Egyptian TV presenter Reham Saeed (L) and TV host Yosri Fouda (R) (Photo: Al-Ahram)
Egyptian TV presenter Reham Saeed dedicated a large part of her show on Monday to hit back at rival TV personality Yosri Fouda, who launched a scathing attack on Saeed after she broadcast a controversial video last week.
In the video, aired on her show on Al-Nahar TV channel, Saeed visits a camp for Syrian refugees in Lebanon. Some refugees can be seen snatching pieces of clothing from a truck dropping of donated outfits.
Standing among boxes of clothes and holding a microphone while refugees bustle around her. Saeed, said, "these are the peoples who were made homeless, these are the peoples who were divided, these are the peoples who lost themselves."
Other comments of hers during the footage, which goes on for over 10 minutes, warn Egyptians that they could meet the same fate if Egypt is hit by chaos and disputes.
Among many to sharply criticised Saeed in Egypt and the wider region was Fouda, a celebrated TV host whose comments initiated a verbal spat that seems set to last for a while.
"Those who oppose our situation in Egypt will make us like them (the Syrian refugees)," he said on his Facebook page, "that's the message behind this thing produced by one of the media sewers."
Three days later, Saeed accused Fouda of using foul language and said he was trying to get back in the limelight by attacking her.
She also mocked him for being the "standard Arabic" presenter who used to give Arabic lessons during his show.
Renowned for his eloquent Arabic language, Fouda made another Facebook post on Tuesday criticising those supporting authoritarianism.
Written in noticeably perfect Arabic, with a smiley face at the end, it appears to be a sarcastic reply to Saeed's mockery of his language.
Saeed has often been critiqued for her show and accused of being a regime propagandist.
Fouda, a staunch supporter of the 2011 revolution that toppled former president has been off air for almost a year.
After hitting out at Saeed, he said he was obliged to leave the media scene after he and some of his colleagues realised that "the small degree of respect has gone from the profession."
Fouda implied that he will elaborate in his first weekly article in private paper Shorouk, to be published within a few days.
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