Reports | 25 05 2020
Some of the old neighborhoods in Aleppo remain inhabited, despite the abject loss of safety. As at any moment, an explosive barrel or rocket lobbed by the Syrian regime may cause a massacre of civilians.
"This is our neighborhood. This our country. If we were to leave, where would we go to? We will not move an inch from here; whatever God wills, we will be satisfied with." With these terse words, the children expressed of the Bab al-Hadid [Literally: Iron Door] neighborhood, in Aleppo, express the opinions of a great many people there.
Aleppo's Old Quarter, is one of Aleppo's neighborhoods whose residents stubbornly cling to their land, despite the horrors of war, and the fact that death is also always a resident there.
Rozana took a tour of the place, and met a number of people. One of the neighborhood children explains: "My family and I have been in the Bab al-Hadid neighborhood ever since the [early] days of peaceful demonstrations which overtook the streets of Aleppo, to date—despite the bombing, murder, and the regime's explosive barrels thrown on people's heads. Not one single day passes without explosive barrels hitting the neighborhood."
As for the Bab al-Hadid residents' steadfastness, says Abu Yusuf: "This land has a history stretching for thousands of years. Well-known families have been settled for ages here. The reason for people not leaving the neighborhood, is linked to the resilience of history, and a land with a history from time immemorial."
The neighborhood, which is adjacent to the Aleppo Castle, was given its name by [Mamluk Sultan] Qansouh Ghouri; based on the fact that its shop doors were made of iron. The name remained, and passed down through the generations.