Yesterday, a horde of thugs assailed some Syrians on the streets of Lebanon; while the latters were on route to the Syrian Embassy to cast their ballots for the Syrian presidential elections. They claimed their actions were in response to provocations (i.e. having a Syrian flag on cars’ hoods, or holding pictures of the Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad) from passing-by Syrians. One of their brightest—of the thugs, that is—walked up to a news reporter and said, “If they are [truly] fleeing from their regime [and, are still voting for President Al-Assad], they shouldn’t vote here. Instead, they should go to Syria and vote [for him] there,” (MTV Lebanon News) [the quote is translated from Arabic].
Okay. Very well, back to ‘Humans Ought to Have Brains 101’. First of all, Mr. Genius, the trip to and fro, between Lebanon and Syria, almost costs around $500 nowadays—if not more [emphasis added], in case the trip is made by a family. That sum includes: petrol (for people traveling in their own cars)/taxi, PCRs, and the $100 each Syrian is required to exchange for Syrian pounds at the Syrian border—at the official exchange rate set by the Central Bank of Syria—which falls approximately 700 SYP (at 2,500 SYP for 1 USD) under the current unofficial markets exchange rate (at 3,200 SYP for 1 USD)—resulting in an approximate loss in value of 22 USD for every 100 USD exchanged.
Mea culpa, Mr. Genius, this might be too much mathematics for whatever is stuffed there in your skull. Nonetheless, would you grace us with an answer as to: why would Syrians in Lebanon incur such unnecessary cost?
Would anyone amongst your horde of thugs pay that much to cast their ballot? My wager is that you charge your political leader around $100 per vote.
More to the point, since it has become strikingly conspicuous to any person of reasonable intelligence that your horde is in dire need for a firm grasp of the obvious—even more so of reality, itself—, one feels obliged to break the news for you that preventing commuters in couple dozens cars from casting their votes can never alter the outcome of an election. The thread of truth pertaining to that is as thick and solid as that corresponding to the existence of Santa Claus. There’s a sole exception, however: that those commuters are actually presidential electors at the United States Electoral College.
Finally, if you, horde of thugs, are truly that tough, why didn’t you let those men step out of their cars before hurling your fists and bats at them? There were women and children in those cars. You call that a fair fight? Where’s your self-proclaimed valor, much less honor?
WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE SENT TO HOSPITALS DUE TO THEIR INJURIES!
Ironically, even children were denied the opportunity to defend themselves. They were assaulted with bats, all the while being trapped inside their cars.
In a nutshell, this despicable incident is farthest from being dignified as human behavior. It is an act of savagery undertaken by a HORDE OF THUGS!
Disclaimer:
This column solely addresses the actions of yesterday’s (Thursday 20 May 2021) assailants and their transgressions against not only people executing their inherent right to participate in their home-country’s presidential elections abroad, but also against the human mind along its conscious, rational, and conscientious faculties and functions. As such, this is in no way a reflection on Lebanon as a country, nor the Lebanese as a people. It is a response to the vulgar conducts of a pack of thugs.
Reference
MTV Lebanon News. “مواجهات بين لاجئين سوريين ومواطنين تجمّعوا في منطقة نهر الكلب ويسوع الملك.” YouTube, www.youtube.com/watch?v=kd5Ty6sNI1E. Accessed 21 May 2021.
