We hear about things that are happening far away, but we don't usually understand them very well. We are fairly isolated and insulated here in the United States. We go about our daily lives. Much of what we hear about wars in other places stays at the back of our minds. There are reporters who go to these places and often risk their lives in doing so. One that I admire for this is Richard Engel of NBC News. This isn't about him, though.
Yesterday I came across a video online that held me captive and made me think. It was done by a British filmmaker named Olly Lambert. It is called "Syria Behind the Lines, The Bombing of Al-Bara". It has been aired on the PBS program "Frontline". You can find it at PBS's website or Frontline's website. The internet address I had was very long:
www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/foreign-affairs-defense/syria-behind-the-lines/bombing-of-al-bara/
#bmb4
It was sad watching what these people are going through, almost hard to imagine. It isn't graphic or violent, though. As the filmmaker said, it seemed surreal. I don't think I am being political. It's just about one human being to another.
I remember being in Israel back in the 90s. We went to the Golan Heights, where we could look down and see Syria. Maybe this affects me more, having seen the place and knowing that it's real.
When it comes down to it, it is always one woman's son, one woman's husband, one child's father. All over the world. Political power/religion. We are all just human beings really. So sad.
ReplyDeleteI have followed the crisis in Syria closely, and shake my head in disbelief at the inhumanity of it all, but every war and civil unrest is the same - the loss of someone's loved ones, the death of innocent children, for political gain.
ReplyDeleteI have seen television footage from overworked doctors working in Syria who try to stay on top of it all emotionally and physically. This has gone on for such a long time now. Perhaps this is featured in the video you have featured. I must watch it. So hard to see others suffer.
Artist, you are right it's just so sad. Innocent people always get caught up in situations out of their control.
ReplyDeletePam, I shake my in disbelief too. It sounds like you might see more television coverage there than we do here.
In the video, I was impressed by how much the men were trying to help the people, to comfort the child. They were digging with their bare hands and calling for ambulances. Some of them were desperate that the cameraman let the rest of the world know what was happening.
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