Syrian artist Ayman Rida revealed the reason behind his retraction of statements and apology to the Lebanese people, indicating that he faced a wave of intense backlash.
In a televised interview, Rida clarified that his apology was directed only to the honorable Lebanese people and did not include "racist" Lebanese, as he put it. He added that he was speaking about a specific group and did not intend to generalize, expressing, "Perhaps there was a misunderstanding for the Lebanese, so I apologize to them because I respect them very much and we are all kin." He expressed surprise at how this matter caused such an uproar, especially since his interview was recorded a while ago and has been republished.
Rida explained that the harsh nature of his statements stemmed from two incidents, one personal and the other humanitarian. He recounted an unpleasant encounter with a Lebanese soldier when he entered Lebanon with his family from Syria through a land border, where the soldier said to him, "Where to? What are you coming to do to us? Enough, stop coming to us; we are fed up." He mentioned that this greatly angered and upset him.
On the humanitarian side, he expressed deep pain over witnessing the burning of refugee camps in Lebanon and the government’s handling of the fabricated incident, as he described it. It is noteworthy that Ayman Rida had previously issued an apology via his Facebook page, stating, "Lebanese people view Syrians with a superior attitude, and they are robbing us, even though all their money in the banks is from Syria." He added that the Lebanese treat the Syrian people in an inappropriate manner, exposing them to humiliation, despite Syria having been open to everyone. He argued that the presence of Syrian actors in Lebanon significantly contributed to the fame of Lebanese artists, who had worked for many years without recognition.
