Open letter from teachers in northwest Syria
If you are an educator and would like to sign on to this letter in solidarity with Syrian teachers, please email [email protected] with your full name and affiliation.
To world leaders:
We are the teachers of students in northwest Syria who are deliberately targeted in their homes, classrooms and as they walk to school. We go to work afraid of another attack, and of another traumatizing day, which we know will affect our pupils for the rest of their lives.
Our letter could not be more urgent. Early morning on Wednesday, October 20, four students and our colleague, Arabic teacher Qamar Hafez were tragically killed on their way to school when Syrian government forces attacked the town of Ariha in south Idlib with artillery shells.
At least 55 children have been killed in the past four months by the Syrian and Russian governments, nearly a child every other day, and one million children in Idlib are terrified they might be next or they might lose their best friend at any moment. Like teachers everywhere, we are deeply committed to the children we teach, and we do all we can to try to protect them but it is not enough. We need world leaders to stop the attacks, and ensure that children are safe and able to continue their education.
We’re trained to evacuate the classroom when the bombs fall. We run regular drills with the children as we only have a few minutes when there’s a warning that a warplane is coming closer, so we have to move fast. The training itself can be confusing for young children who don’t understand that we’re practicing.
Whenever a warplane is nearby, we ask the children to remain calm and rush them to a shelter, usually a small room under the stairs, where we hide for hours until it’s safe to come out. Those are the hardest moments. We respond to calls and texts from parents, and we do everything we can to help when the children panic and ask to go home.
One of our students, ten-year-old Jamila al Jasem, was killed in July. She had already fled her home many times due to attacks but there was nowhere safe left to go and at 5am on 12 July, Assad’s forces bombed her home killing Jamila. None of her third grade classmates would sit in Jamila’s chair for a month until a new student came.
Our schools have already been targeted eight times in 2021 and we’re worried that fewer and fewer children will return to school each school year. The intense fear has caused many students to become isolated and depressed. Already half the school-aged children in northwest Syria are out of school due to bombing and displacement. These children desperately need the routine and support systems that come with school.
Schools are supposed to be a safe space for children to learn and grow, not a target for warplanes and missiles. As teachers we will keep going to work even if it means risking our lives under bombs, but we need the international community to take action to end the attacks and hold Russia and the Syrian government accountable for such horrible crimes, so that our classrooms can be full with students again.
Signatories:
- Abdulrahim Hayri
- Ahmad Ali al-Nakuh
- Abdullah al-Tawil
- Ahmad Abd al-Hamid Yassin
- Muhammad Hammoud al-’Oud
- Nassir Abd al-Rahman al-Saffanah
- Yasser al-Haj Ahmad
- Ahmad Muhammad al-Said
- Ahmad Ali al-Maghlaj
- Bashar Ahmad al-Khaled
- Ahmad Khaled al-Sulaiman
- Dalia Muhammad Jamil Abdallah
- Ahmad Khaled al-Sulaiman
- Tareq Ahmad al-Sheikh
- Ahmad al-Izz
- Ghaitha Muhammad Abdallah
- Abdallah Bakkour
- Fatimah Ibrahim al-Aswad
- Ahmad Hamid al-Ali
- Sulaiman Sulaiman
- Hussein Ahmad al-Alloun
- Amira Abd al-Ghafour al-Aswad
- Allam Ibrahim Adham al-Omar
- Hassan Saif al-Din Douri
- Yasser al-Hamsho
- Izdihar Juma Harmoush
- Muhi al-Din Muhammad Dib al-Zoubi
- Muhammad Khaled al-Abdallah
- Muhammed Mansur Teet
- Fariza Ikrima al-Khalaf
- Rehab Ahmad al-Hayek
- Ibtisam Ibrahim Qabalan
- Mustafa al-Mustafa
- Yahya Muhammad Deeb al-Habra
- Muhammad Najia
- Abdallah al-Ali
- Ammar Muayyad al-Uthman
- Raya Muhammad Izz al-Din
- Ahmad Muhammad Sheikh Youssef
- Mariam Radwan al-Arafat
- Majed Abd al-Rahman al-Ahmad
- Marwan Khaled Khattab
- Muhammad al-Arabo
- Falak Ramadan al-Ramadan
- Ahmad Muhammad Sabra
- Juhayna Muhammad Jaabari
- Lama Muhammad al-Omar
- Ahmad Mansour al-Ahmad Haj Deebo
- Raad Ahmad al-Sheikh
- Ahmad Ali al-Rahhal
- Feryal Abd Alkader Alkaddour
- Bashir Hatem al-Hussein
- Ibrahim Ahmad al-Shamali
- Mahmoud Muhammad al-Muhammad
- Yahya Hallaq
- Salim Abd al-Aziz al-Bakkour
- Sami Zaydan
- Amal Khaled al-Ali
- Nahed Abdallah Maqtifi
- Fatima Abd al-Salam al-Musa
- Nasiba Ahmad Sabahiya
- Hadeel Akram al-Maghlaj
- Abdallah Ahmad al-Abid
- Hala Khaled al-Krayman
- Abd al-Qader Abd al-Hayy al-Rashid
- Hussein al-Tawil
- Hamid Muhammad
- Mahmoud Jihad al-Jarak
- Ibrahim Mosulli
- Fadi Hamad al-Hassan
- Abdallah Maghlaj
- Rehab Muhammad Ali al-Alloush
- Amani Nader Abd al-Hadi
- Salim Abd al-Aziz al-Bakkour
- Nermin Hassan Jaddou
- Sulaiman Khaled al-Mawwas
- Turkiyya Ramadan al-Hallaq
- Sabah Khaled Baghdadi
- Raqiya Muhammad Salloum
- Ahmad Khaled al-Shawa
- Nasiba Yahya
- Ghadeer Musa al-Arab
- Sallouh Ahmad al-Said
- Nawwaf Abdallah al-Khalil
- Raed Muhammad al-Allaiwi
- Khaled Hassan al-Hussein
- Basima Muhammad al-Abdallah
- Fahima Muhammad al-Hashoum
- Hayfa Jasem al-Khatib
- Muhammad Abd al-Hadi al-Ballan
- Hadeel Abd al-Razzaq al-Muhammad
- Hanan al-Jaban
- Bushra Abd al-Sattar Khatib
- Saher Subhi al-Ibrahim
- Fida Nayyoul
- Fatima Abd al-Razzaq al-Muhammad
- Wala Abd al-Salam al-Musa
- Ibtisam Yassin Haj Yassin
- Wasel Mahmoud Assaf
- Iman Muhammad Abd al-Majid
- Buthaina Abd al-Rahman Ahmad
- Abd al-Mueen Ismail al-Allaiwi
- Muhammad Mustafa al-Habyo
- Hafez Ahmad al-Hasan
- Ammar Maghlaj
- Hadeel Razzouq
- Ubay Mahmoud al-Uthman
- Minar Abd al-Samad Muaykel
- Muhammad Rimah Adnan Naasan
- Khalidiyya Raslan al-Rahhal
- Malak Munir Thalja
- Amal Abd al-Karim Qentar
- Najm al-Din Tareq al-Sayyadi
- Issa al-Issa
- Lamees Mahmoud Derbas
- Jihan al-Sheikh
- Lama Abd al-Hadi al-Kamel
- Salam Muhammad al-Bakkour
- Wala al-Dbeis
- Iman Ali al-Mansour
- Mahmoud Taha Meri
- Ayham Hussein al-Khalfan
- Munib al-Ali
- Ahmad Jamal Naasan
- Aqeel Yassin
- Kamal Ahmad al-Hassan
- Maysa al-Muhammad
- Issam Abd al-Aziz al-Naasan
- Khattabi Khattabi
- Mahmoud Ahmad al-Oyoun
- Muhammad Razzouq
- Samira al-Taleb
- Sattam Muhammad al-Ismail
- Ahmad Ibrahim al-Ibrahim
- Mustafa Abbas
- Muhammad Oud Kharzoum
- Afraa Majed Zada
- Iyad Abd al-Karim al-Khlaif
- Alzhaher billah Muhammad Naser al-Waw
- Hiyam Tahseen Ammar
- Ahmad al-Omar
- Usama Ali al-Khlaif
- Abd al-Razzaq Saleh al-Agha
- Nuzha Adnan Yassin
- Abd al-Halim Kharzoum
- Anwar al-Mustafa
- Ahmad Hassan al-Noushi
- Nour Abd al-Rahim Barbaro
- Noha Muhammad al-Khlaif
- Afeef Abdallah al-Wahoub
- Khadija Mahmoud al-Rajab
- Wafa Nader Bakkour
- Labiba Muhammad Sa’id al-Shahhoud
- Juma’a ‘Abd al-Karim al-Sakhouri
- Yasser Ibrahim Qassem
- Joumana Mahmoud al-’Omran
- Battoul Dbeis Mariam al-Hamadi
- Khaled Ibrahim Bakkour
- Shoaa Hayel al-Faraj
- Khadija Hamad al-Hayari
- Khadija Sheikh Ahmad
- Mahmoud al-Jarak
- Mariam al-Bakkour
- Wafa al-Darwish
- Mouina al-Qassem
- Bashar Monther al-Yahya
- Omar Yusuf al-Omar
- Ruha Abd al-Hayy
- Ahlam Muhammad Kneissawi
- Battoul Ahmad al-Naqouh
- Ahmad Hilal
- Iman al-Mustafa
- Omar Walid al-Omar
- Talal Abd al-Basset Haj Yassin
- Muhammad Ali al-Hussein
- Fadi Ghaleb Issa
- Abdo Mahmoud Ibrahim
- Ibrahim Ali al-Ibrahim
- Muhammad Idlbi
- Dima Ghannoum
- Oussama Ayoub
- Jumaa Yassin
And teachers around the world in solidarity:
- Alexa Firat, Assistant Professor, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
- Victorine Michalon, teacher of French as foreign language, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada
- Anne Strudwick, retired teacher, London, United Kingdom
- Dylan Connor, high school Latin teacher at Bunnell High School, Stratford, CT, USA
- Inge Vermeire, Dutch teacher, Belgium
- Ruth Buchli, retired Adult Educator & Community Development Worker, Orselina, Switzerland
- Jeanne-Hélène de Reparaz, France
- Gillian Moore, primary school teacher, Ireland
- Amina Masri, Elementary School Teacher, USA
- Brooke McMillan, teacher at Holy Trinity Catholic High School, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canda
- Mary Alacoque Ryan, retired second level teacher, Tuam, Ireland
- Aya Faraj, 4th grade homeroom teacher, USARosmarijn Huner, primary school teacher, ASKO, Amsterdam, Netherlands
- Bayan Arafeh, pre-service teacher, Australia
- Daryl Funk, Mathematics Instructor, Douglas College, New Westminster, BC, Canada
- Janet Mordike, retired chemistry teacher, Lancashire, United Kingdom
- Laura Forbes, music teacher, north London, United Kingdom
- Anna Hart, English instructor, ALPS Language School, Seattle, WA, USA
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