Writing on the brutal, inhuman massacre in Aleppo, Firasha Shaikh asks the Syrian regime and its allies to tell the world what the crime of Aleppo was.
My name is Bana, I’m 7 years old. I am talking to the world now live from East #Aleppo. This is my last moment to either live or die. – Bana”
This was the last tweet of a little girl living in Aleppo on her Twitter handle managed by her mother, on 13 December 2016 after which it went silent.
Syria. The five-year long civil war, the deadliest conflict so far of the 21st century, which left 450,000 people dead, 1 million people injured, and over 12 million Syrians, which is half the country’s population, displaced from their homes.
The world watched numb with horror, as the long drawn battle between the Syrian Government under the leadership of President Bashar Al-Assad and its foreign allies, Russia, Iran and Lebanon-based Hezbollah against the Free Syrian Army a rebel group backed by ISIL and Kurdish forces finally showed the signs of an ending on 13 December, as the Syrian Army took over 98% of East Aleppo.
The Syrian crisis, like so many unfortunate events this year, raised some pertinent and worrying questions. As much as there is grief and solidarity for the people of Aleppo, there is also outrage, disgust and confusion. Outrage at the loss of innocent lives. Disgust and confusion as to how anybody could allow this to happen to other human beings. Shockingly enough, the debate on certain online platforms seems to be about whether the Syrian government should be lauded or berated! Some blamed the Syrian people for supporting the rebels, while others invoked curses upon Russia and its forces. More shockingly still, when President Bashar Al Assad was shown a haunting video of a five-year old Syrian boy wiping dust from his bloodied face, he dismissed it as “propaganda”. At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on 13 December, the Syrian envoy presented a photograph he falsely claimed was of a Syrian soldier assisting a Syrian woman. It was later reported by multiple journalists to be a photo taken in Iraq of an Iraqi soldier helping an Iraqi woman.
It seems some people have become totally devoid of any sense of humanity. The question is not whether Assad and his allies were right or the rebels were in the wrong. The question nobody is asking is what was the crime of the people of Aleppo? On what basis can they be called “terrorists”? Ask yourself in all honesty, what terrorist act was committed by that little girl, Bana Alabed? What was the crime of that dazed child wiping his bloodied face, Omran Daqneesh? What was the crime of three-year old Alan Kurdi, whose lifeless body was washed ashore on a Mediterranean beach? What about those innocent women who were actually asking their religious scholars if they could commit suicide before they were raped by Syrian army? What about the cries and wails of countless parents who had lost their children in drone attacks and chlorine gas attacks? What about the suffering of those people who watched their loved ones crushed to death under the rubble of buildings? The suffering of the people trying to cross the sea on crammed lifeboats? Of those who lost everything they held dear, for no fault of theirs? It is unbelievable how anyone can look at those harrowing images, watch these heart-breaking videos, hear the impassioned screams of the oppressed and still call it ‘propaganda’?
To all those rejoicing over Assad’s supposed victory, ask yourself why in the name of God, did thousands of men women and children pay the ultimate price? What was their crime? They never asked for a war. They never asked for any of this. They were ordinary people living their lives but it was threatened by a ruthless regime which had no regard for its citizens. They were innocent children with hopes and aspirations, not unlike other children, when all of a sudden they started waking up to the sounds of bombs and destruction instead of chirping birds. As UN Ambassador Samantha Powers said in her speech at the emergency meeting of the UNSC, “Are you truly incapable of shame? Is there nothing that can shame you?”
Another question that remains to be answered is why couldn’t civilians be evacuated before the launch of the offensive? Buses for evacuation and medical aid were seen arriving in large numbers after the government had seized control of rebel-held areas. One wonders why couldn’t all these things have been considered beforehand. If the Syrian government, which by the way had the unlimited backing of military supremos like Russia and Iran, really cared about the safety of its citizens, what prevented them from making adequate arrangements for the civilian population before sending their army?
If that’s not enough then there are innumerable reports with evidence of the Syrian Army committing gross large-scale war crimes such as deliberately targeting civilians, using human shields, destruction of property, rape, plunder, gas attacks, etc., to name a few. The Syrian government should realise that no amount of white-washing or sugar-coating is going to hide their appalling violations.
Had those in power performed their responsibilities sincerely, had those in power stemmed the initial unrest through dialogue and peaceful means, had global powers like the USA not meddled in West Asia affairs, had they not sowed the seeds of ISIL, had the Arab world, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, taken a firm stance against USA, had they learnt their lessons from the Arab Spring… perhaps Syria would not have suffered in the way it has… in a way we wouldn’t wish on our worst enemy.
“In war there are never any winners. There are only survivors.” Aleppo is a haunting reminder of this old maxim. It’s high time for the global community in general and the Muslim World in particular to get their act together before it is too late.