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People Are Dying in Aleppo Right Now

byDorothy
December 15, 2016

It’s not our city. It’s not our loved ones. It’s not affecting us in any way. But it’s certainly our business.

As you read this right now, people in Aleppo are dying. Children are being burned alive and women are killing themselves to avoid rape. Families are crying over the loss of their loved ones and are staring at the dead bodies of their siblings, parents, and friends. Activists and those with social media are tweeting out their goodbyes and leaving their final messages for the world.

It’s our job to listen.

This is not about race, culture, heritage, relation, or religious belief. This is about being human. This is about realizing that those who are dying right now are exactly like us and we all got the luck of the draw by not being the ones currently in this position. This could have very well been happening to your family, your friends, your teachers, your co-workers, your neighbors, and literally everyone else in your life if the tables had been turned.

We are guilty of turning a blind eye and barely speaking up on what is happening in the Middle East because we are so disassociated with it and lucky enough to have other trivial things to consume us. Right now, we don’t have to worry about a bomb dropping on us. We don’t have to worry about not having any food or water. And we are guilty of taking that for granted. It’s nothing we have control over, but it’s something we have to acknowledge that we are incredibly lucky to have.

We have to acknowledge the privilege we have right now and use it to help others.

This is a time that many of us are feeling pretty helpless. We can’t put on a superhero costume and fly to the Middle East to save all the innocent lives. We can’t prevent the bombs from falling from the sky or heal those who are gravely injured. But that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything.

Citizens of Aleppo are begging for us to care. They’re begging for us to pay attention to what is currently happening and to spread awareness so we can start putting pressure on those with authority to prevent events like these from ever happening again. Right now, it feels like there will never be a day in our world without war in the Middle East. The amount of helplessness being felt all around the world today is enough to diminish all hope entirely.

But no matter how little of a difference we think we can make, there’s no denying that the more of us that stand up to this, the bigger the impact will be – even if it may seem small.

To be in a place where such horrific things are taking place is hard enough – but to even imagine for one second how helpless and lonely those in Aleppo must be feeling is even worse. No one is listening. If you turn on your television right now or open up a news site, you’ll have a better chance of seeing a news story on a celebrity than anything even remotely related to the Middle East. Citizens of Aleppo feel abandoned, ignored, and not cared about – and it’s our job to prove that’s not the case.

We need to spread awareness of what is happening. We need to be on social media or talking to friends and family so we can alert as many people as possible. What happens in the Middle East on a daily basis is no big news flash to us. We are well aware of the atrocity others face – and choose to ignore and not think about it as we live our lives.

We may give it a minute of our time every now and again, but at the end of the day, we resume our lives and barely remember it again. Citizens of Aleppo are begging us to take notice. Human lives like us are begging us to acknowledge what is happening to them currently and protest it.

It can feel like the least helpful thing in the entire world to simply tweet about it or share an article on Facebook to let those in our lives about it – but it needs to be done. Social media is our biggest platform and we constantly use it for unimportant things. We are now at a moment in time where we can use it for something extremely important.

Unless you’re a millionaire with heaps of money to donate to charities, this is probably your only chance to help out. And if you’re worried that posting about Aleppo will cause you to lose followers, then you are truly showing your lack of humanity when others need it the most. Because honoring the lives of people who died for freedom should mean more to you than your social media reputation.

Please think of those who are dying right now, and help others think of them too.

Here are some other things you can do to help: 

  • Keep up with what is happening. Follow the Twitter accounts of those who are in Aleppo right now. If you can’t rely on the media or they aren’t covering it currently, there’s no better news source you can get than from those who are witnessing what is happening firsthand. Here are some accounts that are reporting on the events and feelings that are being experienced right now: @Mr_Alhamdo, @Linashamy, @AhmadAlkhtiib, @AmalHanano, @shawncarrie, @ZouhirAlShimale, @AlabedBana. Scroll through their tweets. Watch their videos. Retweet their messages so others hear them too.
  • If you’re in a position to help financially, donate to these charities/organizations: Human Appeal, Save the Children, White Helmets, Syrian American Medical School, Hand in Hand for Syria, & UOSSM.
  • Don’t forget this. Do not forget about all the lives lost and brutality that is currently happening. To do that would be the most disrespectful thing you could ever do to all the people who are dying right now in the name of freedom. Continue to help them spread their message and stand with their beliefs for peace. Any small thing you can do is better than doing nothing.

 

Author
Dorothy
Dorothy is a Young Adult author who has an obsession with American politics. When she's not ranting at 3am on the internet about why she loves Star Wars, you can find her drinking green tea and binge watching television shows on Netflix in an attempt to avoid her responsibilities.
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