AL Hasakah, Syria

Al-Hasaka is a province in the northeast of Syria. Approximately one million inhabitants live there. Again: one million. One million human beings.

And it has been 20 days since the Turkish occupational forces cut off the main water supply to the city. Citizens are dying of thirst. No water to wash, no water to drink, no water to keep plants alive. It's inhumane! The past 20 days must have been the hottest in this summer, let alone the pandemic, the lethal virus we're dealing with these days.

You can help those people. You are able to spread this news, to investigate more, and post reports! The media is not covering the crisis. No politician has bat an eye. We need your help! Please share the news as much as possible!

Please help me find public pages on Facebook that I can send this message to. We need every help we can get to save those peoples' lives.

Holy crap. I had no idea. It's criminal. Not to mention this is during a pandemic as you said. This literally puts so many people at even more risk, if they can't even wash their hands.

I read that this is the 6th or 7th time they cut off water supplies??

My question is if there is a more direct way to help than donating to human rights campaigns, or is so much of it beyond people's control? Water is a human right. This is literally a violation of people's rights to access of clean water, and water in general. One quote I found in an article:

"On March 27, 49 Syrian civil society and human rights organizations also condemned the water interruption in a jointly signed statement.

“This intentional denial of water that the residents of these areas are suffering is a blatant violation of international humanitarian law and is a war crime,” the statement read.

The organizations called on UN agencies, as well as the United States and the European Union, to “pressure the Turkish Government to allow the provision of water to deprived areas.”

Another article: https://www.hrw.org/news/2020/03/31/turkey/syria-weaponizing-water-global-pandemic

I don't have a Facebook but can try to spread awareness about this, maybe through reddit, I don't have much other social media. What's even more cruel is that I'm sure they didn't want this to get out anywhere. Not to mention Western media rarely ever talks about civilian deaths or inhumane conditions or much info about injustices/crises in other parts of the world. Civilians matter. Thank you for posting about this, Noura, but I am so, so sorry...

Four people died today of thirst, MarryAnne.

I'm not trying to make this about me, but it totally triggered so many awful memories. I know exactly what those poor creatures are suffering.

I tried to help as much as I could. I translated my post into Deutsch and Russian and shared to as many groups as possible, because Russians and Germans don't necessarily speak English.

I contacted many Arabic channels, but all I get is this answer: "we can't cover news in that area". I mean, really? If the area is just safe and fine, what news would we be needing you to cover? Camels mating? Ffs. Horrible reporters.

My sister (a volunteer) contacted many Turkish journalists, and got no answer.

We're doomed to die in silence. Our death doesn't cause a rage, or go viral online, or prompt people to rebel, because a Syrian life is literally totally worthless. :)

My goodness, words can't express my sorrow... the fact that water, a basic human right, is being weaponized like this...

Will this just continue until Turkey gets what it wants?? This is more than pressure or intimidation, this is compromising hundreds of thousands of lives and for what??!

More people should care. I'm so sorry that they don't, or that they simply act like civilians are just pawns to be used. I would hope that many actvists who are talking about BLM right now include immigrants, refugees, Syrians, innocent civilians, because that is what activism is and should be. Intersectional and talking about as many injustices as possible. Not just one group and saying "my job here is done". I know there is so much going on in the world but awareness is key. Some of my friends who are activists and anti-war have been speaking out about bombings of Syrian civilians, under Obama and Trump and I believe other presidents. It's become such a commonplace "accepted" part of war which is disgusting. Your lives aren't and will never be worth less than Americans. Syrian lives need to matter.

And heck no, you're not making this about you at all. You should be allowed to though. I'm so sorry this has triggered memories. Praise to you and your sister for translating and reaching out. I can't imagine the pain of not being heard...

I'm truly sorry to hear about this, noura. Its also so difficult to find media coverage about this. The most recent one I found was this one: https://morningstaronline.co.uk/article/w/turkey-accused-war-crimes-after-water-supply-blocked-northern-syria-22-days-0

I've shared this article along with your quotes on instagram.. I hope it spreads awareness. Truly horrific what's happening in the world.

Thank you, both Cynthia and MarryAnne.

No water for Hasaka city until now.
Last time the power wasn't shut down is last night at 11:30 pm. It's almost 00:00 now. A whole day without electrical power.

What hurts more is that nobody gives a fudge.