Dear world, there’s intense bombing right now. Why are you silent? Why? Why? Why? Fear is killing me & my kids. – Fatemah #Aleppo

— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) December 14, 2016

Over the past few days, the citizens of eastern Aleppo have been sending farewell videos to the world.

Their messages have been a mixture of pleading with the rest of the world to intervene before it’s too late, and blaming the UN and western governments for forsaking them.

Our governments, our elected representatives to the world stage, have forsaken them.

And today, a brokered ceasefire between Turkey and Russia to facilitate a planned evacuation of the remaining citizens has been broken—the evacuation has been delayed. Will it even take place in time to save the last 100,000 residents from execution?

I wept in bed last night and I’m sobbing now as I try to find the words to express my anger, sadness and shame for what’s happening. But the words won’t come. All that comes to me is the Hawaiian prayer of Hoʻoponopono:

I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.

It is practiced from a place of responsibility for any experienced or observed problems. If we are aware of it, it is our problem too—for we are all connected at a level we cannot physically perceive.

I am angry, sad and ashamed that this genocide has occurred in my world. And worse than other genocides that have preceded it, modern technology has enabled us to watch—within minutes—footage of the horror that is being experienced by men, women and children.

Not nameless faces, but faces we can see, people we can relate to.

Not propaganda from governments or media outlets.

True life stories from people like you and me.

Stories that are so uncomfortable to watch we scroll by them and numb ourselves by watching more palatable reality TV shows instead.

I believe that political will is driven, for the most part, by the will of the people. I fear our outcry has been too weak; we’ve raised our voices to a deafening pitch far too late.

“Aleppo will join the ranks of those events in world history that define modern evil. That stain our conscience decades later.” ~ U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power

Please join me in this prayer as it may be all we can now offer the people of Aleppo:

I love you. I’m sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you.

~

Author: Hilda Carroll

Image: Twitter

Editor: Nicole Cameron