What You Can Do to Help Aleppo Now:
Aleppo is crumbling quickly; an entire city could be facing its last moments of survival. The U.N. has already established the crisis in Syria as the worst humanitarian crisis of the century. Unfortunately, a majority of the damage is done in Aleppo, and while it may be difficult to halt the violence, there is large room for revival. All resolutions for a ceasefire have essentially been hopeless, leaving no one safe in Aleppo. One of the gravest statements I’ve heard on account of Aleppo is that there is no body or causality count anymore, for there are too many to be accounted for. The U.N. chief has released a series of statements on the situation in Aleppo, which can be further read here.
The situation is increasingly worsening, with many accounts from adults and children on the horrors of Aleppo. The last hospital in Aleppo has been bombed; there are little to no sources for clean water and shelter. Ranim Labanieh, a Syrian American who lives in America and receives live updates via citizens living in Syria/Aleppo live-blogged:
As of Wednesday, December 14th 2016, the Turkish-Russian peace deal and ceasefire has failed. Syrians have been waiting since 5 AM for evacuation busses and none have arrived. Regime and Russian forces have started shelling the city again. Please, don’t forget us! This is not getting better, this getting worse. They have won. The city has collapsed yet they will not cease their offense.
Comedian and Twitter persona Jeremy McLellan tweeted on December 12th
“People always say #NeverAgain but Aleppo shows that if the Holocaust had been live-tweeted the world would have sat by and watched.”
On a more cynical note, when the Paris bombings occurred, people flocked to social media in outrage. The Paris bombings, of course, should not be undermined in any sort, but I have yet to see #PrayforAleppo posts on my Facebook wall; this is extremely concerning considering that the situation in Aleppo is a mass genocide of 400,000 people.
After talking to Ranim, I learned that many Americans are completely misinformed about the Syrian Civil War (or not informed at all). Ranim encourages ordinary civilians to “call the White House (202-456-1111) demanding immediate ceasefire and a peace deal that provides safe passage for civilians and causalities.” While calling the Whitehouse may seem ineffectual, with an increasing number of demands from citizens of the U.S. concerned for the safety of Syrians, the urgency of the president’s responsibility increases. President Obama has had a rather non-involved policy towards Syria—as a U.S. president his legacy will be severely undermined, possibly seen as one who preferred nonintervention to humanitarian aid.
Another more localized action you can take is to “contact your state representatives (house.gov and senate.gov) to demand they take any and all actions they can regarding the crisis in Syria and the Russian embassy in DC (202-298-5700) to criticize and denounce human rights violations, refusal to participate in peace talks, and refusing to allow civilians safety.”
Consider all of the above; Syrians are people and they deserve our help, especially in the giving time of the holidays. The crimes committed by the Assad regime and their ally Russia has become too critical to stand by and simply wait in silence. While optimism is bleak, there are actions we can take to lessen the inhumanity. Winter break is right around the corner and if you have even a few hours of free time, there is a lot you can do to help. Our silence is killing these people.
What You Can Do Summary:
- Direct Relief (directrelief.org) is one of the highest-rated charities with 99% of donated money going directly to their programs. They are partnered with several charities listed below. The charities listed below are known to be the most trusted, and the most effective.
- Sorority/Fraternity fundraiser. This type of event would really ring in the essence of philanthropy, especially on a college campus where there are thousands of busy students who would be willing to pitch into a well-organized fundraiser.
- Call the White House (202-456-1111) demanding immediate ceasefire and a peace deal that provides safe passage for civilians and causalities
- Contact your state representatives (house.gov and senate.gov) to demand they take any and all actions they can regarding the crisis in Syria and the Russian embassy in DC
- If you live in Newport Beach: Dana Rorabacher—(202) 225-2415
- If you live in Glendale: Adam Schiff—(818) 450-2900
- If you live in Santa Barbara: Lois Capps—(805) 730-1710
- California Senators: Barbara Boxer—(202) 224-3553
Dianne Fienstein—(202) 224-3841
If you live elsewhere, all you have to do is visit house.gov and senate.gov to find your representatives
