Here's why solidarity from the darkest corner of Syria is such a big deal
This is a picture from Douma, outside Damascus on Saturday, 14th of November.
To understand why this is such a significant act, have a look at the killing in Syria.
Every Eiffel Tower represents 129 civilians killed.
Civilians killed by:= Isis (1,712)
= Al Qaeda / Nusra (347)
= Assad forces & allies (180,879)
= Rebels (2,669)
= Kurdish forces (379)
= US-led coalition (251)
= Russian forces (263)
= Unknown (2,002)
Statistics from the Syrian Network for Human Rights. 15 March 2011 – 31 October 2015.
These brave activists held their candlelit vigil in an area that has been under starvation siege by Bashar al-Assad for more than 2 years. They are only a few of the more than 600,000 people who are cut off from food and medicine.
They are bombed daily.
In Syria, the death toll often flies above 140 in a single day.
Solidarity means so much from these activists because it is not being returned.
Isis is killing Syrians – many more than are being killed in Europe – but it is not their only enemy. The regime of Bashar al-Assad is responsible for more than 95% of civilian deaths. This chart shows you not only the scale of the killing, but equally importantly who is killing civilians.
We must understand what is happening in Syria – the country Isis is using as its base – and who is responsible for the killing and the chaos. If we fail to do that, we will never understand how to bring peace to Syria and stop extremists.
Please stand in solidarity with Douma’s brave activists and share this message that all the killing must stop – not just from Isis, but from the regime of Bashar al-Assad too.
