BLACK STAIN ON THE WHITE HELMETS

When the bombs rain down, the White Helmets (also known as the Syria Civil Defense) rush in. In a place where public services no longer function, these humanitarian volunteers risk their lives to help anyone in need – regardless of their religion or politics. Known for their distinctive headwear, the rescue workers operate in the most dangerous place on earth and have saved more than 100,000 lives over the past five years[1]. This citation is from the official page of the White Helmets, other than this you will find testimonials of the volunteers talking about their readiness to die just to save another life. The White Helmets are known all over the world as the first responders on the scene after a bomb hits it’s target, but they became famous after the British short documentary film produced in 2016, The White Helmets film follows three Syria Civil Defense volunteers as they work in Aleppo and across Syria. The three men, are part of the same unit, and they train in Turkey. The film was directed by Orlando von Einsiedel and produced by Joanna Natasegara. It was very well received by the public and it won the Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 89th Academy Awards. But even though the “Oscar” award was supposed to be the highlight of the event, it was the fact that the film’s cinematographer, Khaled Khateeb, was unable to attend the awards ceremony due to being denied entry into the United States, that stole the show.

Something that caught my attention while searching through the website of the W.H., is a picture of women in hijab and the title saying; “THE BRAVEST WOMEN IN THE WORLD”, showing that The White Helmets have had female volunteers since their formation and now there are 221 women who are trained in medical care and light search and rescue work. Seeing the needs of their communities, the female teams have now expanded their work to provide trauma counselling, community education to help children and families prepare for attacks and recover afterwards, and in areas where there are few medical services, they have opened women maternal health clinics.

The W.H. made the headlights recently after the British founder James Le Mesurier of the organization that trained the Syrian rescue group known as the White Helmets was found dead in Turkey this week, he had received prolonged medical treatment for stress and depression, his family and friends have revealed. Former British Army officer James Le Mesurier had visited a hospital the day before his body was found outside his home in Istanbul. He had been diagnosed with serious hypertension and doctors said his condition needed to be carefully monitored.

Turkish investigators told The Independent that they believe the former army officer committed suicide. They found no sign of violence towards Le Mesurier either in a post-mortem investigation or during examination of the evidence collected, including CCTV footage.

Emma Winberg, Le Mesurier’s widow, is believed to have told investigators that her husband had talked about taking his own life in the past[2]. Despite the facts about the death of Le Mesurier, conspiracy theorists and online trolls had a field day on social media, by spreading hate speech and fake news on the work legacy of Le Mesurier.

North Macedonia was no exception to this propaganda against the W.H., as the team of F2N2 found two news portals like mkd.mk who were sharing half facts about the background of Le Mesurier and writing that; “The Syrian government and its allies Russia and Iran accuse the “white helmets” of openly assisting terrorist organizations. The Russian Foreign Ministry told Le Mesurie last week that he was a former MI6 agent , the British counterintelligence service[3].” Thus, reinforcing Russian propaganda against the W.H., the article is not signed by an author, which downgrades the credibility of the article even more.

But things got even worse when the team discovered another portal called Kolozeg.info where they were going on a rampage by spreading fake news and hate speech based on religion, ethnic origin and race. Their article is also not signed by an author which is common for fake news spreading online media like this. The articles begin with the sentence; “The world is a better place without him, the bloody ISIS / UCK terrorist installations and their past supporters are falling apart. No one is going to shed a tear for a war criminal with bloody hands, except the Wahhabis and the terrorists Ameti and the other UCKashis who are left alone in our people’s courts without outside support and their corrupt SDS / DPNE comrades. The founder of “White Helmets” was in Syria and the UCK in the Balkans, a MI-6 spy and a Wahhabi and terrorist supporter, he has been found dead in Turkey.[4]”

It’s interesting to say that in North Macedonia we don’t have a definition for this kind of right wing nationalist hate speech and yet according to the National Committee for Countering Violent Extremism and Countering Terrorism of the Republic of North Macedonia; “The broad description of VIOLENT EXTREMISM – refers to the beliefs and actions of people who support or use ideologically motivated violence to realize radical ideological, religious or political views[5].” There hasn’t been any action taken by the authorities of the Republic of North Macedonia against these online media portals, which continue to spread their violent political ideology.

It seems that the W.H. are not new to this kind of attacks as there is a statement on their website stating; “The White Helmets are being targeted for daring to operate outside the control of the Syrian regime and showing the world what is happening in Syria. Their data and eyewitness testimonies, as well as photographic evidence, have been vital sources of information for international investigations into war crimes compiled by the United Nations Commission of Inquiry, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and human rights groups. These crimes include the use of chemical weapons, the collective punishment of civilians through starvation sieges and the targeting of hospitals and medical facilities. The leading perpetrators of these crimes, the Syrian government and its ally Russia, are targeting the White Helmets on the ground and attempting to discredit their work online and in the media. They are also subjected to constant attack online – both personally and through a hate-filled Russian-backed disinformation campaign carried out by bloggers, bots and trolls. This online war is designed to create doubt and confusion about the facts on the ground. Ultimately these efforts to discredit the White Helmets’ work is to obscure the reality of war crimes being committed by Russia and the Syrian regime.[6]”

I am a firm believer that the legacy of James Le Mesurier and the White Helmets will never have a black stain, as they have proven that they are ready to risk their lives while in a conflict where too many have chosen violence and they will continue to rebuild Syria brick by brick.

Meral Musli Tajroska – Psychologist, Expert on Violent Extremism and Radicalization and Activist for Gender Equality.

[1] https://www.whitehelmets.org/en/

[2] https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/james-le-mesurier-death-white-helmets-syria-russia-propaganda-a9204896.html

[3] https://www.mkd.mk/svet/vesti/poraneshen-britanski-razuznuvach-najden-mrtov-vo-turcija-gi-obuchuval-siriskite-beli?fbclid=IwAR0i2mseTl4DpU2tOCpu4vBEV_wWDbpehH4lvK0eFN8WJtzT3S3aKW1pck4

[4] https://kolozeg.info/2019/11/12/%d0%bc%d0%b86-%d1%88%d0%bf%d0%b8%d1%83%d0%bd-%d0%be%d1%81%d0%bd%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b0%d1%87-%d0%bd%d0%b0-%d1%82%d0%b5%d1%80%d0%be%d1%80%d0%b8%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b8%d1%87%d0%ba%d0%b0%d1%82%d0%b0-%d1%83%d1%87/?fbclid=IwAR1lDadLGCWWBX7a3zF1w8Pf1tgfE8G9VkosdlN5iobQzbhBSemQO64_EAY

[5] https://vlada.mk/sites/default/files/dokumenti/ct_national_strategy_eng_translation_sbu.pdf

[6] https://www.whitehelmets.org/en/