White Helmets

Another video shows US gov-funded White Helmets assisting public executions in rebel-held Syria

May 23, 2017
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While CNN and other outlets rely heavily on footage taken by White Helmets members, not one major Western media outlet has reported on the latest execution video starring the group’s uniformed members.

The video, which Syrian opposition activists uploaded to Facebook, shows three men from the White Helmets rushing into the center of a crowd, mere seconds after an alleged criminal was shot in the head, and removing the body on a stretcher. A member of the White Helmets can be seen celebrating along with the crowd of onlookers.

(Editor’s note: The Facebook video was removed after this article was published, but the post was archived at two different websites.)

The men in the video were clearly identified by their signature white helmets, along with vests embroidered with the Syria Civil Defense logo.

The public execution took place in the small city of Jasim, in Syria’s southern Daraa province — which is often described as a hub for “moderate” rebels. Activists posted the video on May 16 on the Facebook page Coordination of the City of Al-Harra, Mother of the Martyrs, a site for the opposition in the neighboring city of Al-Harra.

Two days later, Syria Civil Defense released a carefully crafted statement admitting its members were involved in the execution. (Editor’s note: Syria Civil Defense later removed this statement from their website, but it is archived here.) The statement noted that a tribal council in Jasim had asked the White Helmets “to humanely dispose of the body of a person that had been sentenced to death, by the local court, for murder.” The group said it had “conducted an investigation” into the execution, and in response dismissed a White Helmet leader, while temporarily suspending two other team members.
 
I wonder if George Clooney is behind this movie production?

Blockbuster video game Call of Duty to include Syria’s White Helmets May 31, 2019
Blockbuster video game Call of Duty to include Syria’s White Helmets
Syria's White Helmets seen in a scene of the reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, released on May 30, 2019 [screengrab]

Syria's White Helmets seen in a scene of the reveal trailer for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, released on May 30, 2019 [screengrab]

Popular video game “Call of Duty” released a trailer on Thursday about its latest installment portraying the efforts of civil defense forces in Syria, Anadolu Agency reports.

The White Helmets were seen in the two scenes of the trailer of "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" which will be released on October 25.

In one scene, White Helmets were shown removing the debris from a building hit by Russian airstrikes in an effort to aid search and rescue teams.

They are seen in another instance carrying injured people to safety on a stretcher.

The White Helmets, also known as the Syria Civil Defence, which was established in 2013, serves as a volunteer organisation operating in parts of Syria.

Syria has only just begun to emerge from a devastating conflict that began in early 2011 when the Assad regime cracked down on demonstrators with unexpected severity.
 
Air strikes on Syrian rebel enclave intensify: monitor
White Helmets stand on partially destroyed building after air strikes hit residential buildings in northwest Syria, in this picture grab taken from a video, July 12, 2019. White Helmets via REUTERS

White Helmets stand on partially destroyed building after air strikes hit residential buildings in northwest Syria, in this picture grab taken from a video, July 12, 2019. White Helmets via REUTERS

The strikes killed three people in Idlib and three in Maarat al-Numan, two of the largest cities in the region, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.

Another nine people were killed elsewhere in the enclave, it said.

President Bashar al-Assad’s government, backed by Russia, has waged a major assault against the northwestern enclave since the end of April in a battle the Observatory says has killed nearly 2,450 people.

Syria’s eight-year war has killed half a million people, driven half the pre-war population of 22 million from their homes, inspired a wave of militant attacks around the globe, and dragged in regional and world powers.

Aid agencies say the scale of bombardment in the north west risks further humanitarian disaster. Hundreds of thousands of people have already fled toward the Turkish border.

While both Idlib city and Maarat al-Numan were heavily targeted by airstrikes in earlier phases of the war, they have not been a major focus of bombardment in recent months, with the military more focused on hitting areas near the front lines.

There was a surge of violence this week on the area of Tel Hamamiyat on the southwestern edge of the enclave, where pro-government al-Watan newspaper and rebel statements reported major fighting.

A spokesman for the local government controlling most of the enclave, which is held predominantly by jihadist factions, said Friday prayers had been suspended in several cities due to the air strikes.

More than two months of Assad’s Russian-backed assault in and around Idlib province have yielded little or no military gains, marking a rare case of a campaign that has not gone his way since Moscow joined his war effort in 2015.

Turkey, which backs some rebel groups in northwest Syria and controls an adjacent zone along its own border, agreed a truce last year with Russia to reduce warfare around the enclave.

Those areas, and the quarter of Syria east of the Euphrates river which is held by U.S.-backed Kurdish groups, are the only parts still out of Assad’s control.
 
Activists say 10 killed in bombing of Syria rebel stronghold
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The strikes hit opposition-held territory in Idlib, Aleppo and Hama provinces that is home to 3 million people. (AFP)

July 25, 2019 - BEIRUT: Airstrikes pounded villages and towns throughout Syria’s rebel stronghold on Thursday, killing at least 10 civilians, some of them buried under the rubble of flattened buildings, activists and rescuers said.

The strikes hit opposition-held territory in Idlib, Aleppo and Hama provinces that is home to 3 million people.

Syrian Civil Defense rescuers, known as White Helmets, reported that four people killed in the village of Kfar Rouma and the town of Maaret Numan in Idlib, while five were killed in Aleppo province’s town of Atareb and Al-Bawabiya village.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll in those four areas at 11, and said one more person was killed in Hama.

In video posted online, rescuers can be seen using their hands and a hammer drill to remove cement blocks and rubble of a flattened building in Kfar Rouma to reach those buried underneath. When a young boy is pulled out, covered in dust and his jeans torn, voices are heard, shouting, “God is Great.” He was immediately taken to an ambulance parked by the rubble.

The airstrikes are the latest in a government offensive in this part of Syria that has displaced hundreds of thousands since April inside the enclave. It has also targeted infrastructure and hospitals, a tactic used throughout the eight-year Syrian civil war to empty out opposition areas.

Despite the intense violence, the government offensive has stalled, with limited advance of its troops, helped by Russian airstrikes, into the edge of the enclave where the main fighters are dominated by militant groups.

But the violence has taken a heavy toll on civilians. The UN said Thursday at least 400 people were killed in the violence while 440,000 people were displaced between late April and July 14.

Save the Children and a local partner, Hurras Network, say at least 90 children were killed in the three-month onslaught on the northwestern enclave. The UN children’s agency says all eight water facilities in Idlib’s southern district of Maaret Al-Numan have been knocked out in airstrikes — facilities that provide water to nearly 250,000 people. Several hospitals were also destroyed or put out of service while rescuers were killed in what rights groups called deliberate targeting.

The US State Department said Tuesday the Syrian and Russian attacks that “deliberately strike civilian infrastructure” are an “act of desperation” that threatens the political process. It called for the return to a cease-fire that was negotiated in September last year and sponsored by Russia, and Iran, allies of the Syrian government and Turkey, which backs the opposition.
 
The original language of the film is English, and it has been translated into seven languages with the aim of conveying a message to the West showing that some states were using the terrorist groups, and the so-called “White Helmets” and others to exert pressure on Syria at the Security Council.

26 February، 2019 - “The Veto” documentary exposes misleading media throughout war on Syria

"The Veto" documentary exposes misleading media throughout war on Syria

Vanessa Beeley posted this on her page a couple of days ago with the actual video (I looked at the link above and it was removed or not there). She writes in a new article:

THE VETO – Exposing CNN, Al Jazeera, Channel 4, western media propaganda war in Syria (video)

This opens up with the shenanigans of CNN's boots on the ground with a revolving door of sketchy persons who in one scene are this and in the next scene they are that. It took some studious eyes to catch on and put it together.

(Video in the thread)

vanessa beeley / 2 days ago


I met journalist and friend Rafiq Lutf and cameraman Abdul-Mun’aim Arnous in January 2018 and I was honoured when Rafiq asked me to work with him on his film project, The Veto.
As Dr Shaaban said to me in August 2016, “Western propaganda is paid for in Syrian blood”. This is true. The horrifying bloodshed and loss of life in Syria could never have happened without the colonial media manufacturing consent for another illegal war against a Sovereign nation.
The Veto tracks the evolution of the propaganda campaign waged by Western media against Syria. From Baba Amr in Homs 2011/2012 until the modern day “propaganda construct” – the NATO-member-state funded White Helmets. It honours Russia and China’s vetoes that have consistently defended Syria’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the UN.
George Orwell said ““The most effective way to destroy people is to deny and obliterate their own understanding of their history.” Western media has been tasked with writing the history of the Syrian conflict to serve the aggressors in the US Coalition of terrorism.
As Dr Shaaban also told me: “The US alliance and its media are focusing on our history, material history, cultural history, identity, our army. Any power that keeps you as an entire state, or any statesman that represents strength or unity will be demonized and destroyed.”
The Veto exposes the criminal intentions of Western media and it archives the progression of the propaganda war waged by the West against Syria.
Syrians are writing the history of the Syrian conflict because Syria and her allies have courageously resisted the Imperialist machine.
As Rafiq has said so eloquently “ we are the Veto” and we must use it against the Industrial Media Complex in the West.
Syria’s history belongs to the Syrians and Syria’s final victory must ensure that Western media is never again given the power to destroy a nation, divide its people and promote international terrorism both military and economic.

Watch the documentary, The Veto, here:


 
Twitter suspends Russian Embassy account for posts about White Helmets
July 31, 2019 - Twitter has suspended the Russian embassy in Syria’s official account after it posted a video slamming allegations by the self-styled humanitarian rescue group White Helmets about the Russian military’s presence in Syria’s Idlib province.

“Twitter suspends accounts that violate Twitter rules,” the default notice on the grayed-out page of @RusEmbSyria reads without elaborating.

The accounts of Russian embassies in the UK and Canada have, meanwhile, remained active, although they also published photos and videos critical of the White Helmets’ activity.

The Russian embassy in South Africa, in turn, pointed to the fact that Twitter suspended the account of the Russian Embassy in Syria “after it posted factual criticism of the White Helmets,” quoting the Russian Defence Ministry.

The suspension comes a few days after the Russian Defence Ministry posted on its Twitter page a video proving that a market in the Maarat al-Numan area in Syria’s Idlib province is undamaged and fully operational.

The tweet was in response to the White Helmets’ allegations that the market was “destroyed” by Russian airstrikes on 22 July.

“On 26 July 2019, Russian unmanned aerial vehicles filmed the area to check reports about ‘the destruction’ of the market in Maarat al-Numan. As can be seen in the frames obtained by means of objective control, there are no signs of destruction in the area,” the tweet reads.

Earlier, the Russian Defence Ministry denied a recent report by Reuters which claimed that Russia had recently sent its ground troops and special forces to the northwestern Syrian province of Idlib to fight alongside the Syrian Army against the opposition.

“Claims that Russian ‘ground troops’ and ‘special forces’ are allegedly participating in military operations in the province of Idlib (Syria), spread by UK information agency Reuters, are another fake. There are no Russian ‘ground troops’ in Syria, and there have never been any”, the ministry said in a statement.

The Syrian and Russian governments have repeatedly blamed the White Helmets for staging a number of provocations in Syria involving the use of chemical weapons in order to create a ‘false flag’ incident where the Syrian government is implicated and provide the Western countries with a plausible pretext for intervention in the Arab Republic.

The notorious NGO has more than once been busted staging and filming false-flag attacks, including the one last April, when the White Helmets published footage featuring doctors in Douma hospitals treating patients that had suffered from an alleged chemical attack launched by the Syrian army.

Damascus vehemently denied the allegations, denouncing the attack as a staged provocation to justify potential foreign intervention.

Last year, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement that “there is a lot of evidence proving that the White Helmets are virtually a branch of the terrorist organisation al-Nusra*, which is included in the UNSC’s sanctions list”.

“We are sure that everyone will see, sooner or later, the White Helmets’ genuine face. We are urging their Western sponsors to realize things as they are and stop defending those who are in actual fact provocateurs and extremists”, the statement emphasized.

Moscow urges Twitter to unblock account of Russian Embassy in Syria
Russian Embassy in Syria Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

Russian Embassy in Syria © Valeriy Sharifulin/TASS

MOSCOW, July 31, 2019 - Russia calls on Twitter to unblock the official account of the Russian diplomatic mission in Damascus, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Twitter on Wednesday.

"The official account of the Russian Embassy in Syria was blocked by Twitter yesterday without any explanation. We consider it an act of censorship and flagrant violation of freedom of speech committed by the social media administration," the ministry stressed. "We urge Twitter to immediately unblock the Russian Embassy in Syria."


The Russian Embassy in South Africa earlier tweeted that the account of the Russian diplomatic mission in Syria had been suspended after it posted criticism of the White Helmets NGO, citing data provided by the Russian Defense Ministry.

On July 29, Chief of the Main Operations Directorate of Russia’s General Staff, Colonel General Sergei Rudskoi said that militants in Syria had launched a massive campaign to discredit Russia’s operation in the Idlib de-escalation zone. In particular, the White Helmets use fake videos to spread disinformation about Russia’s alleged airstrikes against civilians in Syria, he noted.

According to Rudskoi, the disinformation campaign to discredit Russia’s operations in the Idlib zone had been unleashed by terrorists and organizations supporting them. It is alleged that Russian aircraft are attacking civilians and social facilities.

The official stressed that all such accusations were based on lies by pseudo-rescuers from the organization calling itself the White Helmets, whose responsibility for staging provocations, fabricating falsehoods and collaborating with terrorists has been proven many times.

Twitter suspends Russian embassy in Syria after it criticized White Helmets
Twitter suspends Russian embassy in Syria after it criticized White Helmets

"Twitter suspends Russian embassy in Syria after it criticized White Helmets" © White Helmets via REUTERS

Without explanation, Twitter has suspended the official account of the Russian embassy in Syria after it posted a video critical of the controversial ‘White Helmets’ group, citing statements by the Russian military.

“Twitter suspends accounts that violate Twitter rules,” said the default notice on the grayed-out page of @RusEmbSyria on Tuesday. The social media platform notoriously refuses to comment on individual suspensions.

While the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Moscow has yet to offer an official statement on the suspension, the Russian embassy in South Africa has chimed in, calling Twitter “thought police” for banning their colleagues.

The account was banned after posting factual criticism of the ‘White Helmets’ quoting the Russian military, the embassy said.

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Founded by a British intelligence operative, the ‘White Helmets’ claim to be a Syrian civil defense group. However, they operate solely in areas controlled by militants fighting against the government in Damascus, and have been accused of having connections with terrorist organizations, including Al-Qaeda.
 
Syria: German-funded health facilities hit in government offensive | DW | 23.08.2019
Destroyed hospital in Kafr Nabl (Getty Images/AFP/O. Haj Kadour)

August 23, 2019 - A number of health and humanitarian facilities in the northwestern Syrian region of Idlib that receive German funding have been deliberately attacked during the Damascus government's recent offensive, two German ministries have said.

Six German-funded health-care facilities have been damaged or destroyed since April, when the offensive began, the Foreign Ministry and the Development Ministry told the German DPA news agency.

In addition, "targeted airstrikes" hit four ambulances and 12 centers run by the White Helmets rescue organization, which receives German support, they said. The attacks killed several people, including staff members of partner organizations and civilians, according to the ministries' information.

Ongoing violence
The region surrounding the city of Idlib is the last major rebel stronghold remaining in Syria from an uprising that began in 2011. It has been the target of a massive military offensive by the Syrian government supported by Russian air power since April.

The offensive put an end to a truce deal reached between Russia and Turkey in September to establish a demilitarized buffer zone in the Idlib enclave. Moscow has been assisting its ally, Syrian President Bashir Assad, to put down the rebellion, while Turkey, which has several military posts in Idlib, has sided with the rebels.

In some of the latest news on the offensive, state TV said on Friday that Syrian army troops were besieging a number of rebel-held towns and had encircled a Turkish military observation post in the town of Morek.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has been monitoring Syria's conflict, said government troops had also taken the nearby town of Kafr Zita from the rebels who had held it since 2012.

Motorbikes riding past ruined building in Idlib. (Getty Images/O. Haj Kadour)
Idlib has become the focus for fighting in Syria

Refugee crisis
The offensive and the latest advances have driven tens of thousands of people from their homes. Many are currently fleeing toward Turkey, which says it has already taken in more than 3 million Syrian refugees.

Syria's civil war has its roots in peaceful anti-government protests that broke out in early 2011. It has since grown into a multiparty conflict that has drawn in a number of international players, including Russia, Turkey, Iran and the US. The conflict also involves an array of elements opposed to the Damascus government, ranging from pro-democracy activists to hard-line Islamists.

Hundreds of thousands have died in the violence and millions have been displaced, both internally and externally.

Syria: German-funded health facilities hit in government offensive | DW | 23.08.2019 (Video)
 
International Human Rights Commissioner in the Middle East disclosed that the West has provided the White Helmets with chemical weapons to be used against the civilians in Syria.

Int’l Human Rights Commissioner Discloses White Helmets’ Role in False-Flag Chemical Attacks in Syria
Sep 13, 2019
Abu Saeed told the Arabic-language website of Russian Sputnik news agency that in a preliminary report published by the international fact-finding committee probing into the use of chemical weapons in Syria, it was mentioned that the Syrian government had no chemical weapons at its disposal and that it had handed over all its chemical reserves to the US Army and the international community.
 
White Helmets systematically release vast amounts of false information about Syria, the director of the Fund for Research of Problems of Democracy Maxim Grigoryev said.

18 SEP, 2019
 
The Syrian Army has uncovered a tunnel used by the White Helmets to fabricate the chemical attacks.

2019-09-18

Idlib: Syrian Army Discovers Center for Producing False-Flag Chemical Attacks Videos by White Helmets
Sep 20, 2019
The Arabic-language channel of Russia Today quoted a Syrian Army commander Abdolkarim Mayhob as saying that the Syrian Army troops found a very equipped and engineered underground base used by White Helmets to achieve their military goals.
 
The White Helmets, Hala Systems and the Militarization of Humanitarianism in Syria

September 30, 2019 - Vanessa Beeley looks at how the now-infamous White Helmets partnered with Chicago-based Hala Systems to militarize so-called humanitarian efforts in Syria ... and the Clinton Foundation connections.

It goes without saying, that Hillary Clinton has been a major contributor to the eight-year war that has been waged against Syria since the external fomenting of the “Arab Spring” in 2011.

the best way to help Israel is to help the rebellion in Syria that has now lasted for more than a year” (i.e. from 2011). How? By mounting the case that the use of force is a sina qua non to make Bashar Assad fold, so as to endanger his life and that of his family”. And Clinton concludes: “wrecking Assad would not only be a huge advantage for the security of the State of Israel, but would also go a long way to reducing Israel’s justifiable fear that it will lose its nuclear monopoly” Wikileaks Clinton emails.
 
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