What is Aleppo?

What is Aleppo?

Hi there.
Thanks for stopping by.
I’ve been angry today.
Went to bed in tears after watching Children in Need last night.
Woke up to the news that a children’s hospital in Aleppo has been bombed. 
For the love of God!
What is wrong with humanity?
I know this is a craft blog.
My Dad taught me many years ago never to discuss sex, religion or politics in public.
So mostly,  I don’t. 
But as you and I know, just because we don’t speak about a thing, 
doesn’t mean we don’t think about it.
In fact, I’ve been thinking all day about the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo. 
To be honest, I struggle to make cards and blog pretty butterflies 
when my mind is on gravitous matters, such as war-torn Aleppo.
Do you understand me? I do hope so.
So I came upstairs into my little hidey hole above the garage,
and had a silent protest all by myself.

This is my Protest Banner.

Back in September, a U.S politican who was running for President, Gary Johnson,
was asked in a TV interview what he would do about Aleppo if he were in the White House. 
His response astounded the world…

How can a man run for the most powerful position in the world, and not know what Aleppo is? 
And his whole stance on foreign policy was pretty nebulous at best, nay – appalling. 
To concede that Syria is a mess! No shit Sherlock !
Aleppo to me is our failure as a world – our collective failure – to care enough. 
Shame on us the human race.
Tomorrow I’ll go back to butterflies.
Or I’ll show you how to make your own protest banner….
Love & Peace,
Barb
xx



61 thoughts on “What is Aleppo?

  1. Totally agree Barb, I completely despair of the human race sometimes. I know there is a lot of good going on too, but there always seems to be a violent war on somewhere. It is hard to know what the normal person can do to prevent those idiots in charge from committing such atrocities!

  2. I can't agree more, Barbara – It is simply outrages – It is the hollow people that does it and don't know what it is. Hollow? = No brain nor empathy.

    Kind regards
    Mariane

  3. There are no words. I am only thankful that there seems to be more good in this world than evil, as the Children in Need campaign demonstrates in some way, though like Janet I don' t know what individuals can do to help resolve the big problems we face when acts like this are committed

  4. When I see Aleppo on the news I ask myself "How can anybody still live there", the whole city is a mountain of rubble. I don't know how anyone is managing to stay there and attempting to carry on. I say to myself, why don't they leave, go somewhere else? But then I think of all the people who have done, many losing their lives in the trying. They said that 250,00 still live in Aleppo. My heart aches for every one of them x

  5. Yes Barbara, I totally get you. And I think that may be a huge part of why I can't get myself making my Christmas cards. Christmas, frivolity, when there is so much destruction and misery and injury and death being done in the world. And then you get that Trump creature as president to be added in, knowing it's only going to get worse for those poor innocent victims in the Middle East, and the world as a whole.

    I don't understand why you shouldn't speak about subjects like sex, religion and politics, it's keeping silent about subjects, making them taboo to talk about that enables atrocities, wrongs, to continue, I think. Just like rape, sexual abuse, child abuse, domestic abuse…. As a victim of abuse, the silence in society to even acknowledge it happens was the worst and loneliest part of it all, no one to tell, no one asking, people turning a blind eye, a deaf ear, me thinking it must be normal or deserved, because there was nothing and no one saying otherwise in society anywhere. That's the worst. Talking about these hard subjects is the first step to putting wrongs right. Talking about these hard subjects is standing up and telling the world YOU, I don't condone it. Being silent is as bad as the perpetrators, I feel.

    Shame on you Gary Johnson!
    If you want to know the truth, I expected that, the USA is so insular, and I'm alright Jack!

    Your art piece is just perfect, really depicts the torment inside you, as well as in Aleppo. I was going to say I think you should send it to Gary Johnson and his buddies, but you'd be wasting your time. Instead we should all get behind Bernie Sanders to start shouting out loud over there!

    Barbara, just you blog what you want, what's in your heart. Pretty butterflies can wait until you find your hope again.

    Hope your blog today has helped you inside, that's the main thing.
    Love Brenda xx

    1. The more people who stand up and talk out about the atrocities, wrongdoings in the world, the harder it is for the powers that be to ignore, allow it to continue. People power, one person gets trod on, silenced, it's far harder to do that to many…

    2. So well said Brenda. So sad to read of the isolation you suffered – I used to work in child protection and was horrified to discover that 1 in 5 children were, and maybe still are, abused. Thank heaven for Childline, and a greater awareness of it and openness to discuss. O for an end to all this pain in the world. With love and hugs xxx

  6. I could not believe my ears when I heard that man uttering those words! So insular, as many Americans are. I hate to hear that they are supposed to be world leaders. Shame on them and us for allowing this tradgety to happen.
    I am afraid to say that I fear for us all now that Trump is to be President.

    Love to you xxx

  7. I have just got home after a lovely day with my daughter at Matthew Palmer's watercolour painting workshop. Went out too early to see any news, so your blog was the first I had heard of this appalling atrocity. I find it impossible to.understand anyone carrying out such terrible things. As Brenda said, we need everyone to speak out. This is, like the wearing of poppies, not political, not religious, but simply humanitarian, and wrong on all levels. xxx Maggie

    1. Well said Maggie. Bet you really enjoyed the workshop. I watch Matthew every time he's on Hochanda. I can't paint or draw but he makes it look so easy, I'm always tempted to have a go! Love Alison xxx

    2. Go for it, Alison. If you can find one of his workshops near enough, I can thoroughly recommend it. I am now starting to see how to combine the skills he teaches us with all the lovely Clarity goodies. I have also done some of his Masterclasses on Hochanda which are good, and have actually provided me with the ability to complete my 150 Christmas cards within a week. xxx Maggie

  8. Art isn't always pretty and it shouldn't be. Crafting is our art and it has to tell our story. A very wise lady said to me this week that even if our own efforts, our own power in the world is only like throwing a pebble in a pond, no matter how small the ripples they still go out into the world and make subtle changes. I have been holding on to that this week. I don't often comment here, but I do read every day and it's a gentle and compassionate place. I guess that is the cumulative effect of all your ripples.

  9. I think part of the trouble is the 24 hour news, internet news and so on. It enables more fortunate people to sit in their home and eat their meal or be in the kitchen cooking, doing the dishes etc. while such tragedies are broadcast then repeated constantly. It can be so easy nowadays to become detached from the reality of these tragedies that are not on our doorstep.

  10. I must confess that apart from knowing Aleppo is one of the cities in Syria and so was under attack, I knew very little about it, so I looked it up. This is what I found –
    Aleppo is an ancient metropolis, and one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world; it may have been inhabited since the 6th millennium BC. Excavations at Tell as-Sawda and Tell al-Ansari, just south of the old city of Aleppo, show that the area was occupied since at least the latter part of the 3rd millennium BC; and this is also when Aleppo is first mentioned in cuneiform tablets unearthed in Ebla and Mesopotamia, in which it is noted for its commercial and military proficiency. 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).

    I never realised its history and cannot understand why, in the 21st Century, all that history is being relentlessly destroyed. I just hope the strength that has kept their people going for centuries will rise to the top and spare them again.
    Your art piece is just right Barbara, and says what is in your heart and the hearts of right-thinking people everywhere.

  11. What an emotive piece of art work that sums up the dispair we all feel about what is happening in the world.
    I am thankful that there are people like you who care about humanity and take time to make it a better place for others. You are right to feel anger and frustration about what is happening and to express it here as it helps us to realise that our frustration and anger is not isolated but shared with others and may allow us to appreciate all the good things we have in our lives and how privileged we are to be able to create images with butterflies.
    A step by step tomorrow would be good so that we too may work through the emotions we have about the evil in the world.
    I hope that you and Dave have a relaxing evening. I am in my PJs watching Strictly relaxing after a fantastic day with Emma Burns and Linda along with the the groovi Scotland ladies creating a scissor holder. It was so much fun just sitting and working out what plates we were using to create the patterns, and then piercing and cutting before assembling it. I am so pleased with mine and I think I may be making a few for Christmas presents.

  12. What an emotive piece of art work that sums up the dispair we all feel about what is happening in the world.
    I am thankful that there are people like you who care about humanity and take time to make it a better place for others. You are right to feel anger and frustration about what is happening and to express it here as it helps us to realise that our frustration and anger is not isolated but shared with others and may allow us to appreciate all the good things we have in our lives and how privileged we are to be able to create images with butterflies.
    A step by step tomorrow would be good so that we too may work through the emotions we have about the evil in the world.
    I hope that you and Dave have a relaxing evening. I am in my PJs watching Strictly relaxing after a fantastic day with Emma Burns and Linda along with the the groovi Scotland ladies creating a scissor holder. It was so much fun just sitting and working out what plates we were using to create the patterns, and then piercing and cutting before assembling it. I am so pleased with mine and I think I may be making a few for Christmas presents.

  13. Hello Barb,
    I heard on the news this morning that every hospital and clinic in Aleppo has now been bombed. I can't bear it, so God help the people who have to live through it.
    Maureen xx

  14. I rarely make emotive statements but have to say that we are a failure as the human race. We are allowing our once beautiful world to be destroyed by greed, bigotry and predjudice. I have no idea how we can change it and that is what is so sad.
    Hugs from Chris X

  15. Barbara your art work is so poignant I only watched a little part of children in need just before Craig David came on to sing the family who lost both there daughter and son was so sad and upsetting i couldn't watch no more I downloaded the single only a small thing I know i haven't watched no news as been lost in my crafting today colouring some of the stamps I had stamped and groovi-ing two bookmarks ready to colour tomorrow.
    And watching a DVD with tom .
    Reading Brenda's comment I think says it all .xxx

    1. Hi Sheila,
      I watched some of CIN but like you, find it so upsetting listening to all of the stories. The kids doing the Rickshaw Challenge have been fantastic and it was so humbling to hear their stories. I think they all deserve medals! Glad you got some crafting done too, love and hugs Alison xxx

  16. Very moving blog. Brenda said it all. We have to have the hope that one day the people of the world will listen and say "peace"
    Yes we stayed in Juderia – lovely.
    Also have to say your blogs bring peace to me and I am sure to all the bloggers. I am laid up with a virus – minor thing, considering the world, but your reruns and back blogs have made me so much calmer.
    Have a happy day tomorrow – you cannot win the wars alone, but the fact that you care means so much to a great many people.
    Lots of love
    Anne (Reading)

  17. I really cannot imagine what it must be like for the poor innocent people in these war torn countries. As for bombing hospitals that is just despicable. Why why do countries have to fight and terrorists bomb. So much sadness in this world. xxx

  18. I'm so pleased that you blog not just the 'fluffy', pretty stuff that we all here have freedom to enjoy, but also the tough, tragic, and inhuman actions in our world that affect us all. And so poignantly expressed in your artwork. It's so easy to feel utterly powerless in the face of such abusive actions by the powerful but I'm sure Brenda's right – we have to be prepared to speak out against it, take a " Not in my name" stance. One way I've found is through sites such as Avaaz and 38 degrees. They both run online petitions, started by anybody, and have ever increasing influence. They certainly have them to do with Syria and Aleppo. The 38 degrees refers to the angle at which a pile of individual snowflakes becomes an avalanche. Let's be snowflakes.

  19. So much of the Children in Need has touched my heart this week, the rickshaw riders, the DIYSOS building a centre for young carers,and as Sheila said the young family who lost both their children. The bombing of Alleppo is such an atrocity. Thank goodness for the brave journalists who let us know what is going on and all the charity workers who are in the area. There are good people in the world x

  20. To say the world has gone bonkers is a complete understatement. Totally agree that humanity is
    seriously failing those who need help the most. And then you look at the headlines coming from Canada about FART (I kid you not) and you realise that the world is truly upside down. Ho hum, I shall keep peace in my part of the world. X

  21. I was fortunate enough to visit Aleppo (and elsewhere in Syria) back in 1999. It was such an amazing, beautiful, warm and welcoming country and people. Of course, there were issues and politics back then, maybe the seeds of some of the current appallingness. But walking around, the "real" country was gentle, with an endearing humour, and a politeness unlike other places in the region; as a young woman alone I felt safer there than anywhere else I went. I saw a series of "then and now" photos of Aleppo, and it was heart breaking. Destruction seems so much easier than construction. I cannot comprehend how the people there cope, except that they have no choice. Ordinary people like you or me. I admit I tune out a lot as it is so unbearable to think of being in that situation, and scary how easily and quickly things can change.

    Your protest art is a wonderful expression Barbara, not beautiful but raw and very apt.

    I go to bed now with renewed gratitude for all I have, that others have lost.

  22. Hi Barb,
    We live in a very sick world at the moment and I just hope and pray that very soon it can be healed. Aleppo is such a tragedy – what is the sense in bombing hospitals! They must be just living in hell at the moment, I do so feel for them. One of the boys doing the Rickshaw Challenge was a Syrian Refugee and every time he spoke about what had happened to him I was in tears. Your Alepp banner is very poignant and the colours you have used show your anger I think. I would love a step by step for this ( but butterflies would be good too!) Love and hugs Alison xxx

  23. Just heart breaking total monsters to do that pure Evil. I cannot watch children in need just get to upset so I flick through on catch up love and hugs and to all those who's children were lost or harmed Joy xxx

  24. Barbara, this is a very moving blog entry. I too have tears for Aleppo, and other areas affected by the wars going on in there. I hope that peace can overcome evil sometime soon

  25. Ah yes, Barb. Does the human race ever learn? Perhaps not. We are more clever but not collectively kinder. I hope you can forgive a rather revolting metaphor but it is the best I can find for some hope. I think of a boil, maybe a carbuncle with many foci of infection. It is the unbearable pressure that pushes us to lance the thing and release the pus. There is so much anger evident that we must take some action to clean up! I think about it a lot – how do we deal with child abuse, refugees, women's independence, religious animosity, war-mongering, and tearing the Earth to pieces?
    Can I risk sending this? Without wanting to add to your despair, I think I must share my own desperation and the possibility that carbuncles are curable.

    On a better note, we have had a hot day here. It's getting dark and I am still sitting outside. The air is full of bird calls, and some cicadas have just started singing. There's a breeze that has the eucalypt next door swaying elegantly. Everything is clad in spring green and I feel lucky to live in a place where the Earth is not tortured.
    Thank you for sharing your thoughts.
    Ros.

  26. Oh Barbara,
    we can´t do anything against the stupidity of our politicians.
    I´m sure 90 % of them are touched in the head… and I mean in my country, in your country and all over the world.
    Rolf xxx

  27. Morning, out yesterday and now I'm just watching Paul. I couldn't believe this politician when it was on the news! Perhaps he should go there so he finds out what its like. I sincerely hope the people responsible for the war crimes happening in Aleppo are held to account. Xx

  28. I think a situation like Aleppo is so frustrating for people like us because we can't possibly know exactly what is happening there, and we are only shown what the 'powers that be' choose to show us, and I agree that what we see is appaling and should not be happening, it is totally inhumane to target any hospital, and any harm to children especially sickens us all. We can only voice our feelings as individuals and your artwork shows exactly how you feel Barbara and we can only hope that this dreadful situation there will be resolved soon. x

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