“Do certain images of injured kids stay in my mind more than others? If you asked me that two years ago, then I could probably give an answer. But today, after witnessing the huge number of massacres that I have, it’s very hard to think of one specific instance. It’s become a daily occurrence. Now images stay in my mind for a short while before they slip away, to take their place alongside all the others. My own personal graveyard.” AFP Photographer Abd Doumany

Life in the City

“Young children love animals in general. They were really happy in the cat shelter… playing with the cats.” Photo: Mohammad Alaa Aljaleel

A crowd-sourced animal sanctuary in east Aleppo teaches compassion: ‘To love the small, weak cats is to love everything’

In Aleppo, many mosques have opened their doors to families fleeing the latest fighting but they are full now. These families stay in an open area near Raees Mosque in western Aleppo city, since there is no room left inside after the latest wave of attacks.
Photo: UNICEF/UN027711/Al-Issa

Keeping water flowing in Aleppo

Recently damaged hospital. Photo: HOSAM AL-JABLAWI

Aleppo’s Deteriorating Medical Sector

medicsunderfire.org

Open letter to Secretary John Kerry and President Obama,

The repeated targeting of healthcare workers and hospitals by the Russian and Syrian governments are war crimes. We call on you to give Syria’s heroic healthcare workers and the communities they serve a zone free from bombing to ensure their protection. The international community has agreed the bombs need to stop. The resolutions are in place. They simply need to be enforced. Over 9,525 have signed this letter. To add your signature, go to: Medicsunderfire.org.

The Economist reported that Syria’s president, a former doctor, is turning hospitals into death traps.

Syrians queue up to buy bread in a rebel held neighborhood on July 12, 2016.
PHOTO AFP/ KARAM AL-MASRI

Aleppian journalist Zaina Erhaim shares a personal account of life in the city in Chasing bananas, dodging bombs: Life and death in besieged Aleppo.

Burning tires in Aleppo to create smoke cover from airstrikes. August 2016. Photo: Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

Watching My Beloved Aleppo Rip Itself Apart. Lina Sergie Attar is a founder and the chief executive of the Karam Foundation, which provides humanitarian aid to Syrians.

The White Helmets were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. To support their nomination, click here. The AlJazeera documentary above was filmed before their nomination.

Reconstruction

A boy uses prosthetic arm provided by ROW. Image via Refugee Open Ware.

Wanda compiled a list of 10 initiatives using tech to prevent a lost generation of Syrians, creating educational and employment opportunities for refugees uprooted from their country struggling reboot their lives.

The post Aleppo Weekly – August 11-September 1 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

Aleppian Ahmad al-Sawas, Syria’s national gymnastics champion when fighting broke out, did not compete at the Rio Olympics. Read his story here.

Aleppians at the Olympics

Olympic Swimmer Baean Jouma. Damsascus. July 2016. Photo: Reuters/Omar Sanadiki.

Swimmer Baean Jouma is scheduled to compete as a member of the Syrian national team in the women’s 50m freestyle on Friday. Read her story here.

Ghofrane al-Mohammad is scheduled to compete as a member of the Syrian national team in the 400m hurdles on Tuesday. She competed in the same event in 2012, but was disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance.

Olympic Swimmer Rami Anis set a personal best in the 100m freestyle. Photo: EPA/Esteban Biba.

Swimmer Ramis Anis swam a personal best of 54.25sec in the 100m freestyle as a member of the Refugee Olympic team. “In 2020,” he said, “I hope I will be able to swim under my own flag.” Read his story here.

Aleppo Under Siege

Boys displaced from ongoing conflict shelter under makeshift tents on the Muhalak highway. Photo: UNICEF/UN027713/Al-Issa

Unicef urged all parties to allow technicians to repair the electricity and water systems. The city has been without water for several days.

We published July’s update of Armenak Tokmajyan’s Conflict Timeline.

Photo: AP

The Economist’s weekly obituary profiled Qusai Abtini, sit-com star of Aleppo. The fourteen year old was killed in mid-July while attempting to leave the city.

The post The Aleppo Weekly – July 29-August 10 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

ALEPPO UNDER SIEGE

Following months long battles over al-Mallah Farms in northwestern Aleppo, regime forces have descended onto the Castello Road and cut off the only supply route for eastern Aleppo. Now an estimated 300,000 Aleppians join another 1 million Syrians living under complete siege. Meanwhile the bombing that never stopped for a few years intensified.

“Al-Assad forces and Russian airplanes are trying to control this road to besiege Aleppo … Those civilians are in danger of a lack of food, medicine and everything. And all the world is silent towards these things. These crimes.” Make-shift Aleppo University lecturer AbdulKafi Alhamdo spoke to ITV about the siege.

Air strikes on July 23 destroyed 5 hospitals and a blood bank

Regime and Russian airstrikes on Aleppo City and the nearby town of Atareb rendered five hospitals and a blood bank inoperable.

Relief destroyed by air strikes. Photo: Ihsan Relief & Development

Airstrikes on July 24 destroyed a warehouse where 10,000 food baskets were kept in preparation for the siege. The warehouse was operated by Ihsan Relief and Development.

Al-Salheen Mosque after an air strike. Photo: Halab Today TV July 26

Cultural heritage was again targeted. An air strike on July 26 destroyed 12th Century al-Salheen Mosque in the south of Old Aleppo.

Eight Russian air strikes targeted the Atareb market as shop owners were closing. Dozens were killed.

Earlier, on July 18, International Coalition airstrikes had killed over 70 civilians in ISIS-held Tokhar Kabir in the eastern countryside of Aleppo. On their Facebook outlet, al-Sultan clan published names and photos of eight whole families who died in the bombing.

Aleppians queuing for bread. Photo: Karam Almasri

Signs of food shortages appeared as early as July 14 as Aleppians stood in long queues to buy bread, as images by AFP photographer Karam Almasri show.

ACADEMICS AND CIVIL SOCIETY RESPOND

“We now know the pattern of besiegement in Syria and so we know what is to come in Aleppo.” The Aleppo Project: Aleppo Under Siege.

Press Release: Launch of the Aleppo Pathway Initiative

Syrian activists and civil actors launched a the Aleppo Pathway initiative to coordinate support for people trapped inside Aleppo. “The door remains open for any individual, institution, or organization that feels a sense of responsibility towards the situation in Aleppo to get involved in this initiative.”

Syria Under Siege

Syria Pressure Advocacy Group (SPAG), a group of Syrian and international activists, called for worldwide protests against the sieges in Aleppo and the rest of Syria.

Budapest joined.

The post THE ALEPPO WEEKLY – JULY 13 – 28 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

Aleppo archaeologist Rami Alafandi and Asiah Abdul Rahim published The Lost Treasure of the Polychrome Wooden (‘ajami) Interior of Ghazalyeh House, Aleppo, Syria.

Cultural Heritage

Coffer panels, (D and E same panel) (Baydoun, 2011)

Their meticulous documentation will help restore the late 17th century house’s panels which were restored from 2009-2011 and then stolen in 2013.

Al Jazeera profiles Syrians working to protect their heritage.

The large Iwān at Janbolad palace. Photo: Tiffany Ftaimi.

Archaeologist Tiffany Ftaimi shows why Aleppo’s finest palace- the 16th century Dar Janbolad with its stunning Iwān mean so much to her and the Arab world.

The State of the Conflict

Father Choukri Touma, Syriac Orthodox Church surveys destruction in his community after rebel shelling. Photo: @Edwardedark

Some opposition groups increased indiscriminate shelling on government-held areas of Western Aleppo, killing at least 38 civilians.

I will not leave. Photo: Rami Jarrah.

Civilians are stockpiling food in anticipation of a potential siege as government forces and allies come ever closer to taking control of Castello Road, the last open road into rebel-held Aleppo.

Castello Road. Late June 2016. Photo: Dr. Zaher Sahloul/LA Times

For the latest on-the-ground developments, see Syria.liveuamap.com

From left -pediatrician John Kahler, critical care specialist Zaher Sahloul and orthopedic surgeon Samer Attar. Al Quds Pediatric Hospital ruins. Late June 2016. Photo: Dr. Zaher Sahloul/LA Times

The LA Times profiled three Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) doctors who recently traveled to Aleppo.

I have no words to describe the fear and horror there. It was hell. … I saw so many people die. — Syrian American Dr. Samer Attar, orthopedic surgeon from Chicago.

Girls walking home. Late June 2016. Photo: Dr. Zaher Sahloul/LA Times

We published June’s update of Armenak Tokmajyan’s Conflict Timeline.

Activists recently started using this image and hashtag #كلنا_حلب #WeAreAleppo.

The post The Aleppo Weekly – July 6-12 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

“Big businesses are closing and the problems we are facing only young people can solve…The need for startups and entrepreneurship culture is really essential for Syria.” Leen Darwish. Read about her coding app Remmaz here.

More Youth Voices

Faia Younan. Photo: EPA.

“I sing songs that are not primarily about the war itself, but somehow deal with its existence…For example, I have recently sung a song about a mother humming her child to sleep not knowing if the next day was going to be a good day or not, if her child was going to survive or not…So she sings: ‘Sleep my little bird, tomorrow everything will be better’. It is a bittersweet song, but it doesn’t deal with the war explicitly.” Aleppo Native Faia Younan.

Hajar’s story. Hajar lost her mother and three sisters, Noura, Mouna and Aysha in an April airstrike

International and Diaspora Voices

Amnesty International  issued a new report –Torture was my punishment-Abducation, Torture and Summary Killings under Armed Group Rule in Aleppo and Idleb, Syria.

“I witnessed the summary killing of two captured shabiha fighters by the al-Shamia Front in front of al-Shifa hospital in Aleppo city on two separate dates in 2015. The al-Shamia Front announced the execution publicly and then shot them with a rifle. They left the bodies for a few hours on the street for people to see.” Aleppo city resident

Tamador and her sons arrive in Toronto. Photo: Liz Beddall/Metro

One refugee family’s long journey from Aleppo to Markham.

Levent Topçu works to improve lives for Syrian refugees.

Dr. Sahloul. Photo: SAMS.

Dr. Zaher Sahloul traveled with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS) from Chicago for his fifth medical mission to Aleppo. He stayed “at a hospital that was bombed several times and the people … built it underground for protection.” Listen to him explain how the city has changed over the past 18 months here.

OXFAM America highlighted the important role Syria’s diaspora places in humanitarian relief efforts and planning for the future.

Palmyra. Photo: UNESCO.

Two UN agencies have joined forces to protect heritage sites using satellite imagery. UNOSAT released a new report with satellite imagery illustrating damage to cultural heritage sites, including Palmyra and Old Aleppo.

Aleppo, 2016. Photo: Rami Jarrah.

The IMF released a Working Paper on Syria’s war economy. Its key messages are: (1) Syria’s GDP is less than half of pre-war levels and could take two decades or more to recover; and that (2) rebuilding Syria’s human and social capital will be a larger challenge than rebuilding its physical infrastructure.

The post The Aleppo Weekly- June 28-July 5 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

A market in the Shaar district shortly before iftar. Click here to watch the video.

Voices from the City

Syria Deeply profiled a makeshift school in Aleppo.

“We’ve been here doing this for two years, 12 teachers with no payment at all. Two years of volunteer work for the kids to save them from illiteracy.” Abu Ibrahim, Teacher, Old City

Al Zahra Hospital. Photo: Ismael Abdulrahman/Al Jazeera.

Al-Zahra Hospital is eastern Aleppo’s last remaining obstetric clinic. An airstrike hit the area’s main pediatric facility in late April, killing many, including a prominent pediatrician. Dr. Zahed Qaterji told Asharq Al-Awsat that doctors at Al Quds faced “unprecedented challenges.” 

To transfer patients to the hospital, “We place the lives of the patient, the person accompanying him, the driver and his assistant in danger, because the four persons are forced to cross the Castello road which is now similar to a suicidal attempt.” Dr. Qaterji, Al Quds Hospital

Instructions from The Syria Civil Defense or the White Helmets about what to do in case of an attack.

The Conflict

Over the past several weeks, assailants have attempted to assassinate military leaders and independent journalists. Al-Monitor asks, Who is killing Syrian opposition figures in Aleppo, Idlib?

Photo: Mustafa Sultan/Anadolu Agency/Getty Imagese

Multiple sources reported that Russia recently used incendiary munitions in civilian areas.

Civilians fleeing al-Bab area. Photo: ANHA.

The Islamic State reportedly abducted about 900 Kurdish civilians near al-Bab over the past few weeks.

Refugee Voices

Huzaifa, a 15-year-old refugee from Aleppo in Germany. Photo: The Guardian.

Emotional trauma leaves deep wounds for Syria’s child refugees.

Muhannad Qaiconie in Macedonia where helped families carry their children (MEE/Muhannad Qaiconie)

“All of these people who have helped me – and I know I’m not the only person with this experience – are allowing me and fellow Syrians the possibility to go on and not to lose hope. This world is continuing because of them, because of people who are working in silence, helping, and sending love. People like them are making this awful world so much better. Now I believe in helping people more than anything. To all of you, thank you so much. Muhannad Qaiconie, Refugee from Aleppo in Germany.

Photo: Teun Voeten / Panos

SciDev Net’s View on Migration: Protect refugees with mobile banking.

Reconstruction

Graphic: World Bank, May 2016.

Yezid Sayigh, Senior Associate at the Carnegie Middle East Center in Beirut called for new approaches to economic reconstruction in Reconstructing Syria: The need to break the mould.

The American Security Project published a White Paper on Syrian Stabilization and Reconstruction. The paper draws on lessons from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Somalia to recommend ways to stabilize and rebuild Syria after the conflict.

The post Aleppo Weekly- June 22- 27 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

Voices from Aleppo

Islam Mardini published a series of recent photographs shot from regime-controlled areas near the frontline.

“Heavenly Space of Humanity.” Photo: Islam Mardini.

Mr. Mardini, an Aleppo native, won a “Spirit of Humanity” award in 2015 for his photography.

“Aleppo is known for two main things: the food and the music,” Ghuydar Bashmaf

Photo: Ridwan Adhami for Islamic Relief USA.

Ghuydar Bashmaf is a well-known, U.S.-based nasheed singer who recently performed a public recitation of the Qur’an at Muhammad Ali’s funeral. Islamic Relief USA featured his memories of food and music during Ramadan in Aleppo on Day 14 of its 30 faces of Ramadan series.

Food

“Every family would send a child before maghrib time to the neighborhood shop to get fresh falafel, hummus, and atayef. The most important thing is the atayef,” he said, remembering this special Ramadan pancake stuffed with ricotta cheese or walnuts and fried. “The rich people fill them with pistachios,” he added. Another popular Halabi dessert is mshabek, a fried dough formed into interesting circular shapes and soaked in sweet syrup.

Music

“The music is special in Ramadan,” he said. “They dedicate a certain portion of every night to singing the qaseedahs, long structured poems praising God.”

Syriac Orthodox Archbishop Gregorios Ibrahim of Aleppo. He has been missing since April 2013. Photo: Aid to the Church in Need.

During Ramadan, the Syriac Orthodox church is offering meals to poor families in Sulaimaniyah.

It is “a simple gesture aimed at expressing solidarity between people of different religious backgrounds with the hope that it will, in time, help to restore the peaceful coexistence that existed among Syria’s various religious and ethnic communities before the war.” The Archdiocese of Aleppo.

Aleppo’s Heritage

Image: 3Dmeans.com

Panoramic image-based modeling for the Umayyad Mosque of Aleppo.

The Conflict

Click here for the latest Aleppo Conflict Timeline updates, maps and charts.

The children’s hospital in eastern Aleppo reopened after being hit by an airstrike earlier this month.

Al-Qatiriji, Aleppo. Image: HRW/ (c) 2016 Digital Globe/Next View

Human Rights Watch called on the United States and Russia to investigate recent attacks in Aleppo.

“As fighting escalates again in Aleppo, the US and Russia should keep their commitment to investigate, to maintain their credibility.” Nadim Houry, Deputy Middle East Director

Photo: ANHA

In mid-June, civilians in ISIS-controlled Manbij fled what appears to be an imminent PYD-affiliated Syrian Democratic Force attack on the town. Activists said that decreasing stocks of food and diesel combined with an International Coalition airstrike on a wheat storage facility raised fears that bakeries would cease to operate.

Syrian refugee: ‘Five of my family were shot’ at Turkish border. BBC

Activists report that Turkish border guards have killed several Syrian civilians attempting to cross the border to safety.

The post Aleppo Weekly- June 13-21 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

Olympic refugee team: Rami Anis’ journey from Aleppo to the Rio 2016 Games.

Rami is one of ten members of the first Refugee Olympic Team. He is joined on the team by Damascus native and swimmer Yusra Mardini.

Cultural Heritage

German Commission for UNESCO / Till Budde.

Syrian and international experts met in Berlin in early June to assess damage to cultural heritage sites in Syria, develop methodologies and define priority emergency safeguarding measures for the country’s heritage.

The Conflict

Undetonated Explosive Hose. Photo: Mustafa Hussein.

Activists reported that the government dropped 100-meter-long mine-clearing explosive hoses June 11 over al-Breij.

Activists said this was the first time the government had dropped the weapons on Aleppo. They have been used in other areas, most notably the Jobar district of Damascus in 2014.

The UN issued a strong condemnation after three hospitals in rebel-held areas of the Syrian city of Aleppo were attacked in the space of three hours. At least 20 people, including many children, were killed in al-Shaar.

Agony in Aleppo – inside Syria’s Al-Quds hospital

The post Aleppo Weekly- May 31-June 12 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

A recent anonymous author’s photo (weekly featured image) of Aleppo’s Clock Tower has been circulating in Syrian social media. The structure, one of Aleppo’s main sites, has endured some damage, especially to the clock part of the tower. Access to the area is restricted as it became at the frontline on the regime controlled side.

Qabas educational organisation in Aleppo takes its students in a “historical tour” around the Old City. They visited, among other sites, Bimaristan an-Nouri – a 12th Century mental institution where patients used to be treated with means that included the sound of water fountains.

World Bank report: Aleppo is the worst hit Syrian city, with housing and energy the most badly affected sectors.

A video from an anonymous French source of Aleppo’s most famous fawwal, or ful cook, Abu Abdo, shows rare footage of the lively interaction between the customers and the renowned fawwal.

Radio Hara FM publishes videos from Old Aleppo in 360 degree imaging

Aleppian programmer invited to participate in the Google I/O 2016 conference in the US was rejected visa, creating sympathy and discontent in Syrian social media. Here’s about his company’s most popular app, Gherbtna (Our Expatriation).

ASOR launches its Cultural Heritage Monitor app for phones and PC. It allows people to report on status quo of sites as well as violations, such as artefact theft.

The post The Aleppo Weekly – May 17 – 30 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.

The relentless pummelling of Sheikh Maqsoud has devastated the lives of civilians in the area. A wide array of armed groups from the Fatah Halab coalition has launched what appear to be repeated indiscriminate attacks that may amount to war crimes,” Magdalena Mughrabi, Amnesty International.

Syrian Voices

Channel 4 broadcast Children of the Frontline: The Escape, a documentary following the war through the eyes of four siblings from Aleppo. Filmmaker Marcel Mettelsiefen spoke to CNN’s Christian Amanpour about the film and the family’s amazing story.

Istanbul Sweat Shop. CBSNews.

CBS News filmed Syrian refugee children working in Istanbul sweatshops.

Tariq al-Bab. 30 April 2016. Photo: Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters

“You work in such a dangerous place for a long enough time, then your chances of dying increase. It’s even harder when you have a family, when people depend on you.” Aleppian neurosurgeon Dr. Rami Kalazi.

Documenting the Conflict

The Aleppo Project published the Aleppo Conflict Timeline.

Human rights activists in Syria launched the Syrian Archive “dedicated to preserving open source documentation relating to human rights violations and other crimes committed by all sides during the conflict.”

Cultural Heritage

Palmyra. REUTERS/SANA

UNESCO steps in to protect what’s left of Syria’s Palmyra.

The post The Aleppo Weekly, May 10-16 appeared first on The Aleppo Project.