Bana al-Abed
| Bana al-Abed | |
|---|---|
| Born | 2009 (age 14–15) |
| 🏡 Residence | Aleppo, Syria |
| 🏳️ Nationality |  Syria |
| 💼 Occupation | |
| 📆 Years active | 2016 – present |
Bana al-Abed (born 2009; Arabic: البنا العبد) is a 7-year old Syrian girl who claims to be tweeting from Aleppo with the help of her self-identified mother.[1][2] Most of her tweets have been about airstrikes, death, fear, hunger, longing for childhood in her area, the al-Bab district of eastern Aleppo, calls for peace, and photos and videos.[3] This account comes from real people living in Eastern Aleppo. It is being used to display to the world the atrocities occurring in Aleppo as well as to drum up opposition to Assad’s government.[4][5]
Work[edit]
Al-Abed's Twitter account, @AlabedBana, was created on September 24, 2016. Twitter has verified al-Abed's account, indicating that "an account of public interest is authentic."[6] The account has over 300,000 followers,[7] and is managed by Bana's mother Fatemah. On December 4, 2016, during the 17th Aleppo offensive, her account was temporarily taken down. The account was back up within two days and she has been tweeting since. She opposes the Russian military intervention in Syria.[8]
Bana's mother Fatemah was an English teacher before the war. Bana al-Abed also reportedly wanted to be a teacher, but had stopped going to school because of the war which destroyed her school.[9] She received an ebook copy of Harry Potter from J. K. Rowling in November after tweeting about how she couldn't obtain a physical copy locally.[10] Her family's house was destroyed during a bombing later that month but she and her family stated they survived with minor injuries.[11]
Her father is a lawyer who works at a legal center in rebel-held southeastern Aleppo.[12] She has two younger brothers, Noor and Mohamed.[13]
Criticism[edit]
Her account has been criticized by various media outlets, and her parents have been accused of using their child as a propaganda tool. In addition, her father reportedly works in a local council in southeastern Aleppo controlled by Jaysh Halab.[14] Furthermore there are serious doubts about the objective existence of Bana al-Abed and her family, in east Aleppo or indeed anywhere else; however, these doubts have been disproven through the usage of geolocation.[15]
See also[edit]
References[edit]
- ↑ MEZZOFIORE, GIANLUCA (DEC 05, 2016). "The trolls who believe Bana, 7-year-old Syrian girl, isn't real". Retrieved 15 December 2016. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Aleppo girl's Twitter appeals for peace capture world's attention".
- ↑ "7-year-old Bana Alabed tweets her life in besieged Aleppo, the horror of Syria airstrikes". Daily Sabah.
- ↑ Price, Greg (12/13/16). "Is Bana Alabed's Twitter Real? 'Fake' Syrian Girl's Account Is Center Of Controversy". International business times. Retrieved 15 December 2016. Check date values in:
|date=(help) - ↑ "Doubts raised over Aleppo girl Bana al-Abed's Twitter account". Retrieved 15 December 2016.
- ↑ "About verified accounts". Twitter.
- ↑ "Where's Bana? Seven-Year-Old Syrian Girl Goes Quiet".
- ↑ "Aleppo tweeting girl Bana al-Abed 'is safe'". BBC. 5 December 2016 – via www.bbc.com.
- ↑ "The seven-year-old girl tweeting the horrors of war in her Aleppo neighbourhood". Telegraph.
- ↑ Metro.co.uk, Jimmy Nsubuga for (25 November 2016). "JK Rowling sends Harry Potter books to girl in Syrian warzone". Metro.
- ↑ Bogart, Nicole. "Syrian girl with viral Twitter account trapped in Aleppo, family worried army will target them". Global News.
- ↑ Molloy, David (2 October 2016). "Meet the seven-year-old girl tweeting from Aleppo". BBC – via www.bbc.com.
- ↑ "'I saw deaths and I almost died': Read seven-year-old's harrowing tweets from inside war-torn Aleppo".
- ↑ 21wire (30 November 2016). "SYRIA: Child Exploitation: Who is 'Bana of Aleppo'?". 21st Century Wire.
- ↑ Taylor, Adam (December 14, 2016). "In Aleppo's misinformation war, a 7-year-old girl prompts a fact check". The Washington Post.
External links[edit]
- Bana Alabed on TwitterLua error in Module:WikidataCheck at line 23: attempt to index field 'wikibase' (a nil value).
- Analysis of the account by Bellingcat
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