For sundry vivacious centuries, Aleppo, Syria was the third utmost populous metropolis of the time-honored Ottoman Empire, circa 1233 to 1922. Following the archaic megacity of Constantinople—which is presently recognized as Istanbul, Turkey—and Cairo in magnitude, Aleppo has been reportedly inhabited chronicling back to the sixth millennium. For instance, cuneiform script—which was systematic communication that translates to “wedge-shaped” predating horse-and-buggies in its precedence—of the ancient kingdoms of Elba and Mesopotamia were its leading introduction into historical significance, for it is depicted in its “commercial and military proficiency” as a result of its locality at the tail-end of the illustrious Silk Road.
Modernly, however, Aleppo is the Syria governorate’s foremost ample metropolitan area, and additionally, was high-ranking in populace throughout the geographical Levant. In fact, with reference to the 2004 census, its certified citizenry summed to 2,132,100.
Furthermore, Aleppo’s cultural influence has been exuberant throughout the Middle East, and is conventionally characterized as an epicenter for traditional Arabic music, architecture, art, and cuisine. Its assortment of accomplishments in diversified fields have been paraded throughout the National Museum of Aleppo, the Aleppine House, the Aleppo Citadel Museum, the Museum of Medicine and Science, the Aleppo Memory Museum, and Zarehian Treasury of the Armenian Apostolic Church.
In spite of its archival citywide boisterousness and potpourri of ethnicities and nationalities, from Arabic to Turkish, Kurdish, Circasscian, Chechen, Bulgarian, Greek, Albanian, Armenian, and Bosnian, civil war blazoned in 2012 would invoke the cascading fall of Aleppo’s empire.
To summarize, what is customarily identified as the “Battle of Aleppo”, which is an ongoing military confrontation between the Syrian opposition and the governmental Syrian Armed Forces, was the dawn of the Syrian civil war’s ill-starred dayspring in its origin. It commenced on July 19th, 2012, and has been nicknamed by its combatants as the “mother of battles” and “Syria’s Stalingrad,” its estimated casualties tallying at four hundred thousand souls perished.
Across miscellaneous social media platforms, occupants of Aleppo have implored the public for aid throughout its refugee emergency, and as of December 2016, for mere acknowledgment of their bloodshed.
USA Today documented pleas for helping hands, including sixty-year old Radhwan Salem, who sought, “Where are our supporters? […] Believers in humanity, I don’t understand how can the entire world watch this and do nothing. Oh, God, help us.”
“We are not afraid of death, and we have no demands. […] We only want freedom for us, and to rob it from [President Bashar al-Assad]. I have lived my life in this city, I raised my children and their children here. I am ready to give my life defending my family.”
Moreover, Abdulla Saleem, a thirty-nine-year old physician dwelling “in the bombed out remains of a building“, employed WhatsApp to express his gruesome frightfulness, “They are killing everyone. […] My friends are doctors, who were providing the only possible medical care to the injured. Now they are butchered. Everyone is dying. I will soon die, too.”
Amongst fathers, mothers, sons, and daughters falling prey beneath architectural debris only that of warfare can shepherd, a purported twenty female civilians have committed suicide to evade the menacing peril of sexual assault by rebel mercenaries.
In accordance with Metro News, a proclaimed nurse scrawled out a tearstained suicide note to bear her conclusive grievances to the scholars of Ummah and the aforestated Syrian opposition. Within it, she avowed (trigger warning for suicide and explicit mentions of sexual assault), “I am one of the woman in Aleppo who will soon be raped in just moments..there are no more weapons or men that can stand between us and the animals who are about to come called the ‘country’s army.’
‘I don’t want anything from you…I don’t even want your supplication…as I am still able to speak I think my supplication is going to be more truthful than what you say!
‘I am committing suicide…and I don’t care if you say I am in Hell-Fire!
‘I am committing suicide because I [didn’t] remain firm in my deceased father’s home for all these years because his heart burned when he saw all those who left Aleppo[.]
‘I am committing suicide not due to no reason but because I do not want several members of the Assad Regime to savor raping me while just yesterday they were afraid to say the word ‘Aleppo.’
‘I am committing suicide because the Day of Resurrection has taken place in Aleppo and I don’t think Hell-Fire will be worse than this.
‘I am committing suicide and I know all of you will unite on my entering of Hell-Fire and that will be the only thing that you will unite upon: the suicide of a woman. Not your mother or sister or wife…but a woman you are not concerned about.
‘I will conclude by saying that your fatwa (verdicts) have become meaningless to me so save it for yourself and your family.
‘I am committing suicide.'”
As of late, the Syrian rebel regime has anticipated plausible ceasefire whilst the pro-government militia pledges for the evacuation of the men-at-arms comprising the opposition, publicizing that it will eventuate within the “coming hours.”
“On [December 15th, 2016], a media outlet run by the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah, a close ally of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, reported that a ceasefire had been reached and that opposition fighters will be allowed to evacuate besieged rebel-held pockets of eastern Aleppo.”
However, evacuation settlements have been agreed upon and subsequently denied time and time again, including, “On Wednesday morning, [when] buses and ambulances had been brought to evacuate rebel fighters and their families—only to be turned away shortly afterwards. […] Hours after the first agreement—brokered mainly by Russia and Turkey—collapsed, air strikes resumed over rebel-held territory, where at least [fifty thousand], but possibly as many as [one hundred thousand], civilians remain.”
Whilst the contending armies have engaged throughout their offensive and defensive attacks, approximately fifty thousand Aleppo residents have fled their fatherland over the course of the past week in pursuit of political asylum/sanctuary whilst those who have not attained means of transportation are at a standstill amongst contemptible gunfire and grenades.
We, as privileged individuals veiled from the atrocities happening as this article is orchestrated, cannot allow human beings to broadcast their ultimate testimonies succumbing to imminent death as bloodletting unfolds around them. If you have the resources to benefit the victims of this massacre, visit the following Affinity Magazine article by my fellow staff writer, Annam Ramzan, for organizations to contribute to here.
To the people of Aleppo, Syria: we are with you.
