Ramy Youssef is reflecting on his remarks about Palestine on Saturday Night Live last year.
The Ramy star opened up about his decision to address the conflict in Gaza during his opening monologue when he hosted the show in March 2024, saying that while he recognizes that “it’s not common” to say “free Palestine” on live TV, he wasn’t nervous to address the topic in Studio 8H.
“It’s more nerve-racking to not say something,” the comedian told The New York Times in a new interview. “It’s more nerve-racking to try to shield yourself from whatever criticism is gonna come. And plenty of it has come. But I get more tense if I’m sitting quietly, trying to stay safe.”
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Ramy Youssef on ‘Saturday Night Live’ in March 2024
In the monologue, Youssef recalled his friend Ahmed asking him to pray for his family in Gaza. “I’m like, ‘God, please, please help Ahmed’s family,'” he said of his prayer after their conversation. “‘Please stop the suffering. Stop the violence. Please free the people of Palestine, please. And please free the hostages, all the hostages, please.'”
Youssef then insisted that he stands by his monologue. “What I said is completely inoffensive,” he told The New York Times. “People are sensitive about it. Or people might say: ‘Well, why didn’t you say this? Or why didn’t you do that?’ But there’s nothing controversial about any of it.”
Youssef also explained why he doesn’t think the conflict in Gaza should be referred to as a war. “Look, there are false equivalencies in terms of power,” he said. “That’s what people are talking about. They’re talking about dynamics of power.”
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Ramy Youssef
He continued, “When you look at Gaza, you’re talking about a place where their water and electricity are controlled. So even the framing of the earlier question of calling it a war, you know, I’m like, ‘All right, call it whatever you want to call it.’ Yes, there are two sides who are fighting, but there’s a massive power imbalance, and that is just unequivocally true.”
Youssef elaborated on his reasoning. “[Israel] could turn off the electricity, they could turn off the water, they can turn off what aid is getting in,” he said. “It’s like being in a wrestling match with someone where you’re controlling the other guy’s calories and how much water he gets. He sneaks a few PowerBars that you didn’t know about.”
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Ultimately, Youssef doesn’t think anyone should support the violence in Gaza. “Nobody wants there to be people getting bombed indiscriminately, and nobody wants there to be hostages. There is nothing controversial in saying it,” he stressed. “Anything I’ve said sincerely, I could tattoo it to myself because there’s no problem.”
“That’s why I’m not afraid,” he said. “Because it’s like: What did I say? ‘Stop killing kids.’ ‘Oh, my God, this guy’s crazy.’ What? It’s not a thing.”
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