White Helmets: Heroes turned villains. How information warfare disparages
one of Syria’s most notable humanitarian organizations.
White Helmets (official name “Syrian Civil Defense”) – is one of Syria’s most
famous humanitarian organizations. Emerged during early years of Syrian conflict,
they are engaged in urban search and rescue operations in response to air bombings.
They rose to prominence in late 2014, when they caught the world’s attention and
got worldwide acknowledgment from governments, NGOs and media houses.1
2
They were invited to United Nations Security Council, nominated for Nobel Peace
Prize award, became recipients of 2016 Right Livelihood Award, McCall-Pierpaoli
Humanitarian Award, Theirworld Hope award. A movie featuring their activity won
the Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 89th Academy Awards. Several
influential news agencies and media outlets wrote praising articles about its
members. However, SCD also became victims of online propaganda campaign
which seriously damaged their reputation. By early 2019 White Helmets had already
lost financial support of Dutch government and got harsh criticism from Russian and
Chinese governments. So, how did once renown volunteer organization ended up
being accused of terrorism by international actors and media?
From the early days of the civil war pro-government media resources denied
any wrongdoings by government and started the narrative that all what’s happening
in Syria is part of wider conspiracy against Syrian state, which is managed by foreign
countries.3 By using that narrative, it was easier to label any humanitarian
organization or individual, who reported the human rights violation by government
and its allies, as a foreign agent or a terrorist organization. In fact, most of Syrian
opposition activist were arrested in charges of being foreign spies or members of
extremist organizations.4 So, it was only a matter of time when the same accusation
would be directed against White Helmets. Since White Helmets operate in rebel held
1
"Meet Syria's Peacemakers: Fighting on the Side of Life", The Syria Campaign, Youtube, 13th January 2015
"The rise of Syria's White Helmets". The Economist. 10 October 2016. Retrieved 11 October 2016.
3
Syria crisis: Assad speech, Channel 4, Youtube, 30th March 2011
4
"An Open Letter to The Syrian President, Bashar al- Assad Requesting to Release Tal al-Mallouhi , The Youngest
Prisoner of Conscience in The Arab World". anhri.net. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
2
areas and reported air raids against civilian objects carried by Syrian and Russian air
forces, they were considered as a serious challenge in a battle for public opinion.
The propaganda against “White Helmets” in anglophone media started with two
proponent supporters of Syrian government, journalists Vanessa Beeley and Eva
Bartlett (none of whom speak Arabic, have academic degrees, write articles in peerreviewed journals, or have any credentials to be considered experts on Middle East).
They wrote articles against White Helmets, accusing them of collaborating with
terrorist organizations, engaging in human organ trafficking, staging the air or
chemical attacks and of being an armed organization itself. The articles were
published in media agencies like 21stCenturyWire, Sputnik, Russia Today, all of
which are Russian state funded media organizations.
The serious allegations brought by two bloggers were proven false several
times. There is no evidence of white helmets having an armed wing, there is no
evidence of them collaborating with Al-Qaeda or ISIS, there is no evidence of them
staging chemical attacks or air bombing videos, and there no proof of them selling
human organs.56789Those obscure accusation were rejected not only by different
journals, news agencies, media outlets, governments, but also by international
bodies. Allegations that White Helmets staged infamous Khan Sheikhoun chemical
attack were rejected by several UN investigations. The UN investigation also
confirmed that it was Syrian government, who was behind the attack. 10
That doesn’t mean that all members of White Helmets acted in compliance
with international law. There was indeed an incident, when a White Helmet member
helped militants to bury mutilated corpses of soldier of Syrian Army in Daraa
5
Palma, Bethania (15 December 2016). "FACT CHECK: Syrian Rescue Organization 'The White Helmets' Are
Terrorists". Snopes. Retrieved 31 March 2018.
6
Solon, Olivia (18 December 2017). "How Syria's White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda
machine". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
7
Ellis, Emma Grey (30 April 2017). "Inside the conspiracy theory that turned Syria's first responders into terrorists".
Wired.com.
8
"White Helmets 'staging fake attacks' in Syria? We sort fact from fiction". France 24. May 14, 2018. Retrieved
June 20, 2018.
9
Erickson, Amanda (1 March 2017). "After Oscar win, Russian Embassy calls Syria's White Helmets 'actors,' not
life-savers". The Washington Post.
10
Nebehay, Stephanie (6 September 2017). "Syrian government forces used chemical weapons more than two dozen
times: U.N." Reuters.
province. But that was an isolated incident, and an act that wasn’t sanctioned by
White Helmets central leadership. That same member was suspended permanently.
11
However, to claim that all of its 3,000 volunteers are engaged in some kind of
conspiracy against Syrian government and that the organization is not saving
anybody is not only incorrect, but it’s simply a denial of reality happening on the
ground in Syria.
However, the informational campaign against White Helmets was not limited
only with Russian or Syrian sponsored media resources, but also by Iranian, Chinese
media organizations and several right-wing websites. Moreover, the situation got
worse for White Helmets, when narrative of them being “a threat” was officially
adopted by Russian government, which also demanded their removal from Idlib in
Security Council session. Nevertheless, Russia’s position didn’t receive wide
support and was condemned by other countries.12
Despite saving thousands of lives, losing 252 of its volunteers during rescue
operations, media campaign against SCD severely damaged its overall image and
had negative consequences for organizations itself.13 There is no any UN report or
report of any influential NGO that can prove the claim that White Helmets misused
the international aid they receive. Nonetheless, because of all the smear campaign in
mass media, government of Netherlands withdrew its financial support of White
Helmets due to lack of proper supervision over the activity of SCD and the fear that
funds they can end up in hands of extremist organizations.
White Helmets have responded to criticism through their accounts in social
networks. However, its following audience in Facebook and Twitter can’t be even
be compared to the audiences of RT, Sputnik, Iranian Mehr Agency, Chinese Xinhua
and countless of right wing and pro-government blogs.
11
"Renown White Helmets fire member for dumping dead soldiers in Syria". 22 June 2017.
Russia condemned for calling Syrian White Helmets a 'threat'. France 24. 12 October 2018
13
The White Helmets -https://www.whitehelmets.org/en/
12
Fortunately, information campaign didn’t discredit Syrian Civil Defense in
the eyes of most of international governments, NGOs, interstate bodies and
influential media organizations, but it did cost White Helmets public opinion in some
parts of the world.