After Aleppo; what now for the innocents? Their City and their Lives lie in piles of Blasted Rubble.
The siege of Aleppo was seemingly brought to a close just before Christmas 2016. For the survivors there are lives to rebuild.
The appetite for this sort of news is frail. The next Trump, Assange, Pizzagate or even, dare I say it, ‘Bitcoin’ headline will drown the tragic truth of those left to survive in the rubble of lives once lived.
Aleppo is a shadow of its former self.
The buildings demonstrate the passage of war; the shattered lives hide the spectres of horror which ravaged this land.
First the buildings:
Once the heart of industrial and commercial life in Syria, Aleppo drew visitors from all over the globe.
But four years of conflict have ravaged the historic Old City, smashing its ancient palaces,toppling its historic minarets and scorching its old stone walls.
As the evacuation of the rebel held areas draw to a close and government forces establish their presence, pictures have emerged of the bombed out ruins that remain.
Citadel
The walled 13th century Citadel of Aleppo is an iconic fixture of the city's landscape.
Considered one of the oldest and largest castles in the world, extensive conservation work was carried out on it during the early part of the century.
Now its walls are pockmarked with bullet holes and extensive damage has been done both inside and out.
Umayyad mosque
The Ummayad mosque, one of the largest and oldest in the world, reputedly houses the remains of John the Baptist's father.
Its ancient stone minaret was toppled during the fighting and now lies in ruins on the floor.
Entrance to the al-Zarab souk
Raw silk from Iran and spices and dyes from India used to travel through the entrance to the al-Zarab souk in the old city, which was once a busy trade hub.
Now it is home to the little more than rubbish and rubble.
Hammam al-Nahasin
Hammam al-Nahasin, to the south of the mosque in Aleppo's ancient souk, is a male-only bath house dating back to the 13th century. It was once a popular tourist attraction.
Then there are the unseen scars, but they are all too real:
The unedited story of an Aleppo Family Man
"I have been displaced three times, and what people just don’t get is that we are Syrians as everyone here, we’ve just been deprived of our lives. My wife and my daughters sleep at the mosque and I sleep under this tent against the mosque, I have to maintain my store. Before I had a company, employees, eight machines, we worked with stone. As I came to work in Aleppo, the “free army” as they used to be called before, deduced that I was pro-regime and they burned my house, stole my machines and they shot me in the leg. I lost everything and I can’t even afford a rent now. I set up this tent and I have this small stall to survive with my wife and four children… It is so hard… You work your whole life to build something and suddenly overnight, you have nothing. I wanted to cling to life, I moved my family in another area of the city and I managed to rent a machine to keep working but they came back, they gained ground and we had to flee again, and again. I had an open-heart surgery a few years ago, I’m in poor health but I still try to do my best, I cannot carry anything, collecting water is too hard because it’s impossible for me to carry the water container so it’s my wife and my son who take care of that; even if I don’t want my son to work I have no choice but to ask him to help me. I think about my daughters, I have three daughters and I believe I was less afraid when my house burnt than today to protect my daughters, I’m scared for them. My dream would be to find a new house, a place for us, and even if I thank God for this little job I have, I would like to find something else; I worked hard before with my company. My little boy will always be able to hold its own, but I’m scared for my daughters. I ensure that my four children study whatever happens to be, I’ll give my life if I have to."
This tragedy will, unfortunately, still be playing out after several Superbowls, Olympics, World Cups and so forth ... Why?
Follow @ebryans and for a Community of steemit support and initiatives, come and join us at Aspiring Steemit Whales and Dolphins. We are about 100 strong and full of ideas to make your steemit experience an even happier one.
Click to find out more about us:
Follow @ebryans for Content:
@EBryans, your post has been chosen by @STEEMNEWS.ONLINE as one of today's promoted posts for its excellent content. We've upvoted, resteemed and published it through Facebook & Twitter.
As the author of a SNO featured article, you've been awarded one TRAIL coin. Please stop by the SteemTrail Discord server to learn more about how to claim your TRAIL coin. You will need an Open Ledger account to do so.
STEEMNEWS.ONLINE is the @SteemTrail for #news and watches the #steemnews tag most closely. Please consider supporting excellent news articles by making steemnews.online one of your operators on Streemian, in addition to steemtrail.
Thank you for your hard work and contribution of excellent content to Steemit.
If you would rather not be promoted by STEEMNEWS.ONLINE, please inform us by replying to this comment and we will honor your request.
Thank you my friends, I am very grateful to you for what you bring to the community and for your support for writers like me who get scant notice from the fat ones!!
and everything happend for what? just because some people are way to greedy... People in power lost nothing and again innocents lost everything. Meanwhile there is a bunch of stupid ones that when they see syrian refugees they consider them at least traitor for not fighting a war against the 6+ different ''teams'' that involved down there
It is one of the most desperately vile acts of the US ... ever ... Obama should be hung drawn and quartered for this.
The USA decided to sponsor a whole bunch of terrorists (called Al-Qa'eda and ISIS and Nusra Front) to appease the filthy Saudis on one side and the filthy Israelis on the other. Assad gets vilified for mass murder of his own citizens - if that were even remotely true, why did they then vote him back in ... over 70% voted for him - show me a leader with that mandate!
Just so, so sad!
Thank you for commenting - you obviously care deeply too. Imagine if that happened in the USA ... imagine!
and dont forget france too and it has a part on this war. Its like you say in your in your last sentence and i can imagine this happend in my country too. Mine,yours everyone lives can change in a minute drastically because of some retards and their greed
Include UK for that matter, always saying yes to big brother.
i can include a lot more :P i said 6+ if we start now including in a couple of hours we would have a lot of involving :p
yes..and its my tax money that theyre spending to do those things.
I am afraid that the whole of Europe has a part in it! A British ex-military guy started the White Helmets (sounds innocent) - they were the propaganda machine initially funded by Soros and then the rest of the west! Diabolical.
yes go figure.. hope more people obtain some logic and realize who are they that make europe-america and the whole world like that and why instead of just blaming each other
My heart is broken at the sight of the pictures...
I lived in Aleppo with my parents for almost one year. I was only 13, and loved to live there.
That is so sad to hear. I live next door to a lovely Syrian family.
Their lives were just uprooted by US sponsored terrorism. Tulsi Gabbard is the US hero of the hour - go girl!
Great post @ebryans! Kind of reminds me of Libya, as they had the highest living standard in Africa before US intervention (petrodollar)
We wish to end all wars in the world. And build peace for all . Thank you
Would that not just be a magnificent thing? An a-political, agenda free movement that just said 'NO WAR' - nothing else needs to be explained really.