Hamza al-Kateab
Hamza al-Kateab (Arabic: وعد الخطيب) is a pseudonym used by Zahed Katurji, a Syrian doctor, activist, and public health advocate. He is known for running the besieged al-Quds Hospital in eastern Aleppo during the Battle of Aleppo (2012–2016) between 2012 and 2016. His work was featured in the 2019 documentary For Sama, which was co-directed by his wife, Waad Al-Kateab.
Personal life
Al-Kateab was born and raised in Aleppo, Syria.[1] During the Battle of Aleppo, he lived at the al-Quds Hospital with his wife Waad and their daughter Sama.[2] In 2016, he was evacuated from Aleppo, and as of 2022, the family have been granted asylum in London, United Kingdom.[3][4] He has two daughters.[5]
Medical career
Al-Kateab was living and working in western Aleppo when the Syrian civil war started in 2011; after the city's eastern neighbourhoods were declared as non-governmental areas in 2012, he moved there and set up the al-Quds Hospital, which remained operation until the end of the Battle of Aleppo in 2016.[6][7][8] The hospital initially operated from the Sukari district; between 2012 and 2016, it was struck by at least three bombings; in April 2015, a blast killed six staff and 49 patients when it struck the hospital's emergency department.[2][9] Following that attack, the hospital temporarily closed due to concerns that the building was no longer structurally sound; it reopened in August 2015 at a new site in the Salah al-Din district.[2]
In November 2016, Aleppo's Health Directorate, in addition to the World Health Organization, reported that all medical hospitals in opposition-held areas of Aleppo had been destroyed. While al-Quds remained operating, this was not publicised to not make it a target of government attacks.[2] In late 2016, following a six-month siege of Aleppo, an agreement was made between Turkey and Russia to evacuate residents who wished to leave the city. Al-Kateab oversaw the evacuation of al-Quds, and has been described as being the last doctor out of eastern Aleppo, only leaving once the final patients had been evacuated.[2] Al-Kateab has disagreed with the term "evacuation" being used to describe Aleppines leaving the city, describing it instead as a "forced displacement".[7] After leaving Aleppo in December 2016, al-Kateab and his family went on to be granted asylum in the United Kingdom, settling in London.[4]
Al-Kateab's time running the al-Quds Hospital was featured prominently in the 2019 documentary For Sama, co-directed by his wife Waad al-Kateab and comprising wholly of footage she filmed during the Battle of Aleppo.[4][9] The couple attended the 92nd Academy Awards, where the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film.[3]
Subsequent activism
Al-Kateab and his wife called for the West to pay attention to what was happening in Idlib during the Northwestern Syria offensive (April–August 2019)|first and Northwestern Syria offensive (December 2019–March 2020)|second Idlib offensives, and has criticised inaction to stop or prevent the bombings of Idlib as well as Aleppo.[5][9]
In 2022, al-Kateab led a protest outside the Embassy of Russia, London|Russian embassy in London in response to the Russian bombings of hospitals as part of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine|Russian invasion of Ukraine.[7] He is a critic of Vladimir Putin for the role he played in both the Ukrainian invasion and the Syrian civil war.[7]
References
- ↑ Rampen, Julia (2 November 2017). "The last doctor out of eastern Aleppo: "You can't just turn your back and walk away"". New Statesman. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 "Al-Quds Hospital: the last hospital standing in Aleppo". Physicians for Human Rights. 19 November 2019. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 3.0 3.1 "حكاية ثوبين على سجادة الأوسكار الحمراء". BBC News Arabic (in العربية). 12 February 2020. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Stanford, Eleanor (20 November 2019). "After 'For Sama', a Syrian family finds refuge in London". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 al-Kateab, Waad (17 March 2021). ""I still believe in every word we chanted": 10 years on, Waad al-Kateab shares her memories of the Syrian Revolution". British Vogue. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ Snow, Jon (11 July 2019). "Syrian doctor Hamza al-Kateab: 'We had a joke that you were safer living on the front-line – it was never targeted but hospitals were'". Channel 4 News. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 al-Kateab, Hamza (22 March 2022). "In Aleppo, we quickly learned hospitals are the most dangerous place". CNN. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ↑ "Aleppo's underground doctors". BBC News. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2023.
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 al-Hussam, Mahmoud (22 December 2022). "فيلم "من أجل سما" يجيب عن سؤال لماذا غادر السوريون أرضهم". Enab Baladi (in العربية). Retrieved 21 January 2023.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
External links
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