Hassad announcer (Al Sharqiya) Muhammad Youssef:
Politics is the whims of titans, and baldness is an advantage, not a disadvantage
Amman – Mujjad Al Samarrai
clearer; faster ; The bald person I interviewed kept his dialogue as his thoughts generated it. He is the presenter of Hassad (Al-Sharqiya) Muhammad Youssef.
□ Zero point in your life, when did it start?
The zero point is not related to life as a whole, but rather to its stages. There is a “zero” in the first day of university, the first day as a husband and father, the first day as a newspaper reporter, then as a broadcaster, and the day I left Kirkuk for Baghdad, then Erbil, then Amman, all of which are zero stations, but the zero that sticks in my mind is the day I read the first news brief on a local radio in Kirkuk. Before that, I was the “listener” who did not know that I possessed radio sound quality, and since that day I turned into “the listener”… I remember perfectly well that I was at that moment at a true zero point. As for how many numbers I reached after that, this is something I cannot decide on. Rather, the observer, the viewer, and the senior professors have the final say on that.
□ Lucky number for you?
– I don’t believe in luck at all, but in this regard, my favorite lucky number is the highest number I can get as a salary.
□ What day a week do you feel optimistic about? And another one you fly from?
– All days are beautiful as long as I am healthy and my children are fine. At the same time, I am not pessimistic, but I seek refuge in God from the day I lose a loved one.
□ Abu Rahma.. How was the name chosen?
The choice of the name goes back to a joke a colleague made about my strictness in administrative matters when I was director of a local radio station in Kirkuk. He said to me: “You have no mercy in your heart, so you should name your daughter Rahma so that you can be called a merciful father.” We laughed at that time until tears came to our eyes and I promised him to do that, which is what actually happened.
□ Hair is a woman’s crown.. but did Hollywood stars (Demi Moore, Natalie Portman, Charlize Theron, Sigourney Weaver, Amir Rose, Sinead O’Connor, Jada Pennett Smith) abandon it?
The issue of baldness for men is radically different from that for women. Demi Moore’s step was very bold and made her an icon of a strong woman, and the same was true for Natalie Portman, who appeared with her head shaved in one of her films to embody a real, touching scene. She achieved the goal because hair for a woman is a cornerstone of her beauty and femininity, and giving it up is considered a waiver of something of high value, unlike a man whose baldness sometimes gives him a distinctive appearance if it blends in with his general appearance, and this is what I personally sense from the impressions of those around me, especially since my baldness has turned into A “passport card” to satellite television screens, in addition to voice and performance talent.
□ Is Yul Brynner bald?
– I appreciate this great artist very, very much, but I was not influenced by him in the matter of maintaining my current appearance, and in practice my reconciliation with baldness came from the fact that I was not influenced by any artistic personality. On the contrary, he made me influential in my surroundings of friends and relatives, considering baldness an advantage, not a deficiency. However, what is striking in this context, and what I noticed in the comments of some followers on my personal pages or the pages of Al Sharqiya TV, is that there are those who liken me to the American actor “Timothy Olyphant,” the hero of the movie “Hitman.”
Favorite writer
□ Who do you read, and what text do you memorize by your favorite writer and consider it a way of life?
– I read Al-Jawahiri, Abdel-Razzaq, Al-Sayyab, Mahmoud Darwish, and Saadi Youssef… and I read Abdel-Rahman Munif, Al-Manfaluti, and Al-Aqqad… and recently by Faleh Abdel-Jabbar, Haider Saeed, Azmi Bishara, Ahmed Khaled Tawfiq, and all members of the Kirkuk Cultural Group… but I memorize a lot by the novelist Abdel-Rahman Munif, as he is the one who credited me with my love of reading since my adolescence, when I wandered through the “Cities of Salt” until I finished The five quintets in succession, and the text that I memorize for this writer as a life curriculum is: “The worst thing that happens to a person is to lose the ability to scream.” I have often screamed in the face of those who hurt me, and screaming does not necessarily have to be a voice, but rather an exposure of the ugliness of some of those around us by speaking the truth to their faces, which is what I have committed myself to a lot, despite the losses. A momentary loss is better than lasting regret, and I experience great remorse for those I restrained myself from screaming in their faces.
□ Stripper looks like a sword without any owners!
“It is as if you did not find anyone on earth to love.” I say it with all arrogance. If Adonis had not inherited Abd al-Rahman Munif with these words, I would have done so one day. In fact, I read about Munif as much as I read him, and he was right when he described him as upright and ascetic about positions or closeness to authority. I felt very much that I was linked to him, as his friend Adonis was linked to him, with a deep intellectual friendship, despite the great difference between me and them as pillars of modernity. Arabic literature.
□ If you were the hero of a novel, what would its title be?
– Lost; Because I feel truly lost in this world crowded with interests, insincerity, trading in feelings, and abandoning the humanity that we have been created with. I did not plan to be a journalist, for example, and my dream was to be an ambassador. So I studied political science, a dream that did not come true, and many other examples of harsh life experiences. And here I am not exalting myself. Maybe I am bad, but I am working hard to be a human being before I can be anything else. So I get lost between myself and myself in the constant battle of life.
□ A drama star that surprises you?
– The hero of the series “Boston Legal,” actor “James Spader,” who played the role of “Alan Shore.” The intelligent lawyer known for his unconventional methods and poignant closing arguments.
□ Kirkuk.. Something about it excites you about Kirkuk?
– Certainly there is something that distinguishes Kirkuk from the rest of the cities of Iraq, and it has great cultural diversity, especially for those like me. My father is Arab and my mother is Kurdish. He grew up in a Turkmen area, so I am fluent in these languages. This is something that sometimes calls me to “Karkara” if I encounter an Arab who speaks Kurdish with difficulty, or vice versa. My understanding of these languages makes me laugh when the words are inappropriate, or carry literal translations from another language. As for what causes others from other governorates to “cracker” about the culture of Kirkuk, it is that on the first days of Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha, we eat a morning breakfast that resembles lunch, and among the dishes is “Tarshana” broth, which if a friend attends or hears about it, he becomes upset without realizing it.
□ Molasses!
-The city of Debs is the birthplace of my second grandfather, and it is home to my clan and uncles. I love it very much because it is one of the cities with a picturesque nature, and the banks of the Zab River there preserve many of my memories.
□ Younis Mahmoud.!
One of the things I am proud of, being from Kirkuk, is the presence of great and famous figures in various fields of life, including Younis Mahmoud, Ayman Hussein, and the distinguished broadcaster Nihad Najeeb, as well as the “Kirkuk Cultural Group,” which established literary modernity in Iraq and the Arab world.
*Where is the world headed?
It undoubtedly proceeds according to the Lord’s abilities; This earth is millions of years old, and we are only on it for a few years, so the real world is what fulfills my ambitions despite failure, pain, death, and the separation of loved ones.
Political interlocutor
*Who is the star of political analysis?
The star of my political analysis is not an analyst or an expert, but rather a brilliant media person, and he is “Mahdi Hassan.” One of the most prominent political interviewers in the American and international media currently, he is known as the “terrifying interviewer” because of his offensive style based on documented arguments.
*Selfie with who?
With my father, who left me – may God have mercy on him – before social media and the idea of “selfies” became widespread. He was my friend and a follower of my academic and professional developments.
*Who do you dream of seeing – live – in front of you?
US President Donald Trump, let me ask him one question: “How long will you kill innocent people in the name of democracy?”?
“*Politics is the art of the possible”?
A famous saying indicates that realistic political action focuses on achieving implementable goals based on the balance of power and available resources, rather than adhering to absolute idealism. It means pragmatism, flexibility, and rounding corners to achieve the maximum public interest with the least harm, while dealing with reality as it is and not as it should be.
*You studied politics. Do you have your own definition of it after you knew its basics and predicates?
After completing my years of studying political science, I discovered that I had studied the “history of politics” in the world, where I discovered that politics is not a science, but rather the whims and moods of individuals who hold power, and according to their desires, countries move toward the heights of justice and prosperity, or the depths of corruption and injustice.
*You have a special shot of the watch. Are you keen to buy a luxurious one?
Never, I hate spending on things that only distinguish their owner by their material value, but I love owning elegant watches, even if they cost a few dollars.
*At the top of the news hour..
A new page of events, certainly not like what came before.
*What does the sound of the Qishla clock mean to you?
The accuracy of this clock reminds me every time I hear it that, thanks to God and His grace, I have achieved my ambition as a broadcaster to appear on the most powerful satellite channel in Iraq, and the phrase “ten o’clock in Baghdad time” in the voice of Nihad Najeeb has its own impact on my ears. Being from Kirkuk made the distinguished professor Nihad Najib a role model for me, and he was the one who said to me one day: “You have a rare voice, so preserve it as you preserve your sight.” I promised him that, and I heard his voice after the accuracy of an hour. The harvest makes me feel that I have fulfilled my pledge to Him.
* Ten o’clock according to Baghdad time?
This hour means for me, as a broadcaster on Al-Sharqiya channel, a complete readiness to reveal the facts as much as possible to a large audience that is still watching this respectable screen, despite its adherence to the standards of real media in not seeking “frivolity” and not interacting with guests in a vulgar and dialectical manner to raise views on social networking sites. Respectful dialogue, balanced information, and conveying people’s questions and concerns, without paying attention to the acceleration of technological development and the changing etiquette of presenting programs on other screens.
“When do you feel most lacking?
I am very content and I never feel inferior, and according to the praises of great professors such as Saad Al-Bazzaz, Nihad Najib, Shimon Matta, and Mashreq Abbas; I have great talent in my field of work as a broadcaster in terms of pronunciation, language integrity, performance, voice, and the intuition of asking questions in dialogues, as well as in the aspects of news editing, writing reports, and translation from Kurdish to Arabic and vice versa. However, despite all these praises, I feel a great deficiency when I listen to the reports of the great professor “Fawzi Bushra” on Al Jazeera, the author of the famous report “Today We Will Save You with Your Body,” in terms of written eloquence and method of delivery.
*And We made the night a sleep? And the day is a living.!
A noble verse, unfortunately, some media professionals have been deprived of its contents. Many times, our night is a living and our day is a slumber.
*I am keen to follow this program!
In addition to Mehdi Hassan’s program “Without Filter,” I follow the program “Above Authority” by the great journalist Nazih Al-Ahdab.
*A ruler who is fit to be a broadcaster.?
Barack Obama; He has the charisma of a “talk show host,” and I followed his series of podcasts and documentary programs that he presented after his presidential term on the Netflix platform. He was wonderful and truly a good broadcaster, especially since he has a wonderful voice quality.
*The most eloquent Arab rulers?
Tunisian President Kais Ben Saied; He presented the Iraqi Prime Minister, Muhammad Shiaa Al-Sudani, with an artistic painting containing a poem by the late Iraqi poet Marouf Al-Rusafi, which he wrote in praise of Tunisia. President Saied showed great eloquence, clear pronunciation, and a dignified voice when he recited some of the poem’s verses himself in front of Al-Sudani and the Iraqi delegation at the Carthage Palace.
*Have you ever lived in a state of “no peace, no war”?
Yes, a lot, in the work environment, social relationships, and even emotional ones… It is the gray area that has exhausted me greatly for nearly two of my four decades, and it often ends with indifference and leaving matters to God. It is sufficient for me if I remain in this area for a long time.
*Are you at peace with yourself?
Very much, to the point of complete satisfaction, and I am absolutely not shaken by what others have, as I believe that each of us has an unmistakable path from birth to death, and whoever is better than me in something, I am better than him in things, for we are all shortcomings and perfection belongs to the Lord alone.
*A summary of your most important personal news today..
Since I moved to work in the Al-Sharqiya office in Amman, I have been working on a future plan, perhaps beyond media. I am currently studying in the field of psychology, and I am systematically training myself to combine it with my academic experience in political science and my professional experience in the media, in order to establish work in the field of political and strategic analysis and writing articles. My day includes reading about 10 articles, and writing one article “not for publication.” I follow the conversations of figures of politics and strategic expertise around the world, and I conclude it before going to sleep by watching one episode of the “Al-Daheh” program.
