aleppo
Aleppo (/əˈlɛpoʊ/; Arabic: ﺣﻠﺐ / ALA-LC: Ḥalab, IPA: [ˈħalab]) is a city in Syria, serving as the capital of the Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate.[7] With an official population of 2,132,100 (2004 census), Aleppo was the largest Syrian city before the Syrian Civil War; however, now Aleppo is likely the second-largest city in Syria after the capital Damascus.
Aleppo is an ancient city, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the 6th millennium BC.[8] Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied by Amorites since at least the latter part of the 3rd millennium BC;[9] and this is also when Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebla and Mesopotamia, in which it is a part of the Amorite state of Yamhad, and noted for its commercial and military proficiency.[10] Such a long history is attributed to its strategic location as a trading center midway between the Mediterranean Sea and Mesopotamia (i.e. modern Iraq).
For centuries, Aleppo was the largest city in the Syrian region, and the Ottoman Empire’s third-largest after Constantinople and Cairo. It was also one of the largest cities in the Levant before the advent of the Syrian Civil War. The city’s significance in history has been its location at one end of the Silk Road, which passed through central Asia and Mesopotamia. When the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, trade was diverted to sea and Aleppo began its slow decline. At the fall of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Aleppo ceded its northern hinterland to modern Turkey, as well as the important railway connecting it to Mosul. In the 1940s, it lost its main access to the sea, Antakyaand İskenderun, also to Turkey. Finally, the isolation of Syria in the past few decades further exacerbated the situation. This decline may have helped to preserve the old city of Aleppo, its medieval architecture and traditional heritage. It won the title of the “Islamic Capital of Culture 2006”, and has had a wave of successful restorations of its historic landmarks.
During the Battle of Aleppo the city suffered massive destruction, and has been the worst-hit city in the Syrian Civil War. In December 2016, the Syrian government achieved full control of Aleppo following a successful offensive.
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via syria’s war explained from the beginning:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/05/syria-civil-war-explained-160505084119966.html
syria – under russia’s fist – 25 min doc
We investigate the horrifying consequences for civilians under Russian air strikes in Syria. – oct 2016
russia says targeting terrorists.. but 5 months in and russian bombs have killed 1500 civilians.. more than 300 were children
4 min – keeps repeating: i saw no sign of rebel presencde..
7 min – white helmets
15 min – hard to know if bombs from russian or regime.. but saw no sign of militant activities in these places
16 min – the inhabitants of aleppo can only sit and wait and hope bomb won’t hit their area.. there’s nothing to do..
17 min – only civilians living here
21 min – never knowing where the bombs will fall next is terrifying.. the state of constant stress and fear.. how will horror of this war affect children’s future
22 min – prospects for peace even further away.. as world leaders focus on own national interests… syrian people continue to suffer
24 min – in last month.. russian/syrian airforces intensified attacks.. new phase.. getting worse
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the death of aleppo – 45 min doc
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rIfscgdRhbk]
9 min – self org ing.. idea of civil defense started..
13 min – kamar – photographer – on being tortured..
14 min – abdallah badawi – civil activist.. we’re preparing for the future
15 min – i want my friends and i to liberate our country when i grow up
19 min – we don’t care that much about electricity.. but we do need water
22 min – ismail abdallah – centre for civil defense – aleppo – no human could imagine what we saw
courage and resilience tested even further in months to come
23 min – end part 1
33 min – checkpoints restrict people’s freedom of movement.. city divided into east/west aleppo
44 min – freedom.. we want freedom
a nother way… for (blank)’s sake…
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for sama (85 min doc) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jFHbo0Cgu8]
6 min – we never thought the world would let this happen (aleppo)
26 min – children have nothing to do with this.. nothing
36 min – even the children didn’t want to leave.. so how could we go
37 min – to leave would be selfish.. just taking care of self.. but to stay would be putting them thru hell
40 min – images from 4th month under siege
56 min – in aleppo there is no time to grieve
1:01 – 300 patients each day
1:06 – sama i know you understand what’s happening.. i can see it in your eyes.. you never cry like a normal baby would (w bombing) .. that’s what breaks my heart
we’re crying out to the world.. help us
1:07 – millions of people watch my reports.. but no one does anything to stop the regime
1:09 – your only crime is that your mom’s a journalist and your dad’s a dr
1:14 – 20 days.. 6000 wounded people
1:20 – if i could rewind the days i’d do exactly the same thing.. even if i couldn’t recover from the trauma
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be you. 