Battles are raging in the Aleppo countryside, but the residents of the city itself have stopped following the news of the fighting. There are many reasons behind this apparent indifference, including the news of more immediate deaths as a result of the shelling of their neighborhoods. Meanwhile, Aleppo natives continue to devise new ways to survive the conflict.
Aleppo appears today like a strange mix of contradictions, war being the only common factor. Its people still come up with new ways to adapt to the death surrounding them. A sense of despair is strong in the city, but it is coated with cynical indifference, sometimes sincere and sometimes made-up. Only hope is absent from Aleppo, the city that appears to have vowed to continuously live in the shadow of war.
Arriving in Aleppo a day after the recent offensive began in its northern countryside is no different than arriving on any other day. Contrary to what we thought, news of the battle does not receive wide attention here.