Bassem Youssef's X account banned or deactivated after antisemitism rants

Egyptian comedian and Israel critic Bassem Youssef’s X account was suspended or deactivated following a series of controversial remarks about Jews.

Youssef’s last post on the social media platform alleged that antisemitism was being used as a fear tactic that was no longer effective.

“Are you still scared to be called an antisemite by those Zionists,” Youssef wrote on Monday.

Youssef attempted to rile up Israel supporters with online commentary

Youssef said on Facebook the same day that he knew he was angering Zionists because they were “crying, whining and bitching” on his accounts about antisemitism.

The activist said on Sunday that clips of him decrying Jews for claiming to be “the chosen people” on July 31 of the This Past Weekend podcast were causing controversy.

Youssef said, in response to the viral clips, that he wished to clarify his point: if “you are chosen to spread the word of God or chosen to do good things to other people, that is wonderful,” but Israeli Jews were using this “divine’ status to take other people [sic] land and kill them.”

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A post shared by Bassem Youssef (@bassem)

Supporters of Youssef claimed that X deleted his account to suppress his criticism of Israel, while some critics said he had deactivated his own account.