Reflection from Leila's Niece and Nephew

From my niece, Shaza, in Damascus:

 Good morning my dear sisters and friends 🌹 I would like to share my thoughts with you and tell you something that has greatly affected me…

 Until now, whenever we passed through Harasta Road, my daughter saw the destroyed homes and buildings, and every time she said the same thing, “Mama, look at the earthquake, what it did to the houses here.” and I always gave her the same answer, “Yes, this is an earthquake, see what it does, ya Mama? 😔😔 Of course, I answer this way because I can’t explain the truth, and I’m afraid to tell her that this is from the war. From Syrians fighting each other. 💔💔

This innocent child, despite her human instincts, does not know that this earthquake is an earthquake of hatred, the hatred of people towards each other. It is from holding grudges, from murder and blood, unfortunately. And then, the real earthquake happened two days ago and

I started thinking about the difference between these two earthquakes.

The earthquake of hatred is man-made and has gone on for more than ten years and has increased the alienation and division between us and sowed the seeds of revenge between us.

The natural earthquake was the work of the Lord of the Worlds, and it lasted less than a minute. We got close to each other and felt how great the anger of our Lord is, how the world is not worth it, and how wrong we were towards each other.

Let us be united, regardless of our differences. Each one of us, from his place, is thinking about what he can do to help, according to his ability. May God protect you, my brothers and friends, and may God help us and protect the country. May God forgive us and be kind to us.

May God have mercy on the dead, heal the wounded, give patience to those who lost a loved one, and reassure your hearts about the people you love.

Let us beseech and pray to God to draw close to each other, and love each other, and forgive each other. Most importantly, we beseech and pray to our Lord that he forgive us.

For we know that the Lord of goodness only offers goodness ❤❤

---

From my nephew, Dany, in our village:

There are those who publish leaflets on how to behave during earthquakes...

Or they talk about the cracks that appear in the walls and what does each crack mean...

Aren’t you a little too late?

It may seem reasonable to shed light on any issue after the disaster has occurred...

A wise proverb says: “My concern is great, and my neighbor is deaf. I'm talking and she's fainting.”

In the end, may God protect our people, grant us forbearance, and have mercy on our dead.

Leila's Response to Jane

From Leila Piazza

Most of the damage to Syria is in the north. Our village is in the middle of the country and while my family felt the quake and aftershocks, we didn’t suffer major damage. In Aleppo and other northern parts of the country, there are thousands dead and a lot of destruction.

Since the war, the Syrian government has had a hard time rebuilding. Because the U.S.-led proxy war failed to depose the Syrian government, the US government refused to offer aid for rebuilding and pressured other countries and the UN to do the same. Sanctions placed on Syria by the US have stifled our ability to bring materials and equipment into the country that would allow us to rebuild. Additionally, sanctions have crippled the economy and made it impossible for the Syrian government to restore the electrical grid. Because of this, Syrians have endured over seven years of extremely limited electricity. The norm is 1 hour of electricity on, 5 hours off, throughout the day. The US army is still “protecting” Syrian oil fields in the north, and so the Syrian government is unable to provide heating oil and gasoline to our people using our own natural resources. Then came the earthquake. Damage in our country was magnified by damage already done during the war, combined with past damage due to flooding in parts of the country.

Emotionally, the earthquake is another disaster in a parade of disasters. First, the war. Since then, extreme cold weather in winter (and little to no heating oil), floods, wildfires, and now, the earthquake. When the earthquake hit last week, the weather had already been cold and stormy. My sister-in-law said: I’m so scared of what’s going to happen. It seems like one thing after another. Even without the earthquake, the storms are scary. It’s been raining so hard and the wind is so strong. No electricity, no oil to heat our homes. We ask ourselves, what will happen next?

As for ways to help, I’ll be honest. I don’t support NGOs. My experience is that they are part of the capitalist war machine. Name a dictator, declare we will free the people. Destroy the country, create hunger and famine, then go in with contractors to rebuild what we’ve destroyed and NGOs to feed the hungry people. If the US doesn’t get the desired outcome the first time around, we double down on sanctions and extend the suffering. At this point, NGOs are the only part of the machine at work in Syria and that is mostly in the north in the “liberated,” Turkish-occupied and administered areas where the radical groups we called the “Free Syrian Army” settled after the war and are considered refugees. I know this is counter to the public narrative here about the good these groups do, but I don’t believe in this system. It supports imperialism and racism.

Having said that, I do encourage people to give to IOCC (International Orthodox Christian Charities). IOCC does some work through NGOs but is able to more carefully target how funds are used. A major pipeline for aid is through the church itself. Local priests are able to give to people in their parish based on need. Due to the personal knowledge of the people, they can give in a very efficient way. Despite the fact that it is a Christian organization, our priests will give to anyone in the area, including Muslims of any sect (80% of Syrians are Muslim).

I am working on setting up some fundraising plans through Syrian Home Cooking. My plan is to go to Syria this summer and hopefully have funds to take with me. This won’t happen in a way that can provide immediate aid, but my brother was telling me that it costs about $1,500 US dollars to set up solar power for one home in Syria (wish it was that here!). I am wondering if I might be able to help some people in our village install solar panels, either providing 100% of funds for a limited number of homes, or by providing a subsidy to help more people. Right now, people use generators, but as I mentioned, fuel is scarce, and solar power would provide a long-term, ecologically safe alternative. I’d also like to take funds for food and education supplies, as I did in 2018.

Finally, I offer, anytime, to meet with anyone who would like a deeper understanding about what happened in Syria, the role the US (and our tax dollars) played, and what is happening now. People in our community are encouraged to write their representatives and demand an end to US sanctions against Syria, the US army to leave our country and return our oil fields, and an end to future imperialist proxy wars.

Thank you for caring!

Leila