Abu Abed is a fictional character that forms the centerpiece of many jokes in

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to Lebanon–Syria border, the north and east and Israel to Blue ...

, though he is known throughout the

Arab world The Arab world ( ar, اَلْعَالَمُ الْعَرَبِيُّ '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, refers to a vast group of countries, mainly located in Western A ...

. ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' describes him as an "

Archie Bunker Archie is a masculine given name, a diminutive of Archibald. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Archie Alexander (1888–1958), African-American mathematician, engineer and governor of the US Virgin Islands * Archie Blake (mathemati ...

-like figure who is a fumbling caricature of all the failings of the Lebanese."Boustany, Nora
So, Three Guerrillas Walk Into a Bar . . .
''

'', 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.About Abu Abed
, ''abuabed.net'' In illustrations, Abu Abed's most notable features are a large

mustache A moustache (; en-US, mustache, ) is a strip of facial hair grown above the upper lip. Moustaches have been worn in various styles throughout history. Etymology The word "moustache" is French, and is derived from the Italian ''mustaccio'' ( ...

and the red

fez Fez most often refers to: * Fez (hat), a type of felt hat commonly worn in the Ottoman Empire * Fez, Morocco (or Fes), the second largest city of Morocco Fez or FEZ may also refer to: Media * ''Fez'' (Frank Stella), a 1964 painting by the moder ...

he wears on his head. Abu Abed's best friend is Abu Steif, with whom he spends much of the day in the Kahwat El Ejeez قهوة القزاز, an actual and well-known coffee shop in central

Beirut Beirut, french: Beyrouth is the capital and largest city of Lebanon. , Greater Beirut has a population of 2.5 million, which makes it the third-largest city in the Levant region. The city is situated on a peninsula at the midpoint o ...

. He is sometimes claimed to be a Sunni Beiruti. 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 2006 Lebanon War, also called the 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War and known in Lebanon as the July War ( ar, حرب تموز, ''Ḥarb Tammūz'') and in Israel as the Second Lebanon War ( he, מלחמת לבנון השנייה, ''Milhemet Le ...

, the most widely told joke among Lebanese was again about Abu Abed. The jokes goes: Abu Abed is sitting in the cafe when he calls Ehud Olmert, Prime Minister of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

, to tell him not to come north of the border or he and four of his friends will give Israel trouble. Olmert laughs and tells Abu Abed that one Israeli battalion can easily overrun his neighborhood. This verbal contest escalates until Abu 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

Clean Abu El Abed Jokes
collected by Abdallah Hayar
Official Abou El Abed
web site {{Humor and wit characters Humor and wit characters Culture of Lebanon Fictional Lebanese people National personifications