By MEMRI
Egyptian lawyer Nabih Wahsh caused an uproar in the studio during an Egyptian TV debate on a proposed bill to tighten the anti-prostitution laws in the country when he said: “Are you happy when you see a girl walking down the street with half of her behind showing? … I say that when a girl walks about like that, it is a patriotic duty to sexually harass her and a national duty to rape her.” Emotions were already running high on the panel, which included MP Shadia Thabet, who had tabled the new bill, human rights activist Abeer Suleiman, and life coach Ashgaan Nabil, who complained that “the university campuses are full of homosexuals and lesbians” as a result of “all those damned liberties and human rights!” The debate aired on Al-Assema TV on October 19.
Click here to view this clip on MEMRI TV
Nabih Wahsh: “Egypt will remain a civil state with a religious source of authority, whether the officials and the rulers like it or not.”
Abeer Suleiman: “Yeah, yeah, Nabih… We support you…”
Nabih Wahsh: “We are against homosexuals and whores! [Film director] Inas Al-Degheidy says we should license brothels like in the old days… A certain female MP submitted a bill to teach sex at school. I said to her: Do you want to teach the theory or the practice? This is a disgrace! We may teach it from an Islamic point of view, but we won’t teach sex at school like they do in Europe!
[…]
“Are you happy when you see a girl walking down the street with half of her behind showing?”
Abeer Suleiman: “Do you think that we don’t care about our girls?”
Nabih Wahsh: “I say that when a girl walks about like that, it is a patriotic duty to sexually harass her and a national duty to rape her.”
Abeer Suleiman: “No, no, no, no! I totally oppose this kind of talk. This is sexual harassment live on air…”
Nabih Wahsh: “It is a national duty to rape such a girl! What she allows herself to do constitutes depravity.”
[Unclear speaker]: “Nabih, don’t say this. This is wrong!”
Abeer Suleiman: “Is this the kind of freedom you want?”
Nabih Wahsh: “No, it is not.”
Abeer Suleiman: “So why are you defending this?”
[…]
Nabih Wahsh: “The authorities turn a blind eye to the [homosexual] parties taking place here.”
Ashgaan Nabil: “The coffee shops in the city are full with homosexuals and everyone knows that. What are you talking about? The university campuses are full of homosexuals and lesbians. What are you people talking about? This is a result of all those damned liberties and human rights! This country is going down the drain! I know of children who were raped in school. Children! After the show I will show you proof.”
Nabih Wahsh: “So what should we do? If we try to return to our religion, they call us ‘Salafis.’
[…]
“Female university professors dress as if they are in a cabaret. They wear clothes at the university that my wife is embarrassed to wear even to bed.”
Off screen: “It is their freedom…”
Nabih Wahsh: “What freedom are you talking about?”