MOSTResource.org

Resources on Muslims for the Entertainment Industry

  • Story Bank
    • Business & Technology
    • Entertainment
    • Culture & Lifestyle
    • Medical
    • National
    • Faith
    • Sports
    • Women
    • World
  • Resources
    • Faces & Places
    • Statistics
    • Infographics
    • Research / Reports
    • Quick Takes
  • Perspectives
  • Events
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • Staff
    • Parent Organization
    • Videos
  • Story Bank
  • Business & Technology
  • Entertainment
  • Culture & Lifestyle
  • Medical
  • National
  • Faith
  • Sports
  • Women
  • World
mostresource storybank video

Explored Our Story Bank Yet?

Our curated collection of thousands of stories has helped top Hollywood writers, producers, and creatives. Watch our brief video to learn more.

World — July 11, 2017   

A New Yorker Returns Back Home To… Aleppo

Original article by Jwanah Qudsi published in the Washington Post on 07/07/2017

Jwanah Qudsi currently works in the United Nations in New York but she grew up in Aleppo, leaving the war-torn city in 2011 with her family. She says she chose to return because “security had improved since the government retook the East, and a few like me, who’d fled the fighting, were chancing a trip back. I returned to Aleppo knowing that it wouldn’t be the same place I’d left.”

Here are some snippets from her harrowing account back home:

“Eastern Aleppo, the larger of the city’s two sides, had borne the brunt of the fight and had often been shelled. Now it resembled a ghost town, with occasional signs of life… The west, which had been controlled by the regime throughout the conflict, had seen significantly less damage. It was exactly as I remembered it. The buildings were almost all intact, and the streets had potholes but were brimming with traffic. Stalls were set up along almost every road: food, cellphone cases, bread, lamps. People were everywhere, children mostly, crossing the streets at every angle and every pace.”

“I caught up with cousins, family friends, parents of friends who had moved abroad, and friends who remained. They all told me their stories. One friend, whose husband worked as a trauma surgeon at the University Hospital in Western Aleppo, showed me a handful of odd objects he had extracted from patients and clandestinely kept as reminders…. My cousin could not believe I had actually returned. She had earned her degree in biotechnology from the University of Aleppo but was having trouble finding a job in her field. Most people were having trouble finding any job. And those who did are paid prewar salaries, even though inflation has risen tenfold.”

“… Western Aleppo still lacks basic services. Running water comes and goes throughout the day now, but before December, it could come once a week for an hour. My best friend’s mom would fill a container and use it all week: cleaning, showering, cooking. In the freezing winter, when heating gas was close to nonexistent, bathing was optional… Electricity was also sporadic when the city was divided, but today its availability has created a luxury market of its own. “

“Everywhere, unfinished buildings are boarded up and used as shelters. So are old schools, mosque halls, abandoned homes, empty offices. Displaced people from destroyed parts of the city or nearby towns live, officially or unofficially, in every possible space the city has to offer. ‘People broke into my dad’s office downtown and started living there, so he had to force them out,’ my friend told me, referring to an unused office.”

“… I spent my last day in Aleppo running errands with the family car. But I slammed on the brakes when a boy of about 10 ran across the road, cigarette in hand. It was the middle of a weekday. Children around his age and younger waited outside restaurants, asking people for food… I found myself staring at children who looked 6, realizing that they were the physical embodiment of the length of this war. They have never known their country at peace.”

Read more ...

Our Experts Are Here To Help

Want to start a conversation with our experts for help with your project?

Related Articles

  • M Film Lab Now Accepting Applications for Screenwriting Program
  • American Eid – Interview with Director Aqsa Altaf
  • Post vaccine, Muslim travelers are heading to… Israel

More From The Story Bank

Post vaccine, Muslim travelers...

Last year the Abraham Accords were signed between Israel, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan. This marked a public normalization of relations not seen in decades. And with this new … [Read More...]

Meet the first Muslim head...

As new head coach for the New York Jets, Robert Saleh is making history as the first Muslim American to lead a team in the National Football League. The Lebanese American is also the third Arab … [Read More...]

Meet American’s Youngest...

According to The Hill, Bushra Amiwala "is part of a new generation stepping into politics." In 2019, she was elected to the Skokie Board of Education in Illinois, making this Pakistani-American … [Read More...]

Riz Ahmed Is Oscars’ First...

Riz Ahmed has become the first Muslim nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role at the Academy Awards for Sound of Metal, not long after Mahershala Ali made his own history with two Best Supporting … [Read More...]

More Women Study Physics in...

A recent report from Physics magazine finds that physics departments in many western universities have a "significant gender disparity, with far fewer women than men taking up the subject." However, … [Read More...]

Enter your email to receive periodic updates

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • RSS
  • Twitter

About | Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy© 2002–2023 MOST ResourceMOST Resource globe


We use cookies to improve your browsing experience and to collect anonymous data to enable us to manage our website. Our Privacy Policy is a complete disclosure of our data collection policies, including the choices you have to control information we might collect. Your use of this site represents your consent to our Privacy Policy.