Egyptian singer jailed over a banana video

A cigar is just a cigar, but is the same true for a banana?

Not in Egypt.

An Egyptian court has jailed a singer who appeared in a music video in her skivvies while eating a banana. Good thing she was not riding the banana entering a tunnel, because that may have meant the death penalty. Her sentence was for two years.

Shaimaa Ahmed, a 25-year-old singer known as Shyma, was arrested last month after her video sparked multiple banana-based erections all over Egypt, an Islamic country where the religion allows men up to four wives and women up to one husband.

On Tuesday, Shyma was found guilty of inciting debauchery and publishing an indecent film, the local media reported. 

Debauchery is defined as: excessive indulgence in sensual pleasure. Therefore it can only mean that people who watched the video, particularly men in this case, indulged in self-gratification and it was her fault, not theirs.

The director of the video, another woman, was found guilty of inciting debauchery and publishing an indecent film. She was also sentenced to a two-year prison term.

Shyma apologized before her arrest to those who took the song in the video, "I Have Issues," 'in an inappropriate way.'

Thankfully she wasn't stoned to death for such inappropriate banana symbolism.

Last year, three Egyptian female dancers were sentenced to six months each for inciting debauchery in music videos, taking all credibility away from the benefits of people "dancing like an Egyptian."

In a more serious court case in Egypt, another singer is facing trial for "spreading provocative publicity" due to her suggesting that drinking from the River Nile could make someone ill. 

To disprove her claim, the prosecutor in the case drank from the River Nile and is due back in court after he comes out of the bathroom, hopefully by the end of the week.


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