Actors slammed by dissidents for Assad meeting
Dissidents of strongman Bashar Al-Assad’s regime were angered at a collection of actors meeting with the Syrian leader on March 10, The Syrian Observer reported.
A video posted by the Syrian Presidency on social media showed just over a dozen Syrian actors and directors in the company of the under-scrutiny supremo in Damascus.
It has been reported that the purpose of the meeting was to discuss the national film industry and some of the challenges it endures.
Syria is one of the leaders of the Arab film industry despite regional and international isolation since the breakout of the civil war in 2011.
The ongoing conflict erupted as a result of Assad’s crackdown on pro-democracy protests and 470,000 to 600,000 are believed dead since 2011.
The fighting has resulted in a mass diaspora with millions having set off for neighbouring countries, Turkey and Lebanon respectively host the most Syrian refugees worldwide, and/or the European continent.
As Ramadan kicked off, on March 10, anti-Assad citizens have called for a boycott of series and films that actors “in cooperation” with the President star in.
READ: Duplicitous West puts Assad in Hague for torture trial
Many TV series are aired during the holy month, catering to audiences across the Middle East and North Africa who tune in to watch shows particularly in the evening after they break their fast.
Various critics of the Syrian regime have said that they refuse to recognise Mr Assad as the legitimate leader of the country and have accused those who met with him on March 10 of ignoring the hundreds of thousands of deaths under his watch as well as not speaking up for the vast swathes of political opponents being banged up since the breakout of the war.
Syria-based journalist Omar Albam wrote on X, previously Twitter, on March 11, “A group of actors meet the dictator, I try to imagine the conversation that would happen with someone who killed a million and displaced half of the Syrian people.”
Another critic said on X, “A meeting brings together the criminal Bashar Al-Assad with a group of Syrian drama actors and directors. The discussion was about the production of barrels and the challenges facing displaced people.”
On February 14, the US House of Representatives overwhelmingly backed the Assad Regime Anti-Normalization Act of 2023.
The legislation was voted in favour of by 389 to 32, with its raison d’etre being the prevention of any form of recognition of Assad and his government by Washington.
The Syrian Observer
