East Aleppo has experienced "doomsday" on Monday with almost 80 deaths, many of whom were children and women. Syrians were sharing their last messages online, yearning for help, or at the very least to be heard. Men have been asking Islamic scholars if they could kill their wives and daughters to save them from the humiliation of being raped by Assad's militia. Children have been screaming, trying to find their parents. Parents have been crying, trying to locate their children.
On Tuesday, the rebels agreed with the government to reach a ceasefire. In a UN emergency meeting, Russia's UN ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, announced in the evening that the military activities have stopped as the Syrian government gained control of the area. The residents of East Aleppo, civilians and fighters, are now expected to evacuate it.
And while civilians are mourning over all the deaths and the rape and the destruction, people on the other side of Aleppo took it to the streets to celebrate the "victory". Some countries in the Middle East have been reporting that Assad's militia were winning against the "terrorists". Russia and Iran and Assad are pulling the card of "we've won."
But the question is, what victory? What terrorists? Assad, Russia, and Iran, and the countries supporting them, who are you targeting? Bombing every neighborhood in Aleppo, and killing people in their homes, is this your target? Children? Women? What kind of justification can you come up with for that?
What's weaker than looking at someone you love and failing at protecting them? What's worse than spending your last minutes listening to the bombs and waiting for your turn?
I've been trying to imagine the last moment of the families sitting together in their homes, holding hands, restraining back tears as they listened to bombs getting closer and closer to them each second. I've been trying to imagine the look of the parents to their children, and being unable to comfort them.
What's weaker than looking at someone you love and failing at protecting them? What's worse than spending your last minutes listening to the bombs and waiting for your turn? Well if you don't feel it, then close your eyes and imagine. Imagine being in this situation as a parent. Or as a kid looking at your father or mother for one last time. Unable to do anything but surrender to your murder.
"Don't be scared honey, your Dad is now in heaven," cried a man holding a baby girl.
This viral video, one of other hundreds of videos, showed a baby girl crying as she looked for her Dad. The video translates to a man, who was also crying while holding her, saying: "Don't be scared, honey. Where's your Dad?!" The girl points to a destroyed place. The man continues: "There? No, honey, he's not. Your Dad is in heaven now."
How would we ever live with ourselves? How would we get ourselves to sleep knowing that we've accepted this catastrophe? Or that we've let our political stances get in the way? Or that just because we're not directly affected then it doesn't matter?
What depresses you when you look at their photos, watch their videos, and read their news, is in fact a reality for them. And your silence will be turned against you one day. Because you'll find yourself alone, eventually, in their same situation while everyone else turns their back on you and pretends you don't exist.
The images of the dead children will always haunt us. We'll never be able to make it up. We'll never be able to forgive ourselves. Because Aleppo burned. And we watched. And we remained silent.