Rival Lebanese politicians came to blows live on national television over the crisis in neighbouring Syria, hurling insults – and chairs – at each other before the show cut to a commercial break. Fayez Shukr, representing the Baath Party – which has links to Syrian President Bashar Assad’s party of the same name – and opposition MP Mustafa Alloush locked horns over Assad’s credibility in a late night talkshow on Nov 14 on Lebanon’s MTV station.
“You don’t listen. I wish you would listen to what Assad says,” said Shukr, to which Alloush responded: “I heard him. I don’t believe a word he says.” “Who are you to believe or not believe him?” Shukr said, prompting Alloush to call Assad a “liar.” The two then proceeded to hurl insults and swear at one another, before Shukr chucked a glass of water over the talkshow host’s head at the MP. Papers and insults flying, both men then jumped out of their seats and charged at each other, with one picking up a chair as their bewildered host urged them to calm down before the show went off the air. Pro and anti-Syrian regime demonstrations are common in Lebanon, whose politics has long been heavily influenced by Damascus, now facing increasing isolation over its bloody crackdown on protesters.