Ink and Acrylic on Canvas, 2015
My name is Kalima [my nickname, for security reasons] and I am Syrian. I left my country two years ago, following the massacre of my mother, father, brother, uncle and grand-parents. I was fortunate enough to be rescued and to be able to escape to Europe via Turkey, but many others weren’t.
I have been trying to learn a new language and work to survive, but the wound is too deep to heal. It opens every time I think of my family, my country, my people and the devastation of the region, including Syria, Iraq, Palestine, Yemen and Lebanon. So many lives were lost. So many women, men and children are suffering.
When I saw the pictures of Aylan (3 years old) and Galip (5 years old) Kurdi, I couldn’t stop crying for hours. I won’t be pointing fingers at a particular regime or State or faction. People are caught in this hell because of a collective and worldwide responsibility. Aylan and Galip have become symbols of the war in Syria and the refugee crisis in Europe, but they are not the only ones and they won’t be the last ones to pay the heavy price of the loss of humanity. Yes, the loss of humanity! Instead of people all over the world demanding the end of wars, and a sustainable peace, they – with few exceptions – would only deal with certain consequences.
Crimes are committed every day before our eyes. A continuous carnage… As a Syrian, a survivor, a woman, a human being, I urge you to save the human species from the apocalypse, I urge you to reconsider your individual and governmental priorities. I urge you to choose freedom, justice, life… I urge you not to deny my – and so many others’ – humanity, but embrace it. I urge you not to lose faith in humanity. If we each take responsibility in shifting our thoughts and behavior, we could trigger the type of change that is necessary to end wars.