stewart specifically put her [@Gsquare86] on to relay a message: “America was there, America ignited that revolution”. @ganzeer: Hey y'all, since she loves America so much, is it at all possible to trap @gsquare86 there and never let her set foot on Egyptian soil ever? @HerMaeness: Neither @Gsquare86 nor @Ghonim were ever “the face” of the Egyptian Revolution. This was a people's revolution. Get. A. Fucking. Clue. @ganzeer: Aaaaaaaa!!!! The revolution has no freaking face, dammit! Stop trying to give it a damn face!! It's a true ppls rev!Yet, others believe those who were criticizing Gigi just missed the point and sarcasm in the whole episode.
@JustAmira: In other news, I liked @Gsquare86 interview with Jon Stewart (The Daily Show). It's a comedy show. What did you expect her to do? @PicoTyko: @ganzeer, @gsquare86 was never just an online activist. She's long fought for workers' rights and took part of many protests before #jan25. @3arabawy: @ganzeer knowing her personally yes she got radicalized coz of this class taught by a activist prof at the AUC [continued in the following tweet] and all her talk in the program (6mins) was actually anti-US. I really find what u and others wrote to be completely offensive. * Mansheyet Nasser is a poor district in Cairo, where the garbage collectors live
