With only 15 years Muhammad Najem began to narrate through his Twitter account the atrocities of the war in East Ghouta, where he lived with his two brothers and their parents. A vocation as a journalist that has led him to report on bombings, death and destruction. Situations, he says, for which no one is prepared: "I have seen things that no human being should have seen."
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- Born and raised under the bombs in Syria
- They are prepared to rebuild Syria
- Syrian refugees caught up in a chronic humanitarian crisis
Due to the unsanitary conditions he was subjected to in East Ghouta, in 2019, Muhammad and his family sought a new life in Istanbul, where they have had to start from scratch. “Now everything is very different. I go to English classes, although they are online due to the coronavirus situation. And I still don't have many friends because I don't speak Turkish very well, ”he explains. In fact, for his fear of not yet expressing himself perfectly in English, he admits that his brother Qusay Noor has helped him answer the questions in writing.
Syria is currently experiencing one of the worst economic crises in memory since the start of the war. The Syrian Central Bank announced last June the 78% devaluation of the Syrian pound. All the suffering of the war is now being added to inflation, which makes food scarce and at prices no one can afford. According to the UN World Food Program (WFP), these have increased by 133% since May 2019.
The destruction here in Ma'arat al-Nu'man is like the destruction in our house in the #eastern_Ghouta
I will never despair of this life and fight until I achieve my #Dream When I look at the sky now and see the black clouds before the rain, I hope my wishes come true # Syria pic.twitter.com/l4Fo49dcqR
This young Syrian, now 17 years old, has been fully aware of the situation in which he has lived. And he narrates the memory that he still keeps in his mind of the sound and smell of the bombs. “They are things that no one should have seen. They remain etched in the memory forever ”. Before all this, his childhood was that of a normal boy who played with his friends in the street and who liked to spend time with his family. A daily existence that the war insisted on disrupting.
Images are crucial to unveil the truth about Syria
It was in 2017 when he began to record videos of the atrocities that they lived daily to later tell about it on social networks: “I started because my family and friends were being killed and meanwhile people were silent. I needed the world to see with its own eyes the truth, the horror of what was happening ”. He did everything in the hope that someone would see him and take an active part in the conflict, to help them put an end to this situation.
Through social networks, Muhammad managed to communicate his message to all parts of the world, since, as he comments, through Twitter he can reach millions of people in just minutes. “The videos are made from the perspective of a teenager. I started when I was 15 years old and I was in one of the areas most devastated by the war. There I show my reality, my world at that moment ”. There are people who may not want or do not have time to read an article or news about the war, but who do read a tweet or see a photo, he explains. "Images are crucial to unveil the truth about Syria." One of the reports that was most difficult for him to capture, due to the harshness of the moment, was the attack by a jet fighter on the home of his friend Salim. He says that the day before they had been right there playing together, and his partner was buried in the rubble of a four-story building, although in the end he was only injured. Salim lost his mother and sister. “It was very difficult to record that video. I was heartbroken and words barely came out. "
This is a video showing the world what happened in my school of destruction and shelling. We were in the eastern Ghouta. Look at the study desks. How did the school yard and the writing pad in the classroom all become wreckage? #Syriahttps: //t.co/kclntJ8VjG pic.twitter.com/lgTPplkYWA
- Muhammad Najem (@ muhammadnajem20) May 7, 2018Aware of the work of journalism at an early age, Muhammad understands the profession to which he wants to dedicate himself as a way to contribute his bit to improve the situation in Syria and to recover from the war. He assures that many lies have been told about the race and now the objective is "to bring the truth to the world." Asked about the importance of reporters in situations like this, he comments that no one can expect a president or a political official to tell him the truth: “People need to see it in their own eyes and hear it in their own ears. If journalists did not risk their lives to report from war zones, no one would know what is happening here, except those who manage to save themselves.
Muhammad's mother, who answered two questions in the interview to give her opinion about the work that the young man selflessly and vocationally performs, was very proud of her son's commitment. “I encourage you to get involved in everything even though you are just a teenager. Muhammad's work has made many people realize that the war continues after nine years ”.
We saw what no child saw as a result of the bombing of the #Syrian regime and the #Russian occupation against us
We have lived in the worst country in the world
Is not it our right to live safely .....?
#Idlib # syria # EyesOnIdlibhttps: //t.co/Yce3jM63X4 pic.twitter.com/ZHlNPhc7rk
The young man's dream is for Syria to rebuild itself and become its citizens again. That those who have committed crimes against humanity be tried. The role of young people, he stresses, could be decisive: “We must unite and speak out. If all the youth of the world stand up and speak out against war and injustice, we could change things ”.
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