An Egyptian actor and comedian has reportedly accused victims in Syria’s city of Aleppo of using makeup to “fake” the slaughter wrought by Bashar al-Assad regime airstrikes.
Ahmad Adam, who hosts a stand-up comedy show on Egypt’s Al-Hayat TV channel, “came under fire this week after ridiculing Syrian victims of the recent violence in the city of Aleppo,” reports Al Arabiya.
The comedian reportedly claimed that the Assad regime airstrikes were fake.
“Use your mind and think. Aleppo was the only city in support of [Syrian President] Bashar al-Assad and it had refused to protest against him, so why would he then bomb it? It is illogical,” Adam declared.
Al Arabiya acknowledges that Adam’s claims are untrue given that there are Syrian opposition-held areas in Aleppo.
Adam went on to claim, “I saw a man [being pulled from under the rubble] and they had put powder on his hair and on his face, but his neck was very clean. This man was supposedly under the rubble! He was bleeding but not hurt! His face was heavily powdered. What was he hit with? A hairdresser attacked him with a rocket filled with powder?”
The United Nations said in late April that a surge in attacks by the Syrian government in Aleppo, amid the fragile ceasefire, has shown a “monstrous disregard” for civilian lives.
Adam accused major Arab and Western news outlets of fabricating the violence in Aleppo.
“If you follow up on the coverage, you’d die of laughter. They take phone calls from Aleppo? Aleppo, which is being bombed and where people have no power, water or phone lines,” he joked, suggesting no one could make a phone call from Aleppo under the reported conditions.
Angry social media users lambasted Adam for his comments, calling him inhumane.
Al Arabiya reports that on Twitter, one user wrote, “(You) resemble anything but a human being!”
Another added, ”Ahmad Adam, are you done with all genres of comedy and have nothing left to do but laugh at the bloodshed in Aleppo?”
Lawyer Youssef al-Mataani has reportedly filed a complaint against the comedian to Egypt’s attorney general.
He requested that Adam and Egypt’s Al-Hayat TV channel should “be investigated for ridiculing events in Aleppo and claiming that the events had been fabricated,” notes Al Arabiya.
Aleppo has been the “scene of the worst recent violence” in Syria, reported Reuters in late April.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.