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Within the context of a musical Festival titled Damascus Citadel Nights, a coterie of Lebanese and Arab artists took to the stage, conspicuously hoisting the flag of the Syrian regime. Some among them even sang paeans in honor of the Syrian regime and its steadfast leader, Bashar al-Assad. This act, replete with symbolism, appears to have been orchestrated in an attempt to mollify relations with the regime, and perhaps even to obfuscate its crimes.

“Honor to the Arab Syrian Army, to the wisdom of the one holding the reins, to the ambitious spirit of the youth and to President Bashar al-Assad.” — Ziad Bourji

“You have rightly given me the Syrian flag because in the song I say: do you know to whom it is dedicated? To Syria.” — Joseph Attieh

“We are celebrating a festival organized by Syria amidst all the thorny crises it has overcome!” — Carole Samaha

This is how the three Lebanese singers paid homage to the Syrian regime, inciting protests among their compatriots both in Lebanon and abroad.

Bourji, a vocalist originating from Baalbeck, found himself besieged by a maelstrom of virtual censure. His onstage laudation of the Syrian armed forces, commendation of the regime’s “sagacious leadership,” and obeisance to Assad drew widespread condemnation. Likewise, Attieh, who audaciously enshrouded himself with the Syrian flag during his performance, faced a surfeit of criticism.

The ostensibly pro-regime postures adopted by these performers were met with palpable discontent among a segment of Lebanese cyberspace denizens.

“What did it feel like to have your body wrapped with the flag of a regime that violated the sanctity of your nation and laid it to waste,” a tweet asked Attieh, who enfolded himself in the Syrian flag, like a fetus nestled within a womb…

It is not the first time that Lebanese singers, enticed by a mere handful of dollars, have journeyed to Damascus, disregarding what Lebanon endured under Syrian occupation.

To each their own “collaborators,” even if these three in particular may not exude the demeanor of such.