- Abu Abed
Abu Abed is a fictional character that forms the centerpiece of many jokes in
Lebanon , though he is known throughout theArab world . The "Washington Post " describes him as an "Archie Bunker -like figure who is a fumblingcaricature of all the failings of the Lebanese."Boustany, Nora, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/14/AR2006081401195.html So, Three Guerrillas Walk Into a Bar . . .] , "Washington Post ",15 August 2006 ] His full name is sometimes given as Abu Abed El Beyrouty and he is also called Abul Abed or Abu El-Abed. [http://www.abuabed.net/about.htm About Abu Abed] , "abuabed.net"]In illustrations, Abu Abed most notable features are a large
mustache and the red fez he wears on his head. Abu Abed's best friend is Abu Steif, with whom he spends much of the day in theKahwat El Ejeez قهوة القزاز, an actual and well-known coffee shop in centralBeirut . He is sometimes claimed to be aSunni Beiruti. [ [http://happening-here.blogspot.com/2006/08/joke-from-lebanon.html A joke from Lebanon] , Happening Here blog,7 August 2006 ] One example of the literally hundreds of jokes with Abu Abed is:During the
2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict , the most widely told joke among Lebanese was again about Abu Abed. The jokes goes: Abu Abed is sitting in the cafe when he callsEhud Olmert , Prime Minister ofIsrael , to tell him not to come north of the border or he and four of this friends will give Israel trouble. Olmert laughs and tells Abed that one Israeli battalion can easily overrun his neighborhood. This verbal contest escalates until Abed says that he has collected thousands of fighters armed with shoulder-fired rockets and Olmert states that Israel has two million soldiers. "'Two million?' asks Abul Abed. 'In that case I am going to have to surrender. We simply do not have enough room to keep 2 million hostages.'"Notes and references
External links
* [http://abuabed.net Abu Abet.Net] , joke collection
* [http://www.hayar.net/AbuElAbedJokesClean.html Clean Abu El Abed Jokes] , collected by Abdallah Hayar
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