The Tragic Legacy of Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently | The New Yorker
▻https://www.newyorker.com/news/as-told-to/the-tragic-legacy-of-raqqa-is-being-slaughtered-silently
I am not happy. How could I be? It is true that ISIS is defeated now in Raqqa. But ninety per cent of the city is destroyed, there is rubble everywhere. Thousands have been killed. Hundreds of thousands are living in miserable conditions. People are sleeping outdoors in the desert heat. They are lucky if they have a tent.
“When I tell people that the media are celebrating the ‘liberation of Raqqa,’ they are upset. Some of them say, ‘Fuck the media. Fuck ISIS. And fuck everyone else.’ You have to understand, there is no one from Raqqa who didn’t lose a family member, a friend, a neighbor, a beloved person. I lost my uncle. Everywhere I’ve ever lived there is gone.
“Understand: my people have been living under the worst conditions in the world and under the most brutal group, ISIS. We faced constant human-rights violations for years. We faced air strikes, shelling. Human beings deserve a better life.