LONDON – Seven-year-old Syrian girl Bana al-Abed, who became a symbol of the tragedy in the Syrian conflict, has sent US President Donald Trump a very powerful message as she urged him to think of the Syrian hungry children, with his new executive order imposing ban on immigrants and refugees from seven-Muslim majority countries, including her own.
In a video posted on Wednesday, Bana asked the US president: “Have you had no food, no water for 24 hours?” before telling him “Just think of refugees and the children of Syria,” The Telegraph reported.
Hours earlier, Bana, who used to tweet about the destruction of Aleppo, responded to a tweet by Trump in which he claimed his travel ban was about “keeping bad people (with bad intentions) out of country” by asking him whether she is a terrorist in his eyes.
Am I terrorist? https://t.co/wXc1iekTmg
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) February 1, 2017
She also tweeted in response to the refugee ban, writing: “Dear Trump, banning refugees is very bad. Ok, if it’s good, I have an idea for you. Make other countries peaceful.”
She then posted a photograph of a child and asked the US president: “what if this was your child sitting in the middle of the road with nothing, no parents, nothing. Nothing. Please.”
Hi @realdonaldtrump what if this was your child sitting in the middle of the road with nothing, no parents, nothing. Nothing. Please pic.twitter.com/lwTJteyPiy
— Bana Alabed (@AlabedBana) January 26, 2017
Bana captured the world’s attention through her tragic descriptions of life in besieged eastern Aleppo on her Twitter account.
She is currently seeking refuge in neighboring Turkey, one of the countries involved in the conflict, pursuing as targets both ISIL and the Kurdish-aligned forces in Syria, as well as providing refuge for Syrian dissidents.