Good afternoon from #Aleppo I’m reading to forget the war (photo: Bana’s Twitter acc.)
A Syrian activist Maytham Al Ashkar contacted the 7-year-old Twitter star, Bana Alabed, on November 27, offering to evacuate her family from eastern Aleppo. After a month, someone who identified herself as Bana’s mother responded. “What happened after, convinced me that Bana’s account is the ultimate propaganda stunt,” Maytham told Sputnik.
Bana’s account, designated by Twitter as “verified”, was set up three months ago, and has since gathered over 310,000 followers. The tweets, written by both Bana and her mother, Fatemah, who says she taught her daughter to speak English, depict life under siege in east Aleppo.
Many have called the authenticity of the account into question, pointing to videos where Bana appears to be reading from a prompt. It is also unclear whether Bana’s posts are genuine, since any user, anywhere in the world can post from the account, as long as they have the password.
Due to extensive media coverage, Bana became a sort of Syrian war icon and was even called “Aleppo’s Anne Frank.”
Pro-government activist Maytham Al Ashkar is originally from Al-Zahraa in northern Syria, currently in Beirut, but often travelling to Damascus and Aleppo. He offered to help evacuate Bana and her family, contacting Bana’s Twitter account on November 27.
On December 12, Maytham was contacted by a Twitter user in Arabic, who asked him if the offer to help Bana’s family still stands. Once Maytham confirmed his proposal, the user told Maytham he would next be contacted by Bana herself.
Read the full story at Sputnik International. Also visit Bana’s Twitter account to see if you find her ‘stories’ credibly. Anyhow, she and her family should be safe now since all civilians in eastern Aleppo have been evacuated today.
Against the Grain 