Syrian Dad Tells Daughter To Laugh When Bombs Explode In A Heartbreaking Video
We hear so much about how special mom’s love is, which is absolutely true—don’t get me wrong—that we might forget there is a dad standing right next to us. Don’t be fooled by that seemingly short title—dads carry so much weight on their shoulders that they are supermen in disguise. This Syrian dad, Abdullah Mohammad, just came up with an idea of how to save his 4-year-old daughter from the nightmare of war.
As bombs explode all over Aleppo, Mohammad and his little Selva play a game. There are no toys involved. Every time they hear a bomb exploding nearby, they laugh as hard as they can. The brief moment of happiness fills up the room and the brutal reality of war stays behind the door. When reality is too gruesome to face, dad’s love steps in to silence the bombs.
See the heartbreaking video of this dad and his daughter’s game below. Scroll down to see what Ali Mustafa, a long-time Syrian conflict reporter, told Bored Panda about the horrific situation in the area.
Every time the bomb explodes, they laugh so 4-year-old doesn’t get scared
Image credits: Ali_Mustafa
This recording of the game showed the brutal reality of war and touched so many hearts
what a sad world,
To distract 4-year old Selva, her father Abdullah has made up a game.
Each time a bomb drops in Idlib #Syria, they laugh, so she doesn’t get scared.
— Ali Mustafa (@Ali_Mustafa) February 17, 2020
‘Beyond tragic,’ states this Twitter user after being moved by the video
Beyond tragic. A Syrian father and a daughter traumatized by war. Helping her overcome her fear, he asks her to Laugh each time a fighter jet or rocket flies over the area. Look at the innocence but at the same think about what may happen next. #Syria#Idlib pic.twitter.com/zjzlnNAP9n
— Hashem Ahelbarra هاشم أهل برا (@hashemahel) February 18, 2020
Image credits: Ali_Mustafa
The true scope of the Syrian crisis, which has been going for almost ten years, is reflected well in dad’s answer to why he came up with such a game. Mohammad explained: “I decided to teach Salwa this game to prevent her psychological state from collapsing. So as to not be affected by diseases relating to fear. She is a child who does not understand war.” One can hardly imagine what it is like to raise your child in such horrifying conditions.
Social media users have noticed that Mohammad and Salwa’s game resembles a scene from the Oscar-winning movie Life Is Beautiful. Roberto Benigni’s movie tells a story about a father and son trying to survive in a Nazi concentration camp during WWII. Just like Mohammad, the dad convinces his son that the concentration camp is just a game.
Sadly, the crisis of Syria is more real than ever. Countless Syrians have become fatalities. Many are severely injured every day, while others are running for shelter after their homes were blown up. According to the UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore, “it’s the country’s children who have suffered the most and have the most to lose.”
The Syrian conflict reporter says that local children are the most traumatized of those affected by any conflict
Bored Panda contacted Ali Mustafa, a reporter of the Syrian conflict, whose heartbreaking tweet about the Syrian family’s game went viral. “The first I heard of Abdullah and Salwa’s story was when a Syrian friend passed along a video circulating on WhatsApp of the father playing a game with his daughter.”
It turns out, Mustafa has been reporting from Idlib for 8 years. “Having covered the Syrian conflict since 2012 and having reported from Idlib I can tell you, there is no escape for the people stuck there. These are internally displaced Syrians who have already fled three or four times. The space is shrinking for the 4 million IDPs in Idlib as the regime takes over more territory.”
The most heartbreaking part comes down to the fact that children suffer the most. Mustafa explains “Syria’s children are probably the most traumatized of any conflict. They’ve suffered displacement, indiscriminate bombings, and have witnessed killings on a scale few could imagine.”
The Syrian crisis is failing children who become war victims before having a chance to grow up
Image credits: SCUSBoardChair
The current situation in the area is beyond words
Image credits: LinahAlsaafin
Watch these video reports to find out about the world’s humanitarian horror story
The conflict in Syria has been the source of much psychological trauma for children. pic.twitter.com/I1tMTNAbjE
— AJ+ (@ajplus) March 12, 2017
“The trajectory we’re on is of the world’s biggest humanitarian horror story of the 21st century.”@UNReliefChief tells @BeckyCNN the world is going to regret turning a ‘blind eye’ to the humanitarian crisis unfolding *right now* in #Idlib. pic.twitter.com/Qo3G5j9A6W
— Connect the World (@CNNConnect) February 17, 2020
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Breaks my heart, As someone who lived a war as a child and survived just because my parents found a way to leave the country. I am a mom now and I can't begging to imagine what it feels like being hopeless to protect your own child and knowing that you both are next. So sad for Syria: gorgeous people and a gorgeous country that does not deserve the fate that international politics planned for it. All in the name of greed.
I so agree with you! As someone who survived two wars, I understand completely how you feel and I'm grateful for this amazing father who's trying his hardest for his beautiful little daughter. I wish you and them the very best!
Load More Replies...
At least this father is trying something to keep a smile on his daughter's face as long as he can. It breaks my heart he has to do this, but I appreciate his spirit. This is Love.
I worked with a guy from Syria for 10 years. His entire extended family lost all homes but one. They all lived in that one. They then got bombed and had to move elsewhere. Eventually the only one working drove taxi. He was bombed by his government. It killed my friend's 7yo and 9yo niece and nephew and his father. It crippled his Mom for life. Now, NO ONE in the family had income because the taxi was destroyed. My friend sold everything he had to send money home. The hospital wouldn't release the mom and neice until the bill was paid (racking up more every day). My friend finally started a GoFundMe to help cover the costs. He had to get permission from the FBI to do it. They were bombed by their OWN GOVERNMENT. It isn't a war. It's just the government murdering its own people. The people actually doing the bombing often have their families threatened in order to make them comply.
And this is propaganda, wether on purpose (to willingly support the goal of one war waging side) or by not knowing. Yes it is heartbreaking, yes war is terrible that is why it should be avoided in the very first place. But breaking down a conflict in which 60 nations are involved, so complex that not a single news channel can follow it even remotely, breaking down such a situation to your bottom line is nothing but the purest of propaganda. Your friend had to get permission from the FBI because the US is engaged in that conflict from the first day on and one of the main reasons it's not over yet, so they want to make sure the money doesn't end up at people who are supporting the group in opposition of their goals. I worked with Syrian refugees they all have their stories, some tell them like you did, many support the government by heart, some are not happy with either side. The truth is somewhere in between all of that. I suggest you go there and see for yourself.
Load More Replies...
Heartbreaking. How has humankind managed to fall so deep. Homo homini lupus. All this senseless tragedy, loss and traumatizing. There is nothing to win as long people don't manage to not hurt and kill each other. I admire this fathers' strength, god bless him and his little girl and all the other innocent children.
Here's hoping that every conservative who cringes at the word refugee will personally get to experience the fear of having their city bombed.
Refugees are part of strategic warfare. Read some military history
Load More Replies...
At this point, the only way to save these children would be to remove them from the war torn areas. The war is going to rage on whether they are there or not. And no amount of begging on the part of the citizen will get their government to listen. I think we should take the Tibetan way of handling this. When the British tried to arm Tibetans to defend themselves against invaders..the Tibetans laid down their arms and walked away, refusing to fight. If world leaders want to prove themselves right or wrong, let them put on boxing gloves and go a few rounds in the ring. Let the rest of us just live our lives.
why are toddlers no joke literally smarter than adults (LETS START A PROTEST: RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE RULE THE WORLD
Did anyone asked the question as to why people, from the beginning of humanity, harmed and killed each other and are unable to co-exist in peace??? There's reason for that, and only human beings can change that, not God, not the Universe, not any cosmic power.
So incredibly sad but dad is doing his best to keep his little girl from being terrified. My heart goes out to them
It is not good to act like that cause the child gets a very distorted view onto life. It is better to deal with ones own fear and to be authentic. Well tricky for beginners, I know - to deal with fear in a healthy way is not easy but it is the best way in such a situation
I don't think that laughing is super appropriate as people must be dying each time a bomb is dropped, but at the same time I also get it. She's a child, and she doesn't deserve that kind of stress in her life. No one does, not even adults. It's heartbreaking what has happened to that side of the world. Completely reduced to a pile of rubble. Millions dead. And yet no one hears their voices, the voices of the innocent who were just trying to live their lives just the same as we are.
Between that and kids training for mass shooting in the US, that's a lot of adults doing things wrong.
The US and Russia used Syria as a war ground to do their bidding. The blood is partially on their hands. The world needs to act. I interviewed one of the few families allowed into the US, horrifying stories of a normal life shredded into chaos, they don't want to be here either they want their own home. While in Paris the streets are filled with homes less Syrian families. It could be any of us
Load More Replies...
So people should stop trying to live? Is that your grand solution? If you'd listen to yourself, you'd realize you're the one being selfish.
Load More Replies...
Are you f*****g kidding me? Get your s**t out of here!
Load More Replies... Breaks my heart, As someone who lived a war as a child and survived just because my parents found a way to leave the country. I am a mom now and I can't begging to imagine what it feels like being hopeless to protect your own child and knowing that you both are next. So sad for Syria: gorgeous people and a gorgeous country that does not deserve the fate that international politics planned for it. All in the name of greed.
I so agree with you! As someone who survived two wars, I understand completely how you feel and I'm grateful for this amazing father who's trying his hardest for his beautiful little daughter. I wish you and them the very best!
Load More Replies... At least this father is trying something to keep a smile on his daughter's face as long as he can. It breaks my heart he has to do this, but I appreciate his spirit. This is Love.
I worked with a guy from Syria for 10 years. His entire extended family lost all homes but one. They all lived in that one. They then got bombed and had to move elsewhere. Eventually the only one working drove taxi. He was bombed by his government. It killed my friend's 7yo and 9yo niece and nephew and his father. It crippled his Mom for life. Now, NO ONE in the family had income because the taxi was destroyed. My friend sold everything he had to send money home. The hospital wouldn't release the mom and neice until the bill was paid (racking up more every day). My friend finally started a GoFundMe to help cover the costs. He had to get permission from the FBI to do it. They were bombed by their OWN GOVERNMENT. It isn't a war. It's just the government murdering its own people. The people actually doing the bombing often have their families threatened in order to make them comply.
And this is propaganda, wether on purpose (to willingly support the goal of one war waging side) or by not knowing. Yes it is heartbreaking, yes war is terrible that is why it should be avoided in the very first place. But breaking down a conflict in which 60 nations are involved, so complex that not a single news channel can follow it even remotely, breaking down such a situation to your bottom line is nothing but the purest of propaganda. Your friend had to get permission from the FBI because the US is engaged in that conflict from the first day on and one of the main reasons it's not over yet, so they want to make sure the money doesn't end up at people who are supporting the group in opposition of their goals. I worked with Syrian refugees they all have their stories, some tell them like you did, many support the government by heart, some are not happy with either side. The truth is somewhere in between all of that. I suggest you go there and see for yourself.
Load More Replies... Heartbreaking. How has humankind managed to fall so deep. Homo homini lupus. All this senseless tragedy, loss and traumatizing. There is nothing to win as long people don't manage to not hurt and kill each other. I admire this fathers' strength, god bless him and his little girl and all the other innocent children.
Here's hoping that every conservative who cringes at the word refugee will personally get to experience the fear of having their city bombed.
Refugees are part of strategic warfare. Read some military history
Load More Replies... At this point, the only way to save these children would be to remove them from the war torn areas. The war is going to rage on whether they are there or not. And no amount of begging on the part of the citizen will get their government to listen. I think we should take the Tibetan way of handling this. When the British tried to arm Tibetans to defend themselves against invaders..the Tibetans laid down their arms and walked away, refusing to fight. If world leaders want to prove themselves right or wrong, let them put on boxing gloves and go a few rounds in the ring. Let the rest of us just live our lives.
why are toddlers no joke literally smarter than adults (LETS START A PROTEST: RESPONSIBLE PEOPLE RULE THE WORLD
Did anyone asked the question as to why people, from the beginning of humanity, harmed and killed each other and are unable to co-exist in peace??? There's reason for that, and only human beings can change that, not God, not the Universe, not any cosmic power.
So incredibly sad but dad is doing his best to keep his little girl from being terrified. My heart goes out to them
It is not good to act like that cause the child gets a very distorted view onto life. It is better to deal with ones own fear and to be authentic. Well tricky for beginners, I know - to deal with fear in a healthy way is not easy but it is the best way in such a situation
I don't think that laughing is super appropriate as people must be dying each time a bomb is dropped, but at the same time I also get it. She's a child, and she doesn't deserve that kind of stress in her life. No one does, not even adults. It's heartbreaking what has happened to that side of the world. Completely reduced to a pile of rubble. Millions dead. And yet no one hears their voices, the voices of the innocent who were just trying to live their lives just the same as we are.
Between that and kids training for mass shooting in the US, that's a lot of adults doing things wrong.
The US and Russia used Syria as a war ground to do their bidding. The blood is partially on their hands. The world needs to act. I interviewed one of the few families allowed into the US, horrifying stories of a normal life shredded into chaos, they don't want to be here either they want their own home. While in Paris the streets are filled with homes less Syrian families. It could be any of us
Load More Replies... So people should stop trying to live? Is that your grand solution? If you'd listen to yourself, you'd realize you're the one being selfish.
Load More Replies... Are you f*****g kidding me? Get your s**t out of here!
Load More Replies...
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