Omran Daqneesh
Omran Daqneesh (Arabic: عُمْرَان دَقْنِيش, romanized: ʿUmrān Daqnīš, born 2011) is a Syrian boy who, at age five, gained media attention after footage of him injured in what was alleged to have been an air strike appeared on the Internet.[1][2]
History
Daqneesh was injured on August 17, 2016, in an alleged Russian Air Force strike on the rebel-held al-Qaterji neighbourhood of Aleppo, Syria. He suffered a wound to his head and was taken to a hospital known as M10 and later discharged.
Daqneesh was rescued with his parents and three siblings, then aged one, six, and ten. His ten-year-old brother, Ali, died on August 20, 2016, of his injuries.[3] The apartment building collapsed shortly after the family was rescued. Eight people died in the air strike, including five children. The footage was released by the Aleppo Media Centre, a Syrian opposition activist group. Photojournalist Mahmoud Raslan, who photographed Daqneesh, and journalist Mustafa al-Sarout, who filmed him, both spoke to Western media about the iconic photo.[4][5] Russia Today interviewed Sara Flounders of the International Action Center who said that Raslan's social media suggested previous support for rebel group Nour al-Din al-Zenki Movement.[6]
The image of him sitting bloodied in an ambulance after being dragged from the rubble of his home[2][5] caused international outrage and was widely featured in newspapers and social media. It has been compared with photographs of Alan Kurdi, a child refugee of the Syrian Civil War who drowned trying to reach Europe.[2]
In June 2017, new photos and videos of the boy emerged from Syrian government media.[7][8] In an interview with Kinana Alloush, a presenter for Syrian state TV, Omran’s father said that his son had been used as a 'propaganda tool' by rebel forces, and that the family had always been pro-government.[8] His father also criticized rebel groups in Aleppo for attempting to exploit his family as propaganda to push for regime-change.[9][10]
References
- Hunt, Elle (18 August 2016). "Boy in the ambulance: shocking image emerges of Syrian child pulled from Aleppo rubble". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
- "How Omran Daqneesh, 5, Became a Symbol of Aleppo's Suffering". The New York Times. 19 August 2016. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- Reilly, Katie. "Brother of Aleppo Boy in Ambulance Dies". Time. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- Nelson, Kate (2016-08-18). "Man who captured photo of dazed and bloodied five-year-old Syrian boy that shocked the world speaks out". The Independent. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
- Shaheen, Kareem (18 August 2016). "'I filmed the Syrian boy pulled from the rubble - his wasn't a rare case'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
- Murabayashi, Allen (24 August 2016). "Should We Care Who Took This Photo?". petapixel.com. Retrieved 2020-08-13.
- Shaheen, Kareem (5 June 2017). "New footage emerges of Syrian boy who gave a face to the suffering in Aleppo". The Guardian.
- McKernan, Bethan (6 June 2017). "A picture of Omran Daqneesh became the face of Aleppo's suffering. New footage shows he is safe and well". The Independent. Retrieved 2017-06-08.
- Sanchez, Raf (5 June 2017). "New photos emerge of Omran Daqneesh, the boy who became a symbol of Aleppo's suffering". The Telegraph. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
- Specia, Megan (6 June 2017). "Syrian Boy Who Became Image of Civil War Reappears". The New York Times. Retrieved 11 June 2017.
Further reading
- "Photo Editors' Notebook: What Makes the Image of Omran Daqneesh Extraordinary?". The New York Times. 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2020-08-19.