“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.

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.

Last week, while the bombing of Aleppo intensified, three brothers went out to play. They ended up at the Al Quds hospital, where a volunteer was filming the doctors at work. Published by Channel 4 News on 8 June.

The post Agony in Aleppo-inside Syria’s Al-Quds hospital appeared first on The Aleppo Project.