Syrians need us to remember our humanity

I’m having a hard time with humanity today. I’m having a hard time understanding how eyes can be so closed, and hearts can be so cold. I’m having a hard time understanding why living in a different country makes you less deserving of life.

As news stories, videos, and pictures spread of the most recent chemical weapons attack in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun, the hashtag #SyriaHoax began to trend on Twitter (It is, in fact, still trending.). I won’t repost here what those tweets contained, as they don’t deserve repeating. Suffice it to say they were ugly, sad, and full of dangerous lies.

It is unimaginable to me that someone would, with a straight face, say these atrocities aren’t happening. That these images are fake. I just honestly have no words.

I’m not going to offer a policy laden post here. I’m not going to tell you how our governments should respond — although I do have thoughts about that.

I simply have a request. Those of us who have the privilege of ignoring such atrocities. Those of us who live in peaceful countries, with no fear of war, and no concept of what these people must be experiencing. Make the choice to pay attention. Make the choice to see these atrocities. Make the choice to see the Syrian people for who they are — people.

Here are a few stories I’ve collected from the past few days:

This video is definitely hard to watch, but I think it’s important. This shows the immediate aftermath of the bombing, as well as the work of the White Helmets as they attempt to save people suffering from the chemical attack.

This father lost his 9 month-old twin babies, his wife, and 25 members of his extended family.

This 13 year-old boy watched 19 of his family members die in front of him. That he survived is a miracle.

As I wrote this post, the US launched more than 50 tomahawk missiles at Homs. This scares me. There is no strategy here. There is no plan. My thoughts are with the people of Syria, as I believe even darker days are yet to come.