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Celebrating Eid during the Syrian truce

Jad SalfitiSeptember 13, 2016

On Monday evening, nearly 1.6 billion Muslims worldwide started celebrating Eid al-Adha. For Syrians the feast of sacrifice also coincides with a seven-day ceasefire. Many used social media to mark the date.

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Syrien Opferfest Kinder auf einer Schaukel
Image: Getty Images/AFP/L. Beshara

The Eid al-Adha tale has significance to Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Eid al-Adha is an Islamic festival to observe the readiness of Ibrahim (also known as Abraham) to follow Allah's (God's) command to sacrifice his son Ishmael. As a result it has become a metaphor for sacrifice in many cultures and is especially relevant in the context of modern-day Syria.

This year, global players took to social media yet again to lend their well wishes to the Muslim world. Amongst them were British Prime Minister Theresa May and Russian President Vladimir Putin:

European football teams Bayern Munich and Manchester City also tweeted out greetings to their Muslim supporters.

But as the rest of the world celebrated Islam's holiest festival, how was Eid al-Adha commemorated in war-torn Syria?

Aleppo-based Journalist Ahmad Alkhatib tweeted this photo of children playing with a bomb in the Al Muyaser neighborhood in the city.

Videos showing Eid celebrations from the Idlib Province in northwest Syria also circulated on Twitter.

The UN office that coordinates humanitarian aid shared this photo wishing all Syrians a happy Eid:

The French humanitarian organization the Ummah Charity says it is now distributing food to people in Aleppo.

Aleppo is Syria's largest city and was shelled by Syrian government forces over the weekend. Over the last four years it has been divided into an opposition-controlled east and a regime-held west.

Meanwhile, the official Twitter account for the Syrian Presidency shared pictures of President Bashar Al-Assad touring the Damascus suburb of Daraya.

He joined Eid al-Adha prayers at a Mosque in the suburb. Daraya was recaptured by government forces last month.