Minister of Education Bans “7ayye W Selom” Because It Has A Rainbow

According to Annahar, Lebanon’s Minister of Education in the caretaker government Abbas Halabi has reportedly banned popular children’s game 7ayyeh w sellom because it has a rainbow in it. This comes amidst a wider moral panic and anti-LGBTQ wave in Lebanon this summer.

لا لا عم تمزحو اكيد!! لك كل ما مقول وصلنا عالقعر، بتحفرو اكتر..
ما هذا البولشيت.. كيف رح يشيل قوس القزح وقت تشتي الدني 😅😅 pic.twitter.com/nNctCZOCRD

— أماني جحا (@amanie_geha) August 22, 2023

Snakes and ladders, or af3a w selom (wrong), as most children know is a game where you try to get your piece from the bottom to the top by throwing a dice and hoping you avoid the snakes and land on the ladders. Clearly this is a very dangerous game that should be kept out of the hands of children.

Oh wait, I’m being told that the snakes aren’t actually alive. My bad. So why is it banned? Because the version of the game found in some public schools across the country included a rainbow on it. The moral panic that has broken out this summer over LGBTQ “presence” in Lebanon has created some stupid fucking moments, with this being one of the most surreal.

Last year, Master Chips changed the packaging of one of its products to remove a rainbow. And all throughout the Arab region, countries and individual have been cracking down on rainbows across society for a year now. More recently, Barbie has been put in the crosshairs, with Minister of Culture Mohamad Mortada moving to ban the film due to its promotion of “ways of life that are in violation of religion and morals.”

7ayye w selom is the latest casualty of this moral panic, and higher and higher heights of ridiculousness are being unlocked day by day.