All Blacks star Sonny Bill Williams has sent the Twittersphere into a frenzy this morning after posting images of two dead Syrian children following his recent visit to refugee camps in Lebanon.
Williams was visiting the Syrian refugee camp at Faida in the Bekaa Valley as an ambassador for UNICEF, his time spent trying to help bring awareness to the living conditions of children and families living there. The graphic images, which you can find on Williams’ Twitter feed, was posted with the caption “What did these children do to deserve this? This summer share a thought for the innocent lives lost everyday in war.”
The reaction to Williams’ tweet has been mixed, with some criticising him for posting graphic images of children while others have praised his actions at starting a dialogue.
@C_NZ_ @SonnyBWilliams It is a ferocious reality. Good on him for sharing. People can un-follow.
— MF (@MF_____) December 29, 2015
@SonnyBWilliams the photos should be censored, respecting the dead if im not mistaken. — jape_ah (@jape_ah) December 29, 2015
@MF_____ @jape_ah @SonnyBWilliams yep, you shouldn’t censor reality.. About time people face up to the reality of what’s happening
— Conjecture (@CoachTeamRehab) December 29, 2015
@SonnyBWilliams @Lauren_VII I believe this happened. Did not need to see mangled corpses of kids with no warning 😖 — Naomi Barton (@shutter_j) December 29, 2015
@SonnyBWilliams :'( don’t forget this also happens daily in Palestine, they don’t show much on the news.. Thanks for caring❤️
— Sarah Chamma (@sarahchamma) December 29, 2015
Williams spent 12 days at the camp, spending the majority of his time with 12 year old Fatima and her family. He has since said of the experience “I came here and what I’ve heard, what I’ve seen, I’ve just been shocked and it’s just made me realise how ignorant I was.”
“The thing that really touched me was, coming here, I didn’t really know what a refugee was. I mean, I knew what a refugee was but did I really know? No, not until I came here.”
This story was first seen on the Sydney Morning Herald.