April | 2017 | Richard Fox's blog

Watching live on Periscope as Bana Alabed stayed so positive while the bombs were falling all around her in Aleppo was one of the most memorable and heart-rending things I’ve ever seen.

Now she is to publish her story in book form, according to this piece in The Guardian.

As far as the eye could see were destroyed buildings and in the background the thuds of bombs exploding and fighter jets and helicopters whining and whirring across the sky above.

She pleaded for an end to the war. The little family, including her brave mother Fatemah and four-year-old brother, often appeared on the roof of their home, where they grew boxes of herbs and vegetables in polystyrene containers.

Masses of people joined in each scope and typed messages of support and sympathy but all of us were utterly frustrated that we were unable to help.

She had 360,000 followers eventually. She became like a relative. For every single one of us her simple, stark messages personalised the dreadful horror of the bombing in a way not even an award-winning journalist could. She was quite open about the fact that she expected to die soon. Eventually their house got hit. They escaped but soon after the broadcasts stopped.

Finally she broke her silence to let us know that she was safe. So brave.

For me this little girl succeeded in defeating the ugliness and brutality of war by simply being human, in the face of the impersonal and unthinking politicians who can and do order innocent lives to be snuffed out at the touch of a button.