Tears, anger as Lebanese man given hero’s farewell

A young Lebanese man who drowned after rescuing two friends from a flooded river in Guinea, West Africa, was given a hero’s funeral on Friday after his body was returned to his hometown in northern Lebanon. Hussein Fsheikh, who moved to Guinea several years ago for work, drowned on the first day of Eid Al-Adha after saving a young couple who had been washed away by floodwaters in the Konkoure River. Fsheikh, who was in his 20s, was buried in his hometown of Btermaz in Danniyeh, northern Lebanon, after his body arrived at dawn from Guinea.

Tearful countrymen paid tribute to Fsheikh’s courage and the “Hussein Fsheikh” hashtag was the most traded in Lebanon on Friday. Fsheikh’s village was shocked by his death. His last post on Facebook before his drowning read: “On the Day of Arafat, let us forgive each other and open a new page. I swear by God that this is the best occasion to forgive and to rethink life in all its details. Do not forget to pray for us.” The tragic death of the young Lebanese, who worked in Guinea to support his family in Akkar, one of Lebanon’s poorest regions, sparked protests against “the impotent Lebanese political elite which is forcing young Lebanese to emigrate.”

After several parliamentarians in the region mourned Fsheikh’s death on Twitter, young activists condemned what they described as an act of political propaganda.

“We are used to thinking that the hero does not die in the end, but Hussein proved the opposite. He went abroad in search of a decent living and a better future,” Rayyan tweeted.