Assad curse

English

Etymology

According to Know Your Meme, the curse was first mentioned in a tweet posted by @iadtawil on May 6, 2016. Assad himself was overthrown by Syrian rebels on December 8th, 2024.

Proper noun

the Assad curse

1. (Internet slang, humorous) A supposed curse causing anyone who criticizes Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to have their criticism backfire on them (for example, a politician who says "Assad must go" will themselves be removed from power).
   • 2018 December 27, @walid970721, Twitter‎^[3], archived from the original on 13 August 2023:

     Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir has just been replaced by Ibrahim Assaf. Jubeir over the last 7 years repeated the Assad Must Go mantra in almost every interview he gave. The Assad curse finally caught up with him 😂

   • 2020, Eric van de Beek, “Assad curse strikes again: Dutch official embarrassed”, in The Frontier Post‎^[4], archived from the original on 2023-07-17:

     In 2017 Dutch Bert Koenders joined the club. Only one year after he had called upon the International Criminal Court (ICC) to put Assad on trial, his party, PvdA, dramatically lost the national elections, which forced him to resign as minister of Foreign Affairs and made him the laughing stock of Assad curse jokers on social media.

   • 2021 June 1, u/doucheshanemec24, “There is no stopping the Curse”, in Reddit‎^[5], r/SyrianCirclejerkWar, archived from the original on 13 August 2023:

     Now israel? Damn the Assad curse knew no limit

     In response to a meme about Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu being ousted from power.

   • 2023 March 18, @RWApodcast, Twitter‎^[6], archived from the original on 19 March 2023:

     Zelensky has apparently imposed personal sanctions against Bashar Assad. Tempting the Assad curse, huh...

Further reading

• “Assad Curse”, in Urban Dictionary, launched 1999.