The anguished, tear-soaked face of a father cradling his baby daughter’s lifeless body has given rise to a global cry of outrage and shaming directed at the United Nations.

Her name is Zainab, and here is her little figure wrapped in a blue, paper shroud, with her tiny face so pale against the cheek of her weeping father – and for the moment media’s attention has turned to the inhumanity of the Saudi-led attack inside Yemen.

Yet, the question remains unanswered, will the world leaders finally hear the cries of thousands, no, millions of Yemenis begging for mercy and humanity from the United Nations to save their children?

“Silence of the world is killing the children in Yemen,” said Mohammed Alharthy, CEO of Your Ability Organisation for Development in Sana’a, Yemen.

The coalition wars on “terrorism” in the Middle East has been turned into an indiscriminate war on innocent civilians. I make no apology for saying that every death of a Yemeni child in this war is blood spilled on the United Nations Charter of Rights. From the first day of Saudi Arabia’s so-called “war on ISIS“ inside the small Republic of Yemen, evidence to the contrary has been videoed and reported by media; testimony has been filed and presented to the UN Human Rights and Security Council; and social media supplies a constant stream of corroborating accounts of the war crimes committed on civilians inside Yemen.

And all evidence points to a horrific genocide of the Yemeni men, women and children; where not even babies sleeping in their crib are safe from enemy airstrikes.

Little Zainab’s death has been felt around the world, the rippling effect from the wings of a butterfly stilled before she had a chance to fulfill her destiny. 

It was only last month when her father Ibrahim wrote to me, and told me his story, of how last July (2015) he went to sleep one night being blessed with a family; a healthy wife, two handsome young sons, and a beautiful daughter – whom had not yet celebrated her first birthday. He named her Zainab, and when Ibrahim wrote me with his story, I looked up the meaning of her name, and upon reading it, caused me to weep.

Zainab means ‘a fragrant flowering plant‘ or ‘Desert Flower‘ implying that the girl is respectful and beautiful. Zaynab is also the name of the daughter and granddaughter of the Islamic prophet Mohammad. After you read his story, you may understand why her name brought tears to my eyes.

This is the story of how one family’s life was destroyed by an airstrike in the night. He is not a soldier. His family members are not political activists. Nor was his home hiding fighters from either side.

In Ibrahim’s own words, translated from Arabic to English.
To read his statement in Arabic click here.

Below the doctor desperately tries to resuscitate little Zainab.

The following footage is from a Sana’a news station reporting on the bombing of Ibrahim’s home.

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