People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr, Syria on Thursday: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016
People inspect the damage at a site hit by airstrikes, in the rebel-held area of Aleppo’s Bustan al-Qasr, Syria on Thursday: photo by Abdalrhman Ismail/Reuters, 28 April 2016
#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
In the uncertain hour before the morning
Near the ending of interminable night
At the recurrent end of the unending
After the dark dove with the flickering tongue
Had passed below the horizon of his homing
While the dead leaves still rattled on like tin
Over the asphalt where no other sound was
Between three districts whence the smoke arose
I met one walking, loitering and hurried
As if blown towards me like the metal leaves
Before the urban dawn wind unresisting.
And as I fixed upon the down-turned face
That pointed scrutiny with which we challenge
The first-met stranger in the waning dusk
I caught the sudden look of some dead master
Whom I had known, forgotten, half recalled
Both one and many; in the brown baked features
The eyes of a familiar compound ghost
Both intimate and unidentifiable.
So I assumed a double part, and cried
And heard another's voice cry: 'What! are you here?'
Although we were not. I was still the same,
Knowing myself yet being someone other --
And he a face still forming; yet the words sufficed
To compel the recognition they preceded.
And so, compliant to the common wind,
Too strange to each other for misunderstanding,
In concord at this intersection time
Of meeting nowhere, no before and after,
We trod the pavement in a dead patrol.
T.S. Eliot (1888-1965): from Little Gidding (1942)
[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning: "It's like an apocalypse"
Government forces bombed the city of Aleppo: image via baraa al halabi @baraaalhalabi, 28 April 2016
People walk amid the rubble of destroyed buildings following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of Al Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo. The death toll from an upsurge of fighting in Syria’s second city rose despite a plea by the UN envoy for the warring sides to respect a February ceasefire.: photo by Ameer Alhalbi / AFP, 28 April 2016
Syria's truce is over as airstrikes destroy Aleppo hospital: With at least 27 patients and staff reported dead, UN says urgent aid is needed amid multiple breaches of ceasefire: Kareem Shaheen i Beirut and Ian Black in London for the Guardian, 28 April 2016
Syria’s
eight-week truce was dead in all but name on Thursday after airstrikes
destroyed an Aleppo hospital backed by Médecins Sans Frontières and the
International Committee of the Red Cross, killing patients and doctors.
After today's attacks in #Syria, @hcoster on why warring factors target hospitals: image via Reuters Opinion @ReutersOpinion, 28 April 2016
Staffan de Mistura, the UN envoy for Syria, declared the cessation of hostilities agreement brokered by the US and Russia
“barely alive”. Jan Egeland, the UN’s humanitarian coordinator, warned
of a “catastrophic deterioration” in Aleppo in the past 24 to 48 hours.
#Aleppo #Syria #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
No date has been agreed to resume suspended peace talks in Geneva,
but De Mistura urged Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin to work to restore
the truce and permit urgent humanitarian deliveries. In the past 48
hours there has been an average of one Syrian civilian killed every 25
minutes, and one wounded every 13 minutes.
#Syria People leaving after a reported airstrike in #Aleppo #AFP photo by @baraaalhalabi Aleppo #AFP: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY 28 April 2016
MSF said 14 patients and staff members including two doctors were
killed in al-Quds hospital. One doctor was the last paediatrician in the
rebel-held part of Aleppo. The opposition Higher Negotiations Committee
said the attack killed at least 27 in total, including three children.
"There's no truce here" - for battered Aleppo residents, the Syria ceasefire is already dead: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016
It fit a pattern of systematic targeting of hospitals by the government of Bashar al-Assad,
as the situation in Syria’s divided commercial capital grows more
desperate. Schools, markets and a search and rescue centre have also
been hit in the past week.
UPDATE: "dozens dead" in Aleppo clashes: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016
The French news agency AFP reported an anonymous Syrian official as
saying the army was preparing to launch a massive offensive to retake
the entire city in the coming days.
"There's no truce here" - for battered Aleppo residents, the Syria ceasefire is already dead: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016
Syrian rebels blamed Assad and his ally Russia for multiple breaches
of the truce. Philip Hammond, the UK foreign secretary, said: “Now is
the time for those with influence to apply real pressure to end this
spiral of violence. Russia has set itself up as protector of the Assad
regime, so it has a duty to bring its full influence to bear.”
#bombing_hospital_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016
After today's attacks in #Syria, @hcoster on why warring factors target hospitals: image via Reuters Opinion @ReutersOpinion, 28 April 2016
#Aleppo #Syria #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#Syria People leaving after a reported airstrike in #Aleppo #AFP photo by @baraaalhalabi Aleppo #AFP: image via Aurelia BAILLY @AureliaBAILLY 28 April 2016
"There's no truce here" - for battered Aleppo residents, the Syria ceasefire is already dead: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016
UPDATE: "dozens dead" in Aleppo clashes: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016
"There's no truce here" - for battered Aleppo residents, the Syria ceasefire is already dead: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016
#bombing_hospital_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016
Muskilda Zancada, the group’s head of mission, said: “MSF
categorically condemns this outrageous targeting of yet another medical
facility in Syria.
This devastating attack has destroyed a vital hospital in Aleppo, and
the main referral centre for paediatric care in the area. Where is the
outrage among those with the power and obligation to stop this carnage?”
#Bombing_hospitals_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016
A US state department official said it appeared that the bombing was
conducted solely by the Syrian regime, after Russia’s defence ministry
denied that its planes were involved, saying it had carried out no
airstrikes there in recent days. Both air forces have carried out almost
all the aerial strikes on the opposition-controlled east of the city.
#Bombing_hospitals_war_crime #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 27 April 2016
Further airstrikes on Thursday on the rebel-held part of the city
killed 20 people and brought down at least one residential building, the
Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. The UK-based monitor said
shelling by insurgents of government-held areas killed at least 14.
#Aleppo #Syria #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
“It’s
like an apocalypse,” said Bara Abu Saleh, a councillor in a rebel-held
area, speaking on Skype as explosions were heard. “Today around 25
people have been killed in different areas. Just now a rocket landed
close but it didn’t explode.”
#FuckTheHumanity #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
Staff described how the first missiles struck the hospital. “That’s
when the massacre happened,” said Saeed Hallaq, a nurse. “It was an
awful, frightening scene. The bombing was at night and there were planes
in the air so the civil defence workers couldn’t do anything. They cut
the electricity and work began to bring the martyrs and the wounded out
of the ground. It was difficult and took hours. Some of them, we only
found the pieces.”
#SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
One of the dead was Mohammad Wassim Muadh, a paediatrician. “He was
the definition of humanity and kindness,” said Hallaq. “Wherever he went
he left a good memory and he was also the most polite and kind person I
ever met in my life.”
[Aleppo is burning] Aftermath of government attacks #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
Muadh barely had a funeral, Hallaq said, because people
feared government planes would target any gathering. “Our one and only
call is to keep neutral the hospitals and centres that are helping
civilians.”
[Aleppo, today] #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
Large-scale fighting erupted in and around Aleppo over the weekend,
with more than 100 dead in the surrounding province, further weakening
the truce agreed between non-jihadi rebels and government forces on 27
February.
[Aleppo, today]: image via @Fouadhallak89, 28 April 2016
Egeland told reporters in Geneva that the catastrophic deterioration
in Aleppo over the last 24-48 hours had jeopardised the aid lifeline
that delivers supplies to millions of Syrians. “I could not in any way
express how high the stakes are for the next hours and days.”
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
Abu Saleh described food shortages with truckers struggling to
deliver 4,000 tonnes of wheat because Kurdish forces were firing on
vehicles on the only road linking the city to other rebel-held areas.
Civilians are growing vegetables on rooftops and in gardens but a lack
of fuel makes it hard to supply them with water.
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
After
a period of relative normality, many residents hid again when the
bombing restarted. But various shops were still open, and some were
trying to carry on with daily life. “People are determined to live their
lives,” said Abu Saleh. “The people who are in Aleppo now are people
who decided to stay here. We used to look at people in Gaza and wonder
how they live their lives normally -– but now we know.”
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
The Syrian government considers any medical facilities in
opposition-held territory as legitimate military targets, claiming they
are de facto illegal. Hospitals in opposition-held areas are refusing to share GPS coordinates
with Russian and Syrian authorities because of repeated attacks on
medical facilities and workers. Intense diplomatic activity is expected
over the coming days as pressure mounts for a ministerial meeting of the
major and regional powers that make up the International Syria Support
Group.
#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
The Syrian opposition insists Assad must step down, while the
government in Damascus says his role is not up for negotiation. The war,
now in its sixth year, is estimated to have killed 400,000 people and
has made millions homeless.
[Aleppo is burning] Aftermath of government attacks #SaveAleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
US, UN condemn Syria hospital bombing in war-ravaged Aleppo: image via AFP news agency @AFP, 28 April 2016
Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016
Syrian civil defence volunteers and rescuers remove a baby from under the rubble of a destroyed building following a reported air strike on the rebel-held neighbourhood of al-Kalasa in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo: Ameer Alhalbi/AFP, 28 April 2016
#SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
#AleppoIsBurning #SaveSyria #SaveAleppo #Syria #Aleppo 28_4_16: image via Hozaifa Dahmaan @hozaifadahmaan, 28 April 2016
A boy flies his kite at sunset at a makeshift camp for migrants and refugees at the Greek-Macedonian border near the village of Idomeni. Some 54,000 people, many of them fleeing the war in Syria, have been stranded on Greek territory since the closure of the migrant route through the Balkans in February.: photo by Joe Klamar / AFP, 28 April 2016
3 comments:
Never has TS Eliot meant so much, perhaps more than he intended, but then again the poem, any poem, will land on any moment and bring its horror to light.
So much of Eliot's work seems haunted. Once again you get to the heart, Tom.
Now all these Syrian ghosts haunt the West and we have little to offer but plain cruelty, indifference or a shabby pity.
The horror brought to light shows us the anguished figures of the restless haunting ghosts, emerging from the mind numbing confusion of dust and pain and broken stone and blood, but what is not revealed is a way to appease them.
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