Thursday , November 21 2024
Palestine Update Resources

New Flyer: Who are the White Helmets…Really?

The Syria Solidarity Movement has prepared a flyer for distribution with important information about the so-called “White Helmets,” the purported civil defense organization supported by the US and UK – and whose members have been directly involved in violent attacks and the extrajudicial execution of captives. Read below or download and distribute at events in your area!

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ABOUT THE WHITE HELMETS

How did the White Helmets get started?

The White Helmets were formed and trained, with US and UK funding, in March, 2013 by James Le Mesurier, a former British officer and military contractor, in Turkey, not Syria. In December of that year, a support group called The Voices Project was formed in the UK to provide PR support for the White Helmets.

How many volunteers do they have?

They claim to have 2800 volunteers, but this is unverified, and the “volunteers” are paid $150/month, twice the salary of most teachers and other professionals in Syria.

How many lives have they saved?

White Helmets spokespersons claim to have rescued 40,000 -115,000 victims “regardless of their religion or politics”, but less than 1000 rescues are confirmed. Nearly all the rescued are al-Qaeda fighters and their families. Civilians in “rebel” territory report that the White Helmets do not help the general population.

Where do they operate?

The White Helmets operate overwhelmingly in areas controlled by al-Qaeda affiliates, with their headquarters in the same building as, or next to, the al-Qaeda affiliates.

How much funding do they receive and from where?

They have received well over $100 million, an astonishing amount for a “volunteer” organization. Nearly all the aid comes from governments pursuing a goal of “regime change” in Syria, mainly the UK, US, Qatar, Germany and other NATO members.

What is their mission?

Their mission is “to save the greatest number of lives in the shortest amount of time and to minimize further injury to people and damage to property.” Their PR group aims to “influence public opinion” and “influence governmental and other bodies and institutions…” The White Helmets are primarily a media campaign, providing propaganda to western news and film outlets, who do not have reporters on the ground. They are trained in creating sets and trauma make-up so as to fake or embellish scenes for videos. Their Netflix film about the White Helmets is one example of their propaganda, with faked footage and sound effects, made with massive aid provided to them and their allies.

Are the White Helmets “neutral, impartial and humanitarian”?

White Helmets have been filmed celebrating with al-Qaeda fighters and assisting with executions. Despite their claim to be unarmed, they have been shown bearing arms and beating captives. They have called for direct, illegal foreign intervention in Syria.

Have the White Helmets documented chemical weapons attacks?

The White Helmets, working with al-Qaeda affiliates, are suspects in fabricating and/or creating false flag attacks. They have reported chemical weapons where the UN and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) have found none. Where chemical weapons have been verified, “rebel” forces seeking to bring NATO into the war on their side appear to have been responsible. The Syrian government has never gained any advantage from the chemical weapons incidents, only a disadvantage, in the form of illegal attacks by the US and its allies.

Why do we hear so many good things about the White Helmets?

The White Helmets are allied with powerful interests that seek to overthrow sovereign governments that stand in their way. They invest a great deal of their lavish funding in promotion and public relations. They control or have links to “The Syria Campaign” and “Purpose” (a marketing company) and others. When they campaigned for an Academy Award, they dominated the PR firms in Hollywood. Few members of the Academy saw another point of view. When the public are exposed to propaganda and deception, fiction becomes fact and lies become truth.

Why did the Netherlands stop funding the White Helmets?

According to the publication De Volkskrant, the Dutch government stopped its funding due to “inadequate supervision” of White Helmets members on-the-ground and the group’s “likely” links to Al Qaeda-affiliated terrorist organizations.

“The White Helmets are jihadi auxiliaries”

~Peter Ford, former UK Ambassador to Syria

Select WHITE HELMET Investigations

The White Helmets – al-Qaeda with a facelift (video) / Hands off Syria

Inside the shadowy public relation firm that is lobbying for regime change in Syria / Max Blumenthal (AlterNet)

How the White Helmets Became International Heroes While Pushing U.S. Military Intervention and Regime Change in Syria / Max Blumenthal

Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception / Vanessa Beeley

Who are Syria’s White Helmets? / Vanessa Beeley

The real Syrian Civil Defence / Vanessa Beeley

The ‘White Helmets’ and the Inherent Contradiction of America’s Syria Policy / Scott Ritter

The “White Helmets” Controversy / Rick Sterling

White Helmets: Instrument of regime change in Syria? / Christina Lin (Asia Times)

Newsmaker: The White Helmets / Jonathan Gornall

Seven steps of highly effective manipulators / Rick Sterling

CrossTalk: ‘White Helmets, Really?’ with Vanessa Beeley, Eva Bartlett & Patrick Henningsen (video)/ 21st Century Wire

Syria Solidarity Movement®

http://www.syriasolidaritymovement.org/

 

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