(Zaman Al Wasl)- Two Syrian refugees in Turkey, Ibrahim and Nour al-Zubaybi, decided to donate their wedding budget to the displaced of Idlib province who fled a crushing offensive by Russian-backed regime forces and allied militias, such a gesture touched the hearts of the people around them.
The young man and his bride published on their Facebook page, “We are canceling our wedding party scheduled for January 1, 2020. We will announce our marriage in silence, as the world watches silently. We are donating all of the wedding’s expenses to our people and our revolution, the patient and steadfast in the face of the oppressors.”
Russian-backed Regime forces have been bombarding southern and eastern Idlib province, the last rebel stronghold in the war-torn country, since late November. A ground offensive that began in mid-December has killed more than 120 people and displaced 284,000.
Ibrahim al-Zubaybi was born in 1991, in Damascus, where he studied law until he left in the middle of 2014 for safety reasons. He moved to Lebanon and then to Turkey and worked with a number of civil society organizations.
The Idlib region hosts some three million people, including many displaced by years of violence in other parts of Syria.
The Damascus regime, which now controls 70 percent of Syria, has repeatedly vowed to take back the area.
Al-Zubaybi said that they have been preparing for their wedding for two months, when the regime’s and Russia’s campaign and occupation began in Idlib. That was when they decided to take a stand with this modest initiative to help the families in Idlib who have been displaced.
The groom explained that Ghiras Al-Nahda organization, operating in the Syrian interior, delivered the money, which was spent as part of their emergency campaign to feed the displaced.
A number of his friends were motivated by his initiative and many of them donated for the same cause, with one of the friends expressing his willingness to do the same during his upcoming wedding.
Al-Zubaybi noted that, “We must stand for our cause with the people who remain steadfast in Syria against this regime and the countries that overlook its crimes. We must seize any opportunity to express our support.”
Eight years of war in Syria have killed 560,000 people and driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, including more than 6 million as refugees to neighbouring countries.
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