This is Mohammad Deib Elhir.
He weeps as he holds a one-month-old baby girl who he just
saved from the rubble of her bombed-out home.
Not long
after this video, Mohammad was assassinated -- shot in the
head while volunteering at a rescue centre.
This is the
reality faced by Syria’s White Helmets. Unarmed and neutral,
they’re just ordinary people -- tailors, teachers, bakers.
Yet they risk everything to do what no one else will,
rushing to the scene of bombings to save people’s lives:
114,431 so far.
This weekend a horrific chemical
attack killed more than 40, including small children.
The
bombing was relentless and the smell of chlorine gas hung
thick in the air, but the White Helmets were
there.These heroes need our help -- the attacks
are only getting worse and they urgently need new equipment,
tools, and medical supplies.
Our governments won’t
stand up for desperate Syrian people, but we can. Chip in --
100% of funds raised will go to life-saving work in
Syria:
President
Assad and his Russian backers show no signs of letting up. Now
they pretend there’s no evidence of this weekend’s attack,
despite hundreds of patients streaming into hospitals, mouths
foaming, unable to breathe.
1,658 days ago, the UN
Security Council passed a resolution demanding the Assad
regime destroy its chemical weapons -- yet here we are.
Our governments have done nothing. But we can do
something. Let’s show our governments that across
the world, people are so concerned about Syria that they’re
willing to spend their own money to help save lives. Then
Avaaz will continue campaigning to spur real action by our
leaders to stop this hell on earth.
Together we
supported the White Helmets’ work in 2016 -- and since then
they’ve saved another 40,000 people’s lives. This week’s news
shows that tragically, their selfless service is needed more
than ever --
chip in now and together we can help them save
thousands more.
Sometimes
there are heroes in the midst of absolute horror who are so
inspiring, their story is a gift in itself. Let’s make this
story stronger, more hopeful, and honour it with an outpouring
of support from people in every country on earth.
With
hope and determination,
Danny, Allison, Marigona,
Emma, Ricken and the whole Avaaz team
More
information:
Dozens Suffocate in Syria as Government Is
Accused of Chemical Attack (NY Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/08/world/middleeast/syria-chemical-attack-ghouta.html
WHO: 500 Syrian patients show symptoms pointing to
toxic weapons exposure (Reuters)
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-ghouta-who/who-500-syrian-patients-show-symptoms-pointing-to-toxic-weapons-exposure-idUSKBN1HI18D
The Guardian view on the Syrian chemical attack:
Assad’s crime – the world’s responsibility (The
Guardian)
https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/08/the-guardian-view-on-the-syrian-chemical-attack-assads-the-worlds-responsibility
Hospital that treated Syrian chemical attack victims
bombed in widespread air strikes (The Telegraph)
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/09/22/hospital-treated-syrian-chemical-attack-victims-bombed-widespread/
White Helmets Rescuer Among Several Killed In Syria
Attack (NPR)
https://www.npr.org/2017/08/14/543477504/white-helmets-rescuer-among-several-killed-in-syria-attack
Syria chemical attack: Scores killed in Douma,
rescuers say (Al Jazeera)
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2018/04/suspected-chemical-attack-kills-dozens-syria-douma-180407202906316.html
WhiteHelmets.org
https://www.whitehelmets.org/en
