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Its premiere was viewed almost 84,000 times in two weeks after being posted on YouTube. The 21 episodes that followed have had roughly 8 million views on YouTube alone — in a country with shoddy Internet — and have been broadcast on a satellite channel.

While the recent attack on the satirists behind French publication Charlie Hebdo has left some wondering whether Arabs and Muslims are allergic to criticism, Mr. Albasheer’s show and others like it from Lebanon to Saudi Arabia are part of a long tradition of homegrown, self-critical satire in the Middle East and wider Muslim world.

Scholars have pointed to a robust body of literary satire stretching as far back as The Book of Squaring and Circling, the famed ninth-century Iraqi commentator al-Jahiz’s biting critique of the pseudo-science popular during his time.

“Satire is the fastest way to destroy someone,” says Mr. Albasheer, who modelled his show after popular U.S. comedy news programs such as Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show.

A former news correspondent, Mr. Albasheer felt he wasn’t contributing anything to Iraqi society by being one of the “hundreds of guys just doing the news.” He believes satire can deliver a message, not just information.

“In Arabic countries, we make gods. Like Saddam — we thought he was impenetrable. But when you make fun of someone like a dictator, a killer or anyone that scares people, they’ll start to think that he’s just a human … that we can fight him and get rid of him.”