On Monday, a woman attacked the Mufti of Tripoli with water balloons as he arrives to perform Eid al-Fitr prayers.
In a circulated video, the woman is heard shouting “welcome, welcome, the hypocrites!” And “our children are at the bottom of the sea […] how can you celebrate […].”
And, “Go focus on finding our children!”
The evidently bereaved woman kept going on and on against the cleric, screaming uncontrollably, denoting deep pain and anger.
The cleric didn’t stop to give some words of comfort to the grieving woman and continued on his way to the mosque.
That attack on the Mufti comes as an unprecedented act in Lebanon where clerics are usually highly esteemed in public. But the boat tragedy has devastated the town of Tripoli and its residents and brought intense suffering to many who lost their loved ones.
The loss of one’s children is the most excruciating to bear.
Adding to the worsening economic crisis and the explosion in neighboring Akkar in 2021, the locals in Tripoli are now experiencing more suffering after the tragedy on Saturday, April 23.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the boat was carrying more than 80 passengers, 45 of them have been rescued, and about 39 are dead and/or missing.
While the tragedy is under investigation, Prime Minister Najib Mikati commented that the drowning incident lies with fate, which fueled people’s anger.
The anger has turned into a fury with assaults on religious and political figures.
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