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Bana al-Abed

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Bana al-Abed
Born2009 (age 14–15)
Nationality Syria
Years active2016 – present

Bana al-Abed (Arabic: بنا العبد; born 2009) is a Syrian girl from Aleppo who, with assistance from her English-speaking mother, sends messages through Twitter documenting the siege of the city.[1][2] Most of these tweets have documented issues such as airstrikes, destruction, hunger, displacement, the prospect of her and her family's death, her longing for a peaceful childhood the al-Bab district of eastern Aleppo, and her general calls for peace.[3]

History

Al-Abed's Twitter account, @AlabedBana, was created on September 24, 2016. Within two days of setting up the account, this 7-year-old girl had used the #HolocaustAleppo, #MassacreInAleppo, #StopAleppoMassacre hashtags and tweeted at Russian President Vladimir Putin, US President Barack Obama and Syrian President Bashar Assad.[4] Twitter has verified al-Abed's account, indicating that "an account of public interest is authentic."[5] The account has over 360,000 followers,[6] and is managed by Bana's mother Fatemah. On December 4, 2016, during the 17th Aleppo offensive, her account was taken down, but it was back up within two days and she has been tweeting since.[7]

Bana's mother, Fatemah, was an English teacher before the war. Bana al-Abed also reportedly wanted to be a teacher, but had stopped going to school because of the war which destroyed her school.[8] She received an ebook copy of Harry Potter from J. K. Rowling in November after tweeting that she could not obtain a physical copy locally.[9] Her family's house was destroyed during a bombing later that month but she and her family stated they survived with minor injuries.[10]

Her father is a lawyer who worked for the ruling 'local council' in southeastern Aleppo.[11] She has two younger brothers, Noor and Mohamed.[12]

After the success of the Aleppo offensive by government forces, Turkey and Russia agreed on a ceasefire and evacuation of rebels and civilians from Aleppo. When the evacuations did not go as planned, her mother mentioned Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu for making the ceasefire work, the Foreign Minister said that they were doing all to get her and others out.[13] On 19 December 2016, it was reported that Bana Alabed was among the 350 people who were evacuated from the former rebel-held districts of Aleppo on that day after its capture by government forces.[14] On 21 December, Bana and her family were officially allowed to live in Turkey and met President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan in front of international press.[15][16]

Trolling attacks

Her account has been subject to trolling and online bullying, including the setting up of fake accounts to discredit and insult her.[17] Syrian president Bashar al-Assad has said that her account was "propaganda", a claim which was echoed by anonymous users on Twitter, for example Peggy Breckin, Maytham al Ashkar and Barbara McKenzie.[9] Doubts about the objective existence of Bana al-Abed and her family in east Aleppo have been disproven through the usage of geolocation, and the authenticity of her Twitter account has been verified by Twitter, the Bellingcat investigative group, and the New York Times.[17]

Doubts by experts

According to the New York Times, Bana’s Twitter account has raised some questions of veracity and authenticity. It is unclear whether all of her Twitter posts—which could be put online from anywhere, by anyone with Bana’s password—originated in eastern Aleppo. Nor is it clear how many posts Bana has composed herself. Her messages are sophisticated for a 7-year-old, particularly for one whose native language is not English. Juliette S. Touma, a Unicef spokeswoman for the Middle East and North Africa, acknowledged that there was, in Bana’s case, "no way to verify where the tweets are coming from, or whether they’re coming from the girl or somewhere else." "It's always a question of whether a 7-year-old is being used as a propaganda tool, and if so, by whom," said Jane E. Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota. "I don't know whether it's true or fake in this age of social media. But her living as a child in Aleppo is consistent with what we hear," said Sonia Khush, the Syria director of Save the Children. Despite the questions surrounding Bana’s account, news organizations have embraced it as a window into the Syria conflict.[18]

References

  1. ^ Mezzofiore, Gianluca. "The trolls who believe Bana, 7-year-old Syrian girl, isn't real". Retrieved 15 December 2016.
  2. ^ "Aleppo girl's Twitter appeals for peace capture world's attention".
  3. ^ "7-year-old Bana Alabed tweets her life in besieged Aleppo, the horror of Syria airstrikes". Daily Sabah.
  4. ^ "Doubts raised over Aleppo girl Bana al-Abed's Twitter account". RT. 8 December 2016 – via www.rt.com/.
  5. ^ "About verified accounts". Twitter.
  6. ^ "Where's Bana? Seven-Year-Old Syrian Girl Goes Quiet".
  7. ^ "Aleppo tweeting girl Bana al-Abed 'is safe'". BBC. 5 December 2016 – via www.bbc.com.
  8. ^ "The seven-year-old girl tweeting the horrors of war in her Aleppo neighbourhood". Telegraph.
  9. ^ a b Rick Gladstone; Megan Specia; Sydney Ember (December 7, 2016). "Girl Posting to Twitter From Aleppo Gains Sympathy, but Doubts Follow". New York Times.
  10. ^ Bogart, Nicole. "Syrian girl with viral Twitter account trapped in Aleppo, family worried army will target them". Global News.
  11. ^ Molloy, David (2 October 2016). "Meet the seven-year-old girl tweeting from Aleppo". BBC – via www.bbc.com.
  12. ^ "'I saw deaths and I almost died': Read seven-year-old's harrowing tweets from inside war-torn Aleppo".
  13. ^ "7-Year-Old Syria War Symbol, Bana al-Abed, Evacuated From Aleppo".
  14. ^ "Aleppo battle: Hundreds leave Syria city as evacuations resume". BBC. 19 December 2016.
  15. ^ CNN, Muhammad Lila and James Masters. "Bana Alabed: Aleppo girl meets Erdogan". CNN. {{cite web}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
  16. ^ "Bana Alabed, Aleppo's tweeting girl, meets Turkey's President Erdogan". BBC News. 21 December 2016.
  17. ^ a b Taylor, Adam (December 14, 2016). "In Aleppo's misinformation war, a 7-year-old girl prompts a fact check". The Washington Post.
  18. ^ "Girl Posting to Twitter From Aleppo Gains Sympathy, but Doubts Follow". The New York Times. December 7, 2016.

External links

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