The Siege of Yarmouk

Witness History

BBC

History, Personal Journals, Society & Culture

4.4 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 19 November 2024

⏱️ 11 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

During the early years of Syria’s brutal civil war, one neighbourhood close to the Syrian capital, Damascus, bore the brunt of the government’s viciousness.

During 2013-14, some 18,000 residents of Yarmouk, an area originally set up as a camp for Palestinian refugees, were continually subjected to bombardments from the air, or were shot at by army snipers or hit by mortar-fire. No one was allowed in or out of Yarmouk and many people came close to starvation – surviving only by eating grass, or dead animals.

Palestinian musician, Aeham Ahmad, lived in Yarmouk with his family. Known as ‘the Pianist of Yarmouk,’ Aeham tells Mike Lanchin about their struggle to survive the siege, and how music helped him overcome some of those dark days.

Listeners may find parts of this story distressing.

A CTVC production.

Eye-witness accounts brought to life by archive. Witness History is for those fascinated by the past. We take you to the events that have shaped our world through the eyes of the people who were there. For nine minutes every day, we take you back in time and all over the world, to examine wars, coups, scientific discoveries, cultural moments and much more.

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(Photo: Siege of Yarmouk. Credit: Getty Images)

Transcript

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0:00.0	You are about to listen to a BBC podcast and I'd like to tell you a bit about what goes into making one.
0:06.5	I'm Sadata Sese, an assistant commissioner of podcasts for BBC Sounds.
0:11.1	I pull a lot of levers to support a diverse range of podcasts on all sorts of subjects,
0:16.0	relationships, identity, comedy, even one that mixes poetry, music and inner city life.
0:22.4	So one day I'll be helping host develop their ideas, the next fact-checking, a feature,
0:28.3	and the next looking at how a podcast connects with its audience.
0:32.3	And maybe that's you.
0:33.6	So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds.
0:43.5	Music So if you like this podcast, check out some others on BBC Sounds. Hello and welcome to the Witness History podcast with me, Mike Lanshin.
0:48.6	Today we're going back to 2014, the early years of Syria's brutal civil war,
0:56.6	when a district called Yarmouk, just eight kilometres from the centre of Damascus, was under siege by the Syrian army. Some 18,000 people,
1:03.7	mainly Palestinian refugees, were effectively cut off from the outside world. I've been hearing
1:09.9	from one former resident,
1:11.6	a Palestinian musician who became known as the pianist of Yomouk.
1:16.9	Listeners may find parts of his story distressing.
1:33.2	Music It's January 2014.
1:39.9	Crowds of gaunt and desperate people have emerged from the wasteland of Yomouk's bomb-shattered buildings.
1:47.3	It could be the scene of a natural disaster, but this is man-made.
1:52.9	Not much is left in Yarmouk, but this tide of people.
2:00.9	News has spread through the battered streets that a truce has been agreed between the Syrian government and opposition fighters, and that a first delivery of food by the United Nations is arriving.
2:09.4	I'm so tired, so tired, this woman cries.
2:16.1	Another woman stops us pleading.
	...

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