Powerful
To rate this app with stars seems inconsistent with its purpose. To even call it an ‘app’ feels strange and irrelevant. Every time I read a notification, “Assad forces … bombed … village … with heavy artillery” and “Russian forces bombard … village … with heavy artillery”, the initial almost undetectable thought that runs through my mind is that someone is waging war against a strong and vicious enemy. A powerful force that has to be decimated by brutal prolific bombing. But of course the next split second realization is that the “enemy“ are all mostly – overwhelmingly – unarmed innocent people! “Villages”!! So that in turn hammers home the overwhelming reminder of how heinous and horrible and cruel these attacks truly are. I sit here working from home and my phone is quietly flashing with banners. Over and over again. I don’t even have to open the messages. I just raise my phone and read, “Rural Hama … Rocket launches, target Al Sirmaniyah …” to viscerally feel the painful reminder. How would I “rate” that? The information provided is a storyboard for a horror film. But this story is actually happening right now! Why won’t it stop?! Why do these reminders KEEP COMING?!? If I must “review” this app, then I will testify to how powerful this constant flow of information is. I’m not in Syria and I don’t see these attacks myself. It was so easy just to forget and not think about. But not anymore.
