Imagine it’s evening. You are putting your babies to bed. They settle for the night and you go downstairs to enjoy a few hours of peace.
Every now and again you pop to the toilet and stop to listen at the door. To reassure yourself, you poke your head into your children’s bedroom. You can hear their gentle snores and you smile.
And then a gang of armed men kicks down your door.
The men shout at you to get down on the floor. They have guns and knives.
But you don’t get down on the floor. You won’t leave your babies. You scream and plead with the men.
Your pleas fall on deaf ears.
The shouts wake your children. They are crying for you. Shouting, “Mummy, Mummy”. You are held back. You can’t go to them. The men have guns and knives.
The cries from your children rise. They are louder and louder. “Mummy, Daddy, Mummy, Daddy”.
Still, you are held back. The men push you away before rushing towards the cries. Your children scream your name. Over and over.
And then silence.
The men have silenced your children. With guns and knives.
This is not a nightmare. This happened. Not 70 years ago, in Germany. But last week. It happened last week.
And not in one house. But in a whole town. It happened in a whole town.
Men with guns and knives came in the night and killed 108 people, 49 of them children.
Children. Babies. Toddlers.
One of those children was a little girl, not yet two years old. She was beautiful. Half her skull was missing.
She could be my daughter. My not yet two year old daughter. My daughter who still wears nappies. My innocent, tiny, vulnerable daughter.
It could have been her…
They could be our babies. Children. Babies. Toddlers.
Men with guns and knives.
You may be reading this in the comfort of your living room, while your babies sleep soundly upstairs. Just think, for a second, what you would do if a gang of men burst into your home and attacked your children. Attacked them with the purpose of taking their lives away.
You don’t have to do nothing.
If you would like to add your voice to the one calling for an end to the violence in Syria, there is something you can do.
- You can sign the petition from Save The Children.
- You can sign the petition from Amnesty.
- You can join the protest of mothers, parents, grandparents and children, to London on 10th June.
- You can blog about it, tweet about it or share the things you read on Facebook.
- You can RT tweets you see that use the hashtags #tippingpoint #syria #stopthekilling
- You can read more about the politics and facts known about the massacre in Houla, Syria here.
You don’t have to do nothing.
They could have been your babies. They could have been mine.
Yes how can it possibly happen in 21st Century? But it is!
unbelievable cruelty. what is in a person to do that? Cant imagine. Hence how do you deal with it?
I know – feel so helpless. Could do worse than signing the various petitions I suppose.
This really hit home! SO well written, Thank you for bringing this home!
Well done for highlighting this Molly. It is horrific, we are so lucky. xx
It’s such a desperate situation. I read The Times article that you mention above, and the first two paragraphs about a boy of six or seven, and a baby girl under two, just about killed me. Those are the ages of my children.
I know. This is what keeps resonating with me. It could have been Talitha. Nothing was different about those children other than place and circumstance. How can you chop open a baby? This violence must be stopped.
Molly, can only imagine how difficult that was to write. Extremely moving. Well done for doing your bit. I’ve had head in sand for too long on this. It’s time to do something, anything. I hope the power of the blogging community raises awareness today. Well done. x
Thank you – and I felt exactly the same. For me, it was that article in The Times. The description of one of the little girl “no older than two” could so easily have been my own daughter… it made it more real. I couldn’t hide from it any longer.
Very well written. Hammers it home well.
Thank you – didn’t know if I’d be able to find the words.
I’m crying now but I want to thank you – for putting it exactly how it is, for daring to say what we’re so scared to think – could have been my baby, could have been all of our babies x
I’m sorry for making you cry – I was crying myself as I wrote this. But I think we HAVE to at least look at what happened and talk about it. Turning away is not an option. x
incredibly haunting.
Sorry it was hard to read. x
A powerful post. So utterly heartbreaking.
The whole devastating situation makes me so ANGRY and so so sad.
Brilliant post x
So so hard to write though. Words don’t feel enough.
Well done Molly x
Thank you – and thank you for sharing. x
Thank you for finding the words. I know it was hard. x
Hardest post I’ve ever had to write. x