21st Century Wire says…
It is not only a time to mourn the loss of so many people in war ravaged Aleppo, but this week is a time to celebrate the first peaceful Christmas in Aleppo since the liberation of the city from the western backed “moderate rebels” who’ve held eastern Aleppo hostage for the better part of the last four years.
Paradoxically, amid a storm of western mainstream media insisting that the citizens of Aleppo have been under siege by the Syrian Arab Army, all of the independently collected photos, videos and interviews from citizens in eastern Aleppo tell us the exact opposite.
This year, many people in the liberated city of Aleppo are celebrating for the first time since the war began. RT’s Lizzie Phelan talked with residents of the war-ravaged city now recovering from its wounds.
“We did not expect that this moment would ever actually come. We had four years of pain, of war and blood… We are so happy that we can celebrate once again. Aleppo has been returned to us. This is our homeland. We couldn’t even imagine that we would once again see all this joy and celebration,” a young woman named Maja said.
Christmas lights go on in #Aleppo – big celebrations, 1st like this since war began @RT_com pic.twitter.com/sINTEq0wAE
— Lizzie Phelan (@LizziePhelan) December 20, 2016
Most of the city’s residents, however, are mourning as well as celebrating – that’s just how life is right now.
For teenager Reem, this is the second Christmas without her elder sister Nour, an accomplished basketball player, who was killed by a sniper’s bullet while coming back home from a game.
“Life without her is very hard, but I think about her every minute and I feel like she is with us,” Reem told RT.
Now world may stop talking about #Aleppo, but it's destroyed. With or without the fighting, suffering and pain will continue here for years pic.twitter.com/9PVIxVNkLM
— Lizzie Phelan (@LizziePhelan) December 22, 2016
Many of those who suffered the death of their entire family are young children, and now live in orphanages. One of them is run by the Armenian Orthodox Church, and has been shelled quite a few times.
Some of the boys shared with RT what they would like to get for Christmas: while Levon said he wanted to see the citadel in the Old City – a place he has never visited – little George said what is perhaps the Christmas wish of all Syrians.
“I just want peace, all over Syria, that is all.”
My brief report as #Aleppo continued 2 party 4 #Christmas even after #explosion went off. They got used to this 🙁 https://t.co/ZsDOHGyDiX
— Lizzie Phelan (@LizziePhelan) December 21, 2016
This week, the Syrian Army declared it had regained control over the city, the eastern part of which had been held by anti-Assad rebels since 2012. The Red Cross also said that the complex operation to evacuate those who “wished” to leave was completed.
READ MORE: Russian military police in Aleppo to provide aid and protect humanitarian staff (VIDEO)
Syrian President Bashar Assad thanked Russian President Vladimir Putin for Russia’s help in liberating Aleppo. In separate remarks, he called the evacuation one of the biggest humanitarian operations in the world. More than 78,000 civilians managed to flee the eastern districts into government-controlled areas with help from the Russian Center for Reconciliation. Now Russia hopes for a Syria-wide ceasefire.
READ MORE SYRIA NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Syria Files
