Open letter from teachers in northwest Syria

Students horrified by the attacks that killed ten people including four students in the town of Ariha in Idlib, northwest Syria. Via the White Helmets

If you are an educator and would like to sign on to this letter in solidarity with Syrian teachers, please email info@thesyriacampaign.org with your full name and affiliation.

To world leaders:

We are the teachers of students in northwest Syria who are deliberately targeted in their homes, classrooms and as they walk to school. We go to work afraid of another attack, and of another traumatizing day, which we know will affect our pupils for the rest of their lives.

Our letter could not be more urgent. Early morning on Wednesday, October 20, four students and our colleague, Arabic teacher Qamar Hafez were tragically killed on their way to school when Syrian government forces attacked the town of Ariha in south Idlib with artillery shells.

At least 55 children have been killed in the past four months by the Syrian and Russian governments, nearly a child every other day, and one million children in Idlib are terrified they might be next or they might lose their best friend at any moment. Like teachers everywhere, we are deeply committed to the children we teach, and we do all we can to try to protect them but it is not enough. We need world leaders to stop the attacks, and ensure that children are safe and able to continue their education.

We’re trained to evacuate the classroom when the bombs fall. We run regular drills with the children as we only have a few minutes when there’s a warning that a warplane is coming closer, so we have to move fast. The training itself can be confusing for young children who don’t understand that we’re practicing.

Whenever a warplane is nearby, we ask the children to remain calm and rush them to a shelter, usually a small room under the stairs, where we hide for hours until it’s safe to come out. Those are the hardest moments. We respond to calls and texts from parents, and we do everything we can to help when the children panic and ask to go home.

One of our students, ten-year-old Jamila al Jasem, was killed in July. She had already fled her home many times due to attacks but there was nowhere safe left to go and at 5am on 12 July, Assad’s forces bombed her home killing Jamila. None of her third grade classmates would sit in Jamila’s chair for a month until a new student came.

Our schools have already been targeted eight times in 2021 and we’re worried that fewer and fewer children will return to school each school year. The intense fear has caused many students to become isolated and depressed. Already half the school-aged children in northwest Syria are out of school due to bombing and displacement. These children desperately need the routine and support systems that come with school.

Schools are supposed to be a safe space for children to learn and grow, not a target for warplanes and missiles. As teachers we will keep going to work even if it means risking our lives under bombs, but we need the international community to take action to end the attacks and hold Russia and the Syrian government accountable for such horrible crimes, so that our classrooms can be full with students again.

Signatories:

1. Abdulrahim Hayri
2. Ahmad Ali al-Nakuh
3. Abdullah al-Tawil
4. Ahmad Abd al-Hamid Yassin
5. Muhammad Hammoud al-’Oud
6. Nassir Abd al-Rahman al-Saffanah
7. Yasser al-Haj Ahmad
8. Ahmad Muhammad al-Said
9. Ahmad Ali al-Maghlaj
10. Bashar Ahmad al-Khaled
11. Ahmad Khaled al-Sulaiman
12. Dalia Muhammad Jamil Abdallah
13. Ahmad Khaled al-Sulaiman
14. Tareq Ahmad al-Sheikh
15. Ahmad al-Izz
16. Ghaitha Muhammad Abdallah
17. Abdallah Bakkour
18. Fatimah Ibrahim al-Aswad
19. Ahmad Hamid al-Ali
20. Sulaiman Sulaiman
21. Hussein Ahmad al-Alloun
22. Amira Abd al-Ghafour al-Aswad
23. Allam Ibrahim Adham al-Omar
24. Hassan Saif al-Din Douri
25. Yasser al-Hamsho
26. Izdihar Juma Harmoush
27. Muhi al-Din Muhammad Dib al-Zoubi
28. Muhammad Khaled al-Abdallah
29. Muhammed Mansur Teet
30. Fariza Ikrima al-Khalaf
31. Rehab Ahmad al-Hayek
32. Ibtisam Ibrahim Qabalan
33. Mustafa al-Mustafa
34. Yahya Muhammad Deeb al-Habra
35. Muhammad Najia
36. Abdallah al-Ali
37. Ammar Muayyad al-Uthman
38. Raya Muhammad Izz al-Din
39. Ahmad Muhammad Sheikh Youssef
40. Mariam Radwan al-Arafat
41. Majed Abd al-Rahman al-Ahmad
42. Marwan Khaled Khattab
43. Muhammad al-Arabo
44. Falak Ramadan al-Ramadan
45. Ahmad Muhammad Sabra
46. Juhayna Muhammad Jaabari
47. Lama Muhammad al-Omar
48. Ahmad Mansour al-Ahmad Haj Deebo
49. Raad Ahmad al-Sheikh
50. Ahmad Ali al-Rahhal
51. Feryal Abd Alkader Alkaddour
52. Bashir Hatem al-Hussein
53. Ibrahim Ahmad al-Shamali
54. Mahmoud Muhammad al-Muhammad
55. Yahya Hallaq
56. Salim Abd al-Aziz al-Bakkour
57. Sami Zaydan
58. Amal Khaled al-Ali
59. Nahed Abdallah Maqtifi
60. Fatima Abd al-Salam al-Musa
61. Nasiba Ahmad Sabahiya
62. Hadeel Akram al-Maghlaj
63. Abdallah Ahmad al-Abid
64. Hala Khaled al-Krayman
65. Abd al-Qader Abd al-Hayy al-Rashid
66. Hussein al-Tawil
67. Hamid Muhammad
68. Mahmoud Jihad al-Jarak
69. Ibrahim Mosulli
70. Fadi Hamad al-Hassan
71. Abdallah Maghlaj
72. Rehab Muhammad Ali al-Alloush
73. Amani Nader Abd al-Hadi
74. Salim Abd al-Aziz al-Bakkour
75. Nermin Hassan Jaddou
76. Sulaiman Khaled al-Mawwas
77. Turkiyya Ramadan al-Hallaq
78. Sabah Khaled Baghdadi
79. Raqiya Muhammad Salloum
80. Ahmad Khaled al-Shawa
81. Nasiba Yahya
82. Ghadeer Musa al-Arab
83. Sallouh Ahmad al-Said
84. Nawwaf Abdallah al-Khalil
85. Raed Muhammad al-Allaiwi
86. Khaled Hassan al-Hussein
87. Basima Muhammad al-Abdallah
88. Fahima Muhammad al-Hashoum
89. Hayfa Jasem al-Khatib
90. Muhammad Abd al-Hadi al-Ballan
91. Hadeel Abd al-Razzaq al-Muhammad
92. Hanan al-Jaban
93. Bushra Abd al-Sattar Khatib
94. Saher Subhi al-Ibrahim
95. Fida Nayyoul
96. Fatima Abd al-Razzaq al-Muhammad
97. Wala Abd al-Salam al-Musa
98. Ibtisam Yassin Haj Yassin
99. Wasel Mahmoud Assaf
100. Iman Muhammad Abd al-Majid
101. Buthaina Abd al-Rahman Ahmad
102. Abd al-Mueen Ismail al-Allaiwi
103. Muhammad Mustafa al-Habyo
104. Hafez Ahmad al-Hasan
105. Ammar Maghlaj
106. Hadeel Razzouq
107. Ubay Mahmoud al-Uthman
108. Minar Abd al-Samad Muaykel
109. Muhammad Rimah Adnan Naasan
110. Khalidiyya Raslan al-Rahhal
111. Malak Munir Thalja
112. Amal Abd al-Karim Qentar
113. Najm al-Din Tareq al-Sayyadi
114. Issa al-Issa
115. Lamees Mahmoud Derbas
116. Jihan al-Sheikh
117. Lama Abd al-Hadi al-Kamel
118. Salam Muhammad al-Bakkour
119. Wala al-Dbeis
120. Iman Ali al-Mansour
121. Mahmoud Taha Meri
122. Ayham Hussein al-Khalfan
123. Munib al-Ali
124. Ahmad Jamal Naasan
125. Aqeel Yassin
126. Kamal Ahmad al-Hassan
127. Maysa al-Muhammad
128. Issam Abd al-Aziz al-Naasan
129. Khattabi Khattabi
130. Mahmoud Ahmad al-Oyoun
131. Muhammad Razzouq
132. Samira al-Taleb
133. Sattam Muhammad al-Ismail
134. Ahmad Ibrahim al-Ibrahim
135. Mustafa Abbas
136. Muhammad Oud Kharzoum
137. Afraa Majed Zada
138. Iyad Abd al-Karim al-Khlaif
139. Alzhaher billah Muhammad Naser al-Waw
140. Hiyam Tahseen Ammar
141. Ahmad al-Omar
142. Usama Ali al-Khlaif
143. Abd al-Razzaq Saleh al-Agha
144. Nuzha Adnan Yassin
145. Abd al-Halim Kharzoum
146. Anwar al-Mustafa
147. Ahmad Hassan al-Noushi
148. Nour Abd al-Rahim Barbaro
149. Noha Muhammad al-Khlaif
150. Afeef Abdallah al-Wahoub
151. Khadija Mahmoud al-Rajab
152. Wafa Nader Bakkour
153. Labiba Muhammad Sa’id al-Shahhoud
154. Juma’a ‘Abd al-Karim al-Sakhouri
155. Yasser Ibrahim Qassem
156. Joumana Mahmoud al-’Omran
157. Battoul Dbeis Mariam al-Hamadi
158. Khaled Ibrahim Bakkour
159. Shoaa Hayel al-Faraj
160. Khadija Hamad al-Hayari
161. Khadija Sheikh Ahmad
162. Mahmoud al-Jarak
163. Mariam al-Bakkour
164. Wafa al-Darwish
165. Mouina al-Qassem
166. Bashar Monther al-Yahya
167. Omar Yusuf al-Omar
168. Ruha Abd al-Hayy
169. Ahlam Muhammad Kneissawi
170. Battoul Ahmad al-Naqouh
171. Ahmad Hilal
172. Iman al-Mustafa
173. Omar Walid al-Omar
174. Talal Abd al-Basset Haj Yassin
175. Muhammad Ali al-Hussein
176. Fadi Ghaleb Issa
177. Abdo Mahmoud Ibrahim
178. Ibrahim Ali al-Ibrahim
179. Muhammad Idlbi
180. Dima Ghannoum
181. Oussama Ayoub
182. Jumaa Yassin

And teachers around the world in solidarity:

• Alexa Firat, Assistant Professor, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, USA
• Victorine Michalon, teacher of French as foreign language, Université de Montréal, Québec, Canada
• Anne Strudwick, retired teacher, London, United Kingdom
• Dylan Connor, high school Latin teacher at Bunnell High School, Stratford, CT, USA
• Inge Vermeire, Dutch teacher, Belgium
• Ruth Buchli, retired Adult Educator & Community Development Worker, Orselina, Switzerland
• Jeanne-Hélène de Reparaz, France
• Gillian Moore, primary school teacher, Ireland
• Amina Masri, Elementary School Teacher, USA
• Brooke McMillan, teacher at Holy Trinity Catholic High School, Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canda
• Mary Alacoque Ryan, retired second level teacher, Tuam, Ireland
• Aya Faraj, 4th grade homeroom teacher, USA
• Rosmarijn Huner, primary school teacher, ASKO, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• Bayan Arafeh, pre-service teacher, Australia
• Daryl Funk, Mathematics Instructor, Douglas College, New Westminster, BC, Canada
• Janet Mordike, retired chemistry teacher, Lancashire, United Kingdom
• Laura Forbes, music teacher, north London, United Kingdom
• Anna Hart, English instructor, ALPS Language School, Seattle, WA, USA