A couple of videos showing Arab workers in a construction company in Kazakhstan getting viciously beaten up by Kazakh local employees have gone viral on social media.
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In the videos, dozens of Kazakh workers were seen attacking workers of different Arab nationalities in their workplace and beating them with pieces of equipment. The victims were later identified as Lebanese, Jordanian and Palestinian employees who are working at the Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) site in Tengiz city, in northwestern Kazakhstan
Footage purportedly of Kazakhs attacking Arab workers pic.twitter.com/OBE1K4IncA
— Hassan Hassan (@hxhassan) June 30, 2019
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The videos indicate some of the injuries sustained might have been extremely serious. However, Jordan’s Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed that the nationals involved in the incident received the proper medical treatment and left the hospital. Another statement from the company confirmed that 30 workers were injured in and an investigation has been launched in the incident.
More footage of the assault in Kazakhstan. So this happened after a Lebanese working in some Arab construction company there published a video of him and a local girl, which angered the community. The assaulted are mostly Jordanians pic.twitter.com/gw7gZQwq4S
— Hassan Hassan (@hxhassan) June 30, 2019
Several videos were shared on the internet. One video showed Kazakh workers stoning a bus and assaulting its occupants, who were reportedly from Lebanon, Jordan, and a few workers from Palestine.
As the reasons that prompted the attack are still not clear, many reasons were claimed to stand behind the attack.
The company claimed the attack was triggered because of a “personal dispute” between two of the employees, yet social media users circulated a photo that was shared by a former Lebanese worker claiming it was the reason behind the attack.
The Lebanese former worker, Elie Abboud, shared the photo in which he was seen posing with a female Kazakh co-worker, with a caption describing her as a “whore”.
The photo was deemed offensive by the Kazakh people and therefore tens of them attacked the Arab workers in retaliation.
الصورة التي قيل انها كانت سببا لاعمال الشغب واستهداف اللبنانيين pic.twitter.com/lSGfxMaFKz
— Emad chidiac عماد الشدياق (@emadchidiac) June 29, 2019
Translation: “The photo believed to spark the attack against Lebanese workers.”
Moreover, others shared a sex tape claimed to be for Abboud and his female co-worker, but some Lebanese users have disproved it and confirmed the video is old and irrelevant to the recent attack.
فيديو جنسي قديم لشاب عربي مع كازاخستانية....
— Rami Najem ? (@rami_najem1) June 29, 2019
قاموا اليساريين عملوه لبناني...
فعلا ما عندهم جنس الوطنية !
.#كازاخستان pic.twitter.com/j7Vsk81JiA
Translation: “An old sex tape of an Arab man with a Kazakh woman, the leftists claimed he is Lebanese. What a sense of nationality!”
Abboud was earlier fired and deported back to Lebanon, yet he released a video during the weekend apologizing for the offensive photo and for his colleagues who were hurt in the attack.
Here is a video of the dude who caused the uproar issuing an apology to the people of Kazakhstan. His video was seen as demeaning & offensive pic.twitter.com/fvG5DnaXnt
— Hassan Hassan (@hxhassan) June 30, 2019