Fact-sheet on the White Helmets

via Simon Wood from the “Retract the Award Given to NATO’s White Helmets” petition at Change.org

The White Helmets – here are a few facts that you need to know.  Share this to your family and friends who subsist on Western corporate media:
* The White Helmets, also called Syria Civil Defence, are not who they claim to be. The group is not Syrian; it was created with USA/UK funding under the supervision of a British military contractor in 2013 in Turkey.
* The name “Syria Civil Defence” was stolen from the legitimate Syrian organization of the same name. The authentic Syria Civil Defence was founded in 1953 and is a founding member of the International Civil Defense Organization (1958).
* The name “White Helmets” was inappropriately taken from the legitimate Argentinian relief organization Cascos Blancos / White Helmets. In 2014, Cascos Blancos / White Helmets was honored at the United Nations for 20 years of international humanitarian assistance.
* The NATO White Helmets are primarily a media campaign to support the ‘regime change’ goals of the USA and allies. After being founded by security contractor James LeMesurier, the group was “branded” as the White Helmets in 2014 by a marketing company called “The Syria Campaign” managed out of New York by non-Syrians such as Anna Nolan. “The Syria Campaign” was itself “incubated” by another marketing company named “Purpose”.
* The White Helmets claim to be “neutral, impartial and humanitarian” and to “serve all the people of Syria” is untrue. In reality, they only work in areas controlled by the violent opposition, primarily terrorists associated with Nusra/AlQaeda (recently renamed Jabhat Fath al Sham).
* The White Helmets claim to be unarmed is untrue. There are photos which show their members carrying arms and celebrating Nusra/AlQaeda military victories.
* The White Helmets claim to be apolitical and non-aligned is untrue. In reality they actively promote and lobby for US/NATO intervention in violation of the norms of authentic humanitarian work.
* The Right Livelihood description that “Syria Civil Defence” saved over 60,000 people and “support in the provision of medical services to nearly 7 million people” is untrue. In reality the zones controlled by terrorists in Syria have few civilians remaining. That is why we see “cat” video/media stunts featuring the White Helmets.
* The NATO White Helmets actually undermine and detract from the work of authentic organizations such as the REAL Syria Civil Defense and Syrian Arab Red Crescent.
* The recent Neflix movie about the White Helmets is not a documentary; it is a self promotional advertisement. The directors never set foot in Syria. The Syrian video, real or staged, was provided by the White Helmets themselves. From the beginning scenes showing a White Helmet actor telling his little boy not to give mommy a hard time until the end, the video is contrived and manipulative. The video was produced by a commercial marketing company Violet Films/Ultra Violet Consulting which advertises its services as “social media management”, “crowd building” and “campaign implementation”.


October 28, 2016:  We obtained the above checklist from Simon Wood’s Facebook; unfortunately, he didn’t remember whose post he was sharing so we could not provide the actual author’s name. The author has now contacted us and provided the source which is linked above.  The facts presented in the checklist are based on the information gathered by Vanessa Beeley, Eva Barlett, and others.  The photo is by Al Jazeera.

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Catte
Catte
Oct 7, 2016 8:05 PM

Please note that Vanessa Beeley is the author of the facts and the photo in this article. Thanks for your attention.

vanessa beeley
vanessa beeley
Oct 7, 2016 5:12 PM

You also appear to have used my photograph for the article, again with no credit.

Catte
Catte
Oct 7, 2016 8:15 PM
Reply to  vanessa beeley

We’ve added a credit at the top of the article.

vanessa beeley
vanessa beeley
Oct 7, 2016 8:24 PM
Reply to  Catte

Thank you xx

vanessa beeley
vanessa beeley
Oct 7, 2016 4:17 PM

Especially this article, I went to Syria to interview the REAL Syria Civil Defence and you have used that information with no credit. http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/09/23/exclusive-the-real-syria-civil-defence-expose-natos-white-helmets-as-terrorist-linked-imposters/

Admin
Admin
Oct 7, 2016 6:33 PM
Reply to  vanessa beeley

Vanessa – If you have a problem please email us rather than posting these vague and slightly libellous accusations in public. We’re all in the same boat after all, spending time and our own resources trying to get information out there, so please let’s try to keep things friendly.
OffG did not even author either of these articles you seem to have a problem with, both of which have appeared elsewhere prior to being published here. if they have used your material without properly crediting you then you need to get in touch directly with the authors, not us.
If you want to contact us privately we can get a better bead on your issue and what you’d like us to do about it. But this kind of public posting really is NOT appropriate.

vanessa beeley
vanessa beeley
Oct 7, 2016 8:26 PM
Reply to  Admin

Hmm ok I will “email” you my comments on your comment.

vanessa beeley
vanessa beeley
Oct 7, 2016 8:30 PM
Reply to  vanessa beeley

I dont see how it is libelous and I will post that comment publicly as you have done, rather disappointingly. OffG published information that could only have come from me as nobody else has visited and interviewed the Real Syria Civil Defence in Syria, you also published a photo that has my signature on it which was taken in Syria and accompanied my article..so I believe I had a right to comment. Fail to see how that is libelous. My understanding is that you took the piece from somebody’s wall on Facebook, therefore it is your responsibility to check it not mine. I am commenting because you were not exactly pleasant in your comment. Hope that is clear.

Catte
Catte
Oct 7, 2016 9:02 PM
Reply to  vanessa beeley

Look Vanessa you were extremely unpleasant and inappropriate so don’t try to shift blame. You could have emailed us civilly and pleasantly to ask for the missing credit. Instead you chose to multi-post in a flagrantly passive-aggressive way designed only to discredit us.
No, we didn’t “take it” from somebody’s wall. Simon Wood (the man with the wall) drew it to our attention. Another admin (not me) assumed he was flagging it for publication here and published it. As I understand it neither Simon nor the admin knew it originated with you, and I don’t think either of them thought the originator would object to the facts being disseminated without a source.
Let’s be clear – you didn’t write this piece did you. You just collated the facts it cites, am I right?
I don’t share your sense of personal vanity here. I don’t monitor the output of other alt news sites to make sure no one is using my research. In fact I want people to use it. I’m here to get information out there to people NOT to copyright my output and create pointless divisions by enforcing it. If people use my work I’m glad and I don’t give a toss if they put my name on it. I consider all alt news sites to be our brothers and sister in a fight that’s way more important than my ego. I assumed we all felt the same. Now I know you don’t.
You’re entitled to your own view of course. And that’s why we put your name all over the piece at your less than polite request.
Don’t reply. You’ve done enough damage here already. We don’t work 18-hour days here for zero remuneration so that people with an over-inflated sense of entitlement can try to run us down.
Go. Don’t come back.

vanessa beeley
vanessa beeley
Oct 7, 2016 4:15 PM

Would be nice if you credit some of the researchers who have worked on exposing the White Helmets for last 18 months!! Dont see any links to their work at all. Same goes for Max Blumenthal. http://21stcenturywire.com/2016/06/21/who-are-the-syria-white-helmets/
Cory Morningstar on Avaaz, Purpose etc. http://www.wrongkindofgreen.org/2014/09/17/syria-avaaz-purpose-the-art-of-selling-hate-for-empire/
Eva Bartlett: https://ingaza.wordpress.com/syria/human-rights-front-groups-humanitarian-interventionalists-warring-on-syria/
Rick Sterling: http://dissidentvoice.org/2015/04/seven-steps-of-highly-effective-manipulators/

mohandeer
mohandeer
Oct 6, 2016 4:06 PM

Reblogged this on Worldtruth and commented:
Not mentioned is the fact that the “white helmets” also work in tandem with the Aleppo Media Centre which is al Qaeda/ISIS funded.

jimsresearchnotes
jimsresearchnotes
Oct 6, 2016 11:03 AM

Reblogged this on EU: Ramshackle Empire.

Skip Patel
Skip Patel
Oct 6, 2016 12:36 AM

Reblogged this on theflyingcameldotorg and commented:
Imagine! 15 yrs. after the attacks of 9-11-2001 and the United States is openly backing Al Qaeda…..AGAIN!!

paulcarline
paulcarline
Oct 6, 2016 1:04 PM
Reply to  Skip Patel

The sentence could be misunderstood to suggest that the US assisted al Qaeda in the ‘attacks’ of 9/11 – when neither al Qaeda nor ObL had anything to do with them. What is common knowledge is that al Qaeda was/is a US/UK creation which just rebrands itself from time to time.

susannapanevin
susannapanevin
Oct 5, 2016 11:19 PM

Reblogged this on Susanna Panevin.

james carless
james carless
Oct 5, 2016 10:34 PM

Wonder why we don’t hear of any white helmets equivilent in Mosul,or see pictures of air strikes from the city streets with children being dug out of rubble there ?
Likewise in Yemen.
Yet not a day passes when these manufactured ‘heroes’ are not among the main news items on BBC,ITV,Ch 4.
Nominating them for the Nobel Peace Prize is as big a farce as nominating Al Qeda,this along with the Kissinger and Obama awards will further discredit the already tarnished honor, if not kill it off completely as a USA/UK/RSA/Israeli propaganda tool.
Note how little coverage there was here,of the unprecedented,forced resignation of Nobel committee judges,who called for Obama’s award to be rescinded.

elenits
elenits
Oct 7, 2016 9:29 AM
Reply to  james carless

The White Helmets are worthy of a Obama/Kissinger/Peres “nobel” where white is black, up is down and “good” = BAD.

Greg Bacon
Greg Bacon
Oct 5, 2016 9:25 PM

My corrupt, out of control, murderous government excels in two areas; handing out glorious propaganda that shows America always wearing the ‘white cowboy hat,’ riding to the damsels and kids in distress and then proceeding to bomb into oblivion the damsels and kids we were told we’re protecting.
The fact that sold-out US Congress and the wastrel Obama don’t want to face is that the USA is committing war crimes in Syria on a daily basis, enough to land them all in the docket, then off to the gallows.
But Americans will never find out about these war crimes, committed against Iraq, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, etc because our press is in bed with the ones committing the crimes.
Thankfully we have outlets like OffG, but when the Wicked Witch of the East steals the WH, I’m afraid excellent sites like this one will soon be on the endangered species list.

Kaiama
Kaiama
Oct 5, 2016 9:06 PM
Xi Wangmu
Xi Wangmu
Oct 5, 2016 8:07 PM

That’s a great run down, but if you want us to share with anyone you’d have to provide links to the information you refer to. It’s hard enough getting people to consider anything even with proper links, this is not really going to cut it I’m afraid.

Jen
Jen
Oct 5, 2016 11:10 PM
Reply to  Xi Wangmu

I have no idea where Simon Wood got his information from but if you want corroborating information you should check out a couple of linked articles written on Western-supported forces backing regime change in Syria by Max Blumenthal for AlterNet recently.
Inside the Shadowy PR Firm That’s Lobbying for Regime Change in Syria
“Posing as a non-political solidarity organization, the Syria Campaign leverages local partners and media contacts to push the U.S. into toppling another Middle Eastern government …”
http://www.alternet.org/world/inside-shadowy-pr-firm-thats-driving-western-opinion-towards-regime-change-syria
How the White Helmets Became International Heroes While Pushing U.S. Military Intervention and Regime Change in Syria
“Created by Western governments and popularized by a top PR firm, the White Helmets are saving civilians while lobbying for airstrikes …”
http://www.alternet.org/grayzone-project/how-white-helmets-became-international-heroes-while-pushing-us-military
These articles provide a lot of detail about the history of the Syria Campaign and Purpose, and who some of their main financial backers are. USAID gets mentioned a lot as does Syria’s answer to Mikhail Khodorkovsky, Ayman Asfari, CEO of British-based energy services corporation Petrofac.
By the way, Blumenthal is no fan of the Assad government and recently quit writing for Al Akhbar newspaper because he believes its staffers are pro-Assad apologists.

vanessa beeley
vanessa beeley
Oct 7, 2016 4:18 PM
Reply to  Jen

Others were covering this long before Max Blumenthal.

tutisicecream
tutisicecream
Oct 5, 2016 4:59 PM

Excellent breakdown. The White Helmets are a sham, the worst sort of “wolf in sheep’s clothing” deception. The fact that they receive eye watering amounts of direct funding from the US and UK governments tells us that they not a humanitarian group. Any other NGO would have to tender even for peanuts.
As the article states they say they are apolitical and work with both sides of the conflict but they are are not, you just have to listen to a few of their “volunteers” talking and you will realise they are completely sectarian being only pro- Al-Qaida affiliate and anti-Assad. John Kirby likes their work which is all you need to know. How they posted an unclear video [which could have been filmed anywhere] directly after the UN convoy was attacked is another in a string of so called arrivals which can only really be the result of a tip off or prior information. So this tells us the likely culprits of the cruel aid convoy attack – IS or choose any Al-Qaida off shoot hybrid which equals = moderate rebels in a plethora of names which are meant to confuse the viewing public.
The US UK and the WMSM who promote these lies are committing international war crimes. They are implicated in a deception which is leading to thousands of civilian deaths in Syria. The same deception as they are culpable of in Ukraine.

elenits
elenits
Oct 7, 2016 9:33 AM
Reply to  tutisicecream

excellent :
“The fact that they receive eye watering amounts of direct funding from the US and UK governments tells us that they not a humanitarian group. Any other NGO would have to tender even for peanuts.”

Amer Hudson
Amer Hudson
Oct 5, 2016 4:02 PM

Thanks for that.