The white helmets dark past and more staged stories to come. In 2014, cascos blancos white helmets was honored at the united nations for 20 years of international humanitarian assistance. The united states and other western governments have funded their work, and a netflix film, the white helmets, won an academy award last year for best short documentary. With khalid farah, mohammed farah, abu omar, raed saleh. The guardian nigeria newspaper brings you the latest headlines, opinions, political news, business reports and international news. This is a film you need to see to begin to understand daytoday life in wartorn syria. The guardian today is running an opinion piece written by raed al saleh the head of the white helmets in which he pleads for intervention in eastern ghouta. 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. Less than three weeks later, the guardian released a report painting all skeptics of the white helmets, including beeley and other antiimperialist activists as proponents of a russian propaganda campaign directed by the kremlin. A great deal has been written over the last 18 months about the nefarious role played by the white helmets in syria. As the violence intensifies, the white helmets follows three volunteer rescue workers as they put everything on. My colleagues and i made last men in aleppo because we.
The syrian volunteer rescue workers known as the white helmets have become. In the 1930s, she directed triumph des willens triumph of the will and olympia, resulting in worldwide attention and acclaim. Born today most popular celebs most popular celebs celebrity news. Many readers were dismayed at this crude defence of a presumably pro. But their life of heroics is brutally brought to life by the footage they film themselves in aleppo. The guardian the bravery of the white helmets in syria is beyond dispute. Directed by feras fayyad in collaboration with danish filmmaker. George clooney to make movie about syrias white helmets. Barcelona, roger waters, white helmets offguardian. The film follows the daily operations of a group of volunteer rescue workers of the syrian civil defence, also known as the white helmets. Prior to the guardian solon broadside against journalists and analysts who have exposed the darker side of the white helmets, channel 4 had already trained its fact check guns on independent journalist eva bartlett in an attempt to shut down criticism of the seemingly untouchable white helmets. The guardian, white helmets, and silenced comment bsnews. Us analyst tehran tasnim an american political analyst described the white helmets in syria as a fraudulent. Raed alsaleh, the head of the white helmets a volunteer rescue.
It won the best documentary short subject at the 89th academy awards. The creators of the white helmets, the oscarshortlisted documentary about the syrian civil defense, talk about the ongoing conflict and the numbing effect of the 24hour news cycle. Journalist dismantles white helmets alqaeda promotional. Their work includes fixing electrical grids, maintaining sewage works, clearing rubble from roads, removing unexploded weapons, as well as community education and preparation for future attacks. While the white helmets claim to be an impartial humanitarian ngo saving lives in warweary syria, it has repeatedly been revealed that the group has staged developments in its clips and an oscarwinning film in order to vilify damascus, to show that the government indiscriminately kills its own people, even children. The human rights watch hrw report sustaining the notproved allegations by the white helmets against the government of syria was published feb, 2017, right in the middle of the period between the nomination and the decision of the oscar award to the film white helmets. In her guardian article, ms solon contradicts her own claim, mentioned earlier, that an extraordinary disinformation campaign is being waged against the white helmets, when she reveals that one former white helmet was fired after he was filmed assisting armed militants in disposing of the mutilated corpses of proassad fighters, and. If the 40minute netflix documentary the white helmets wins the oscar, the award would go to the director.
In october 2016, i received a confidential email from someone who was concerned about an ngos funding going to the white helmet film. After being founded by security contractor james lemesurier, the group was branded as the. The white helmets have been nominated for the nobel peace prize several times and a documentary about the group won an oscar in 2017. Sunrise, the milky way and white helmets mondays best. A netflix original short documentary, set in aleppo, syria and turkey in early 2016. A documentary crew follows the white helmets, a group of. The work of the white helmets has expanded in response to the needs of the communities they serve, now providing essential services to millions of people. One such film was the netflix white helmets documentary. The guardian recently published an article claiming that critical discussion of the white helmets in syria has been propagated online by a network of antiimperialist activists, conspiracy theorists and trolls with the support of the russian government. The syrian video, real or staged, was provided by the white helmets themselves. George clooney is to make a fictional film about the white helmets the syria civil defence whose approximate 3,000 volunteers act as first responders in the wartorn country.
The nato white helmets are primarily a media campaign to support the regime change goals of the usa and allies. What the guardian is afraid of when attacking honest syria. The report, for those who have not read it yet, is as exactly what you would expect from an establishment stenography institution like the guardian. Aleppo documentary the white helmets tells story of the. Here is but one example showing the allegiance of over 60 white helmets members to alqaeda and other terrorist organizations. And then played careful with that axe, eugene as a tribute to the white helmets. As daily airstrikes pound civilian targets in syria, a group of indomitable first responders risk their lives to rescue victims from the rubble. Of course what he was saying was right on the money, and this pascal moron given authority. The syrian civil defence, commonly known as the white helmets, are a volunteer search and rescue group that mainly operates in.
The daily telegraph ran a story saying the white helmets should get the nobel peace prize and the guardian have been largely silent on the issue. But that campaign is not being directed by the kremlin, but. Tim hayward the guardian, white helmets, and silenced. The white helmets 2016 the white helmets 2016 user. Had the guardian had honest intentions regarding the white helmets article, they might have actually investigated the many members of the white helmets with ties to alqaeda and affiliated extremists. As israel in the past few days helped evacuate 800 white helmets from syria, en route to britain and other western countries, we look back at an article published by.
The guardian, white helmets, and silenced comment in the crudest of ironies, the guardian recently published a proimperialist article claiming critical discussion of syria s white helmets had been propagated online by a network of antiimperialist activists, conspiracy theorists and trolls with the support of the russian government. Posts about guardian white helmets written by clarityofsignal. The socalled syrian civil defence, aka the white helmets, are pure and virtuous. The recent neflix movie about the white helmets is not a documentary. Many readers were dismayed at this crude defence of a presumably proimperialist perspective, and at the unwarranted smearing of. Sputnik offers the balance of the journalists remarks on the issue below. The second role is the documentation of what is taking place within the country via handheld and helmet cameras.
My colleague markb recently explored some of the competing media narratives and the relationship between the selfproclaimed humanitarians and guardian journalists. Setting the record straight on the fake news about the white helmets and suppression of dissent. He is a founding member of the britain and ireland association for. The guardian has cast aside selfawareness, seized the moral high ground its selfproclaimed permanent base, and jumped to the defense of syrias white helmets, painting the group as victims of an online propaganda machine. The syrian civil defence are grateful for the platform the film the white helmets is providing for their humanitarian message to reach around the world, the statement said. George clooney is to make a fictional film about the white helmets the syria civil defence whose approximate 3,000 volunteers act as first. The white helmets, the syrian heroes who go in to save civilians, are given real heart in this short documentary. The guardian, in defense of the heroic narrative, just published a piece by olivia solon that turns the propaganda charge against the critics of the white helmets and refers to them as a network of antiimperialist activists, conspiracy theorists and trolls with the support of the russian government. War by way of deception part ii if it looks like an executioner.
The white helmets is a 2016 british short documentary film. Israel aids evacuation from syria of hundreds of white. It clearly shows us that what the white helmets do is not just heroic but also necessary. Members of the syrian civil defence group, the white helmets, carry out disinfection work around the city centre as part of precautions against the coronavirus. I hate the people who start cheering before roger gets a couple of seconds into what he was saying.
The white helmets had been previously smeared as terrorists when a short film about them, the white helmets, was released in 2016, so the groundwork was already in place. Paytrick henningsen helene bertha amalie leni riefenstahl was a german film director and propagandist for the nazis. A documentary crew follows the white helmets, a group of volunteer rescue workers with branches all. A documentary crew follows the white helmets, a group of volunteer rescue workers with branches all over the country, who risk their own safety to pull fellow citizens from bomb wreckage. Two rescue workers miss out on trip to academy awards, where film about their civil defence group is nominated. The guardians attempt to save the white helmets sputnik. At the sundance film festival last month, where three big films about syria were shown, attitudes to the graphic images varied. The bravery of the white helmets in syria is beyond dispute, but what is. Renegade newsthe guardian, white helmets, and silenced comment tim hayward professor of environmental political theory at at edinburgh university and founding director of the just world institute and the ethics forum. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events.
The guardian s picture editors select photo highlights from around the world. This disinformation campaign was recently detailed in the guardian. The actor and director is developing a feature version of netflixs documentary short the white helmets about the first responders in syria. The white helmets are in fact part of a coordinated propaganda campaign. The guardian has uncovered how this counternarrative is propagated online by a network of anti.