Undercovered: The Seven-Year-Old Girl Live-Tweeting from Aleppo
Undercovered is our daily feature bringing attention to women’s issues worldwide, which we feel deserve a larger audience.
—
Bana Alabed, a seven-year-old girl from the Syrian city of Aleppo, is live-tweeting her experience living in the war-torn city.
These tweets are from the last hour:
sleeping as you can hear the bombs fall, I will tweet tomorrow if we are alive”. – Fatemah #Aleppo pic.twitter.com/HfFvig9cct
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) October 3, 2016
Bana just slept. We hear boooooooms, every minute I think it hit us. – Fatemah #Aleppo
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) October 3, 2016
Stop the bombing now, I want to sleep. I’m tired. – Bana #Aleppo
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) October 3, 2016
Booooom…….
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) October 3, 2016
Reached by the BBC, Bana’s mother Fatemah said that her daughter “wants the world to hear our voice.” As the account has grown in followers, she has fielded accusations that she is using her daughter for propaganda purposes or writing the tweets on her behalf.
Tweets about Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russia’s Vladimir Putin come in for particular criticism.
Others question a seven-year-old Syrian girl’s excellent English skills.
Bana’s father is a lawyer who works in a legal centre in the city. Fatemah studied English for three years in a language institute, and has also been studying law at university.
She said she has been teaching Bana English since her daughter was four years old.
Being accused of lies is disappointing, she said. “All the words come from the heart,” Fatemah said. “All are the truth”.
You can read the BBC report here and follow Bana’s Twitter page at @AlabedBana
—
[image: sevenMaps7 via shutterstock.com]
Undercovered is a daily feature from Mediaite, bringing attention to stories about women’s issues that warrant more attention. Go through the Undercovered archives here. If you have an idea or a tip, please email us at Undercovered@mediaite.com
