Protesters Rally Outside Russian Mission To Denounce Aleppo Carnage

Lit by the screens of many cellphones streaming their chants around the world, scores of people gathered on the Upper East Side Tuesday night to show support for Aleppo, which has been bombarded and invaded by Syrian and Russian forces determined to finally recapture the Syrian city from rebel militias.

Large flags flew over the sidewalk demonstration—black and green banners of the rebellious Free Syrian Army stamped with the word "FREEDOM." Many protesters held homemade signs denouncing attacks against civilians during the four year long bombardment.

Positioned near the Russian Federation's Permanent Mission to the United Nations, the cluster of protesters grew in size and volume throughout the evening, and frequently broke into chants of "Free Free Aleppo! Shame Shame USA!" and "Putin, ISIS, are the same! The only difference is the name!"

Damascus native and Bay Ridge resident Nazar Yabroudi, one of the organizers of the rally, said his reason for demonstrating was simple: “To stop the killing, the destruction—the regime wants to kill everyone there. They've executed people trying to run away. Family, kids, women.”

Yabroudi stressed the need to demonstrate outside of Russia’s diplomatic offices “to give a message to all people that the government of Russia is killing Syrian people.”

“At least try to save these people, at least make a no fly zone or help the Free Syrian Army,” he added.

As many as 150,000 civilians were believed to be trapped in a small section of East Aleppo while it was heavily bombed, and then invaded by ground forces, through Sunday and Monday. Residents in the area, including the humanitarian rescue group known as the White Helmets, have described the streets as being littered with bodies, while others lie trapped under demolished buildings with no means of escape. Severe food shortages and the cold winter temperatures are exacerbating the humanitarian crisis.

Some in Aleppo have told Western media outlets that numerous civilian women have committed suicide in their homes, fearing they would be raped by members of the advancing Assadist forces. In the last 72 hours, social media has been flooded with "final messages" from inhabitants of East Aleppo sharing what they believed to have been their last words with the world. On Tuesday morning, Reuters reported that over 100 children are trapped inside a single, heavily-bombed building.

On Tuesday, Russia, Turkey, and Syrian rebel groups announced a tentative cease-fire agreement, meant to allow for the evacuation of wounded and stranded civilians. "According to the latest information that we received in the last hour, military actions in eastern Aleppo are over," Russian Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin said yesterday at an emergency UN meeting. Churkin claimed civilians of Aleppo would be allowed to remain at home safely, or take transportation out of the city without being harmed.

At the Manhattan rally, those claims were met with disbelief.

“It’s a lie, it’s a lie. The Syrian regime’s ambassador only tells lies, same with the Russians,” Selma, a Syrian woman who refused to give her last name for the sake of safety, said. “They know how to fake things—pictures, news, it’s all propaganda."

(Scott Heins/Gothamist)

(Scott Heins/Gothamist)

Selma's suspicions appear to be correct: on Wednesday morning, The New York Times reported that shelling has once again started in Aleppo, and bus conveys filled with injured civilians seeking refuge have been turned back by the Syrian army and forced to return to the wreckage.

"We slept a quiet night, but sadly the shelling is back," Salem, a dentist in Aleppo, told the Times. "Please share my message: the cease-fire has collapsed. The situation is bad again."

Tom Forlenza stood near the crowd's center holding two candles as signs of grief for those who have been killed. Forlenza is a resident of New Hope, Pennsylvania, and had traveled 85 miles to the Upper East Side yesterday. “I felt compelled to come," he said. "It’s been a terrible day. I see the images that are coming out of Aleppo and Syria, and the reports are horrendous. I just felt I needed to come, needed to be here.” Forlenza acknowledged his good fortune at being an American with no friends or family directly at risk inside Aleppo, but denounced what he sees as the Obama administration's complacency in pushing back against the Assad regime and its allies.

"Obama doesn't want to get involved in another huge war, but as a country we should have done more," Forlenza said.

Speaking at the emergency Security Council meeting Tuesday, hours before the demonstrators rallied less than two miles away, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon admitted "We have collectively failed the people of Syria."

Organizers are planning to hold a second, larger group protest against attacks in Aleppo this Friday evening in Washington Square Park.