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White Helmets (Syrian civil war)

December 10, 2023

Not to be confused with White Helmets Commission or Syrian Civil Defence Forces.

The White Helmets (Arabic: الخوذ البيضاء ,القبعات البيضاء al-Ḫawdh al-bayḍāʾ / al-Qubaʿāt al-Bayḍāʾ), officially known as Syria Civil Defence[4] (SCD; Arabic: الدفاع المدني السوري ad-Difāʿ al-Madanī as-Sūrī), is a volunteer organisation that operates in parts of opposition-controlled Syria and in Turkey. Formed in 2014 during the Syrian Civil War, the majority of the volunteers' activity in Syria consists of medical evacuation, urban search and rescue in response to bombing, evacuation of civilians from danger areas, and essential service delivery. As of April 2018, the organisation said it had saved about 114,000 lives, and that 204 of its members had lost their lives while performing their duties. They assert their impartiality in the Syrian conflict.[5]

White Helmets
الدفاع المدني السوري
AbbreviationSCD
Formation2014; 9 years ago (2014)
FounderJames Le Mesurier[1][2][3]
PurposeCivil defense
Region served
Syrian opposition-controlled areas
Head
Raed Saleh, Abdulrahman Almawwas
Volunteers
3,000 (with monthly stipend)
Websitesyriacivildefence.org

The organisation has been the target of a sustained disinformation campaign by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Russian state-sponsored media organisations such as RT and Sputnik; the campaign has promoted false accusations connecting it with terrorist activities and other conspiracy theories.[a]

History

The rescue teams that later became Syria Civil Defence emerged during the late 2012 escalation of the Syrian Civil War, as areas no longer under the control of the Assad government came under sustained attack from its military forces. In response, in the absence of formal governmental structures, small groups of civilian volunteers from affected communities, particularly in Aleppo and Idlib, assembled to assist civilians injured in bombardment or trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings.[16][17] Training, funding and support was provided from international partners, including donations from governments in Western Europe, the US and Japan; the Turkish AKUT Search and Rescue Association; and a combination of NGOs, private individuals, public fundraising campaigns, and charities.[18][19] Primary support and training was provided by Mayday Rescue Foundation, a not-for-profit foundation established by former British Army officer James Le Mesurier,[20] and became a key factor in the development of the organisation.[21][1]

Local and provincial councils joined with Mayday Rescue Foundation and AKUT Search and Rescue Association to create the first training programmes in early 2013. ARK, an international contracting firm based in the United Arab Emirates,[15] would facilitate entry of volunteers to Turkey, where they would be trained by AKUT.[22][23][24][25][1][26][27] Early training courses included trauma care, command and control and crisis management.[28] Over the next two years, the number of independent civil defence teams grew to several dozen as graduates of the early trainings such as Raed Saleh established new centers; the national organisation of SCD was founded on 25 October 2014 at a conference of independent teams.[29]

SCD grew to be an organisation of over 3,000 volunteers operating from 111 local civil defence centres across 8 provincial directorates (Aleppo, Idlib, Latakia, Hama, Homs, Damascus, Damascus Countryside, and Daraa) in 2016. In October 2014, these self-organised teams came together and voted to form one national organisation: Syria Civil Defence. As of January 2017, the SCD claims to have rescued over 80,000 people since they began to keep count in 2014.[18] The White Helmets themselves have become targets of Syrian and Russian airstrikes.[30][31] According to The Economist, approximately one in six SCD have been killed or badly wounded, "many by 'double tap' (one after another) Russian and Syrian airstrikes on the same site as they search for bodies."[18] Seven members were killed in August 2017 in an apparent assassination at their operations centre in the Syrian city of Sarmin in Idlib Province.[32]

Although SCD has existed since 2013, their worldwide acknowledgement in media started in late 2014 with the help of The Syria Campaign NGO,[33] which introduced the nickname "White Helmets."[34]

On 14 December 2016, as the Syrian Armed Forces were recapturing eastern Aleppo, SCD head Raed Saleh requested safe passage of SCD operatives to rebel controlled countryside around Aleppo.[35] Syria Civil Defence joined the Independent Doctors Association, the Syrian Network for Human Rights, and the Violations Documentation Center to accuse Russian forces of war crimes in eastern Aleppo, jointly submitting a report to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic.[36]

In May 2018, the US State Department announced that funding has been frozen for the White Helmets.[37][38][39] A State Department official indicated that they were reviewing assistance programs in Syria overall, which included funding for the White Helmets, and at the same time indicated that the United States would continue to support the White Helmets through multilateral donations. The chairman of the White Helmets stated that the government of the United States, and other supportive institutions, promised to continue to provide critical funding to the organization.[38]

On the night of 21 July 2018, Israel opened the Golan Heights boundary to allow a UN rescue mission to evacuate 422 people – 98 White Helmet volunteers and their family members – to Jordan. An international group led by Chrystia Freeland lobbied for the exit of the White Helmets, as their lives were in danger due to the Syrian government′s advancing offensive in southwestern Syria. The White Helmets reported 3,700 of their volunteers remained in Syria.[40][41][42][43] A Syrian government official condemned the evacuation of White Helmets as a "criminal operation" that had revealed "the terrorist nature" of the group.[44][45] President Bashar al-Assad said: "They have two choices: to lay down their arms and use the amnesty we have offered over the last four or five years, or be killed like other terrorists."[46] In September 2018, the United Kingdom granted asylum to about 100 White Helmet staff and relatives that had been evacuated to Jordan.[47]

The co-founder of the White Helmets, James Le Mesurier, was found dead in Istanbul on 9 November 2019.[48]

Operations

 
SCD clearing rubble following an attack in Maarat al-Nu'man in November 2014, using a USAID-supplied bucket loader

SCD's stated mission is "to save the greatest number of lives in the shortest possible time and to minimize further injury to people and damage to property."[17] Their work covers the 15 civil defence tasks as laid out in international humanitarian law (IHL);[49] the bulk of their activity in Syria consists of urban search and rescue in response to bombing, medical evacuation, evacuation of civilians from danger areas, and essential service delivery.[50]

The most prominent role of SCD was rescuing civilians from airstrikes with barrel bombs, improvised explosive devices dropped by SAAF helicopters. Following a request from Bashar al-Assad for support, Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War on 30 September 2015.[51] Much of the work of SCD has been in response to aerial bombardments by the Russian Air Force attack aircraft.

As well as providing rescue services, SCD undertakes repair works such as securing damaged buildings and reconnecting electrical and water services, clearing roads, teaching children about hazards from unexploded ordnance, as well as firefighting and winter storm relief.[52][53][54] Sometimes described as the most dangerous job in the world,[55][19] SCD operations involve risk from being active in a war-zone. By late 2016, 159 White Helmets had been killed since the organisation's inception.[53]

SCD is not affiliated with the International Civil Defence Organisation (ICDO), nor is it connected to the Damascus's Syrian Civil Defence Forces (SCDF), an ICDO-member since 1972.[56] But, since the SCDF operate in government-held areas[57] and since civilian casualties in Syria overwhelmingly result from government forces' bombardments against targets in opposition-held areas, the unaffiliated SCD engages in civil defence tasks in said rebel-held areas.[58]

In 2015, the SCD unsuccessfully lobbied the European Union (EU) and governments to impose a no fly zone over certain parts of Syria to protect civilians from airstrikes.[59] The White Helmets have unsuccessfully called upon governments such as France to act to effect a ceasefire and protect lives in subsequent years.[60]

As of 2015, SCD had an annual budget of $30 million provided by a mix of state donors and public fundraising. Volunteers who worked full-time received a $150 monthly stipend, a figure set by donors.[61][62]: 24, 42–43 [63] In July 2019, this was raised to $250.[63]

It has a co-ordination office on the Turkish-Syrian border in Gaziantep[31] and a training centre in Turkey.[18]

At the height of its operations, it had 4,000 volunteers in 200 teams.[63] As of April 2017, there were about 3,000 White Helmet members, about 100 of which were women.[64][65] As of March 2018, a British government programme review recorded that stipends were being paid for 4,011 volunteers in 179 centres to provide search and rescue and other services, and that 114,507 civilians had been reported rescued or aided.[66] In June 2018 the British government decided, due to the changing military situation, to responsibly withdraw from funding other projects in the area that the White Helmets operated in, such as policing, education and livelihood support, while maintaining support for the White Helmets.[67]

In October 2018, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced that at least 300 White Helmets members who had fled Syria into Jordan are now resettled in several Western countries, including Canada and the United Kingdom.[68][69]

Partnerships and funding

SCD is officially an impartial humanitarian NGO, with no affiliation to any political or military actor and a commitment to render services to anyone in need.[17] Like all NGOs operating in opposition-controlled areas, SCD negotiates humanitarian access with organisations such as local councils, provincial councils, and armed groups, with relationships varying widely from governorate to governorate.[16]

Prior to 2020, SCD worked in close partnership with the Netherlands-based NGO Mayday Rescue Foundation. Mayday Rescue's Program Manager for Syria was Farouq Habib,[70][71] who has also been described as the White Helmets' Head of International Relations.[72]

The White Helmets has received charitable funding from the United States, the United Kingdom, and other western governments.[73] Initially the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office was the largest single source of funding through Mayday Rescue Foundation.[74] U.S. government funds were directed to SCD through Chemonics, a U.S. based private international development company.[73][62] Funders have included the Canadian government Peace and Stabilization Operations Program,[71] the Danish government,[75][76] the German government,[77] the Japan International Cooperation Agency,[23][78] the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs.[79][80] the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs,[81] the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)[52] and the United Kingdom Conflict, Stability and Security Fund (CSSF).[82] USAID contributed at least $23 million from 2013 to March 2016.[83][84] The British government provided £15 million of funding between 2012 and November 2015,[85] increased to £32 million by October 2016.[86] As of 31 March 2018, the British government had provided £38.4m in aid to the White Helmets.[87] The SCD has also received individual donations online to their Hero Fund, which provides treatment for wounded volunteers and supports their families.[88]

In March 2017, the organization was reported to be operating on an annual budget of about $26 million.[89] Mayday Rescue reports that between 2014 and 2018 the White Helmets received funding of $127 million, $19 million of which came from non-government sources; it is not clear if this included U.S. government funding which went through Chemonics rather than Mayday Rescue.[62] In 2018, the White Helmets' vice president reported that the group’s financing for 2018 from foreign governments had fallen to $12 million from $18 million the previous year.[60]

In April 2018, the Trump administration suspended the funding of the White Helmets as part of a wider suspension of the funding of stabilization projects in Syria while the U.S. reassesses its role in Syria. The U.S. had provided more than $33 million to support the group since 2013.[90][37] On 14 June 2018, the Trump administration authorised USAID and the United States Department of State to release approximately $6.6 million in aid to be shared between the group and the UN's International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism in Syria.[91]

The Netherlands announced that it would end its funding of several aid projects in opposition strongholds in Syria, including the White Helmets, by December 2018. This announcement followed a Ministry of Foreign Affairs report according to which the supervision over the activity of White Helmets is inadequate and there is a risk that funds meant for the rescue workers would end up in the hands of armed groups instead.[62][92][63]

A number of accusations against White Helmets and Le Mesurier, especially regarding alleged fraud and lavish lifestyle, were dismissed in May 2020 by forensic audit experts from Grant Thornton, which came to a conclusion that "the key finding of our investigation of the flagged transactions leads us to believe that there is no evidence of misappropriation of funds. For the most part we have been able to refute the alleged irregularities." The audit highlighted that "book keeping was sloppy" in Mayday, but admitted that in the complex war-time environment where the organization was operating these that understandable, and the leadership was able to ensure transparency and "high integrity" of its operations.[63][93]

Mayday went into administration in July 2020 and the White Helmets' finances were subsequently managed by a Chemonics, a for-profit organisation that charges considerably more for their services than Mayday Rescue did.[94]

Publicity and recognition

 
Raed al-Saleh (left), SCD Director, meets with UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2018

SCD is widely cited, quoted, or depicted in regional and international media coverage of the conflict in Syria.[95] Raed Al Saleh, the Director of SCD, has been an outspoken advocate against bombardment of civilians, addressing the United Nations Security Council and other international bodies on a number of occasions.[96][97]

SCD has been the subject of two films. The streaming service Netflix released a documentary film entitled The White Helmets on 16 September 2016 by British director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara.[98] The film won the Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 89th Academy Awards.[99] SCD head Raed Saleh was unable to attend the Oscars ceremony due to escalation of the conflict, despite having a valid visa. Khaled Khateeb, cinematographer of the film, was unable to attend due to a visa problem.[100] The Associated Press reported that the United States Department of Homeland Security under President Trump decided to block Khaled Khateeb at the 11th hour.[101] Released in 2017, Last Men in Aleppo was directed by Syrian director Feras Fayyad in collaboration with Danish film-maker Steven Johannessen and the Aleppo Media Centre; it was the Winner of the Grand Jury Documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017.[102]

SCD was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize[103] and was a recipient of the 2016 Right Livelihood Award, the "Alternative Nobel Prize".[104]

In 2017, it was awarded the McCall-Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award by Refugees International[65][105] and its women volunteers were awarded the Theirworld Hope award by Sarah Brown's children's charity Theirworld.[106] Female SCD volunteer Manal Abazeed, who accepted these awards, was listed by Fortune magazine as being among the "World's Most Powerful Women" of 2017.[65]

In 2017, Politico listed Khaled Omar Harrah, a leading member in Aleppo, known as the 'child rescuer', as one of the 28 people "shaping, shaking and stirring Europe".[107][108] He was killed in Aleppo in an airstrike in August 2016.[109] Harrah is the main character in Last Men in Aleppo, which was dedicated to him after his death.[110]

Another prominent member is Mohammed Abu Kifah, a civil defence team member who rescued another child from beneath the rubble in Idlib.[111][32] Following his death in an apparent assassination on 12 August 2017, aged 25 years old, Kifah's life was commemorated on BBC Radio 4's Last Word.[112]

Controversies

Information warfare campaign

According to investigative journalists and analysts, SCD became a target of a systematic information warfare campaign by the Russian government, the Syrian government, alt-right personalities, and their supporters, who have accused the organisation of taking sides in the Syrian Civil War, carrying arms, and supporting terrorist groups.[113][114][15][115][116][117][110][9] The Russian-funded RT television network and Sputnik news agency have made controversial claims about SCD, and multiple sources have found issues with the veracity and credibility of the claims.[9][10][7][118][6][119] In an interview with Reuters, Facebook claimed that a hacking group based out of Syria targeted the White Helmets.[120]

Olivia Solon from The Guardian speculated that SCD was targeted because they document their activities with handheld and helmet cameras. This footage often shows the aftermath of airstrikes, and has been used by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre.[10]

According to The New York Times, Assad's claim that the White Helmets are "Al-Qaeda members" was "without evidence".[121] Assertions made by RT contributor Eva Bartlett that the White Helmets stage rescues and "recycle" children in its videos were reported by Snopes and Channel 4 News as being false "beyond a reasonable doubt".[6][8] In December 2017, The Guardian newspaper commented that it had "uncovered how this counter-narrative is propagated online by a network of anti-imperialist activists, conspiracy theorists and trolls with the support of the Russian government ... [which] ... attract an enormous online audience, amplified by high-profile alt-right personalities, appearances on Russian state TV and an army of Twitter bots."[10] A study by Tom Wilson and Kate Starbird, published in The Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review in January 2020, found that anti–White Helmet discourse dominated postings on Twitter.[122]

Relationship with SDF

The White Helmets have a hostile relationship with the majority-Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF). The group operated in Afrin until the local Kurdish administration banned it in December 2015. It returned following the capture of the city by the Turkish Army and Syrian rebels in the Turkish-led Operation Olive Branch in 2018. In June 2019, after fires set to crop fields by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant threatened the food supply of Syrians living in SDF-controlled areas, the White Helmets offered to enter SDF territory and help fight the fires, but permission was denied. Nicholas A. Heras, a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security, stated that the White Helmets, as an organization, referred to Turkey’s operation in Afrin as the "liberation" of Afrin, and maintained that there was "credible evidence" that the White Helmets assisted Turkish soldiers and rebels by providing de-mining assistance. The White Helmets denied that they supported the campaign.[123]

Other

In November 2016, the Revolutionaries of Syria Media Office, an opposition media organisation, published a video showing two SCD volunteers performing a staged rescue operation for the Mannequin Challenge meme. The White Helmets apologised for their volunteers' error of judgement and said it had not shared the recording on their official channels.[124][125]

In June 2017, a member of the White Helmets was suspended indefinitely after he was discovered to have assisted armed militants in the burial of mutilated corpses of soldiers belonging to pro-government forces.[126]

Footage showing White Helmets members removing a man's body following his execution by rebel militants has caused critics to accuse the group of "assisting" in executions. The leader of the White Helmets has remarked that these are "isolated incidents" and are not representative of the leadership of the organisation.[10]

In 2018, Anglican vicar Andrew Ashdown, along with Church of England and House of Lords figures such as Lord Carey of Clifton and Michael Nazir-Ali, visited Syria and met with Assad; Ashdown accused the White Helmets of being militants, and accused the group of "keeping an injured Syrian child untreated and covered in dust and blood" for propaganda purposes.[127][128][9][129][130] A UK Foreign Office memorandum criticized the trip, warning that it would be exploited by Assad.[128]

References

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Further reading

  • Hadjimatheou, Chloe (27 February 2021). "Mayday: How the White Helmets and James Le Mesurier got pulled into a deadly battle for truth". BBC News.
  • "Why no-one could save the man who co-founded the White Helmets" (Podcast & text). BBC Radio. Intrigue. 6 November 2020.

External links

  • Syria Civil Defense
  • The White Helmets (fundraising website)
  • Mayday Rescue (registered foundation in the Netherlands)

December 10, 2023
white, helmets, syrian, civil, confused, with, white, helmets, commission, syrian, civil, defence, forces, white, helmets, arabic, الخوذ, البيضاء, القبعات, البيضاء, Ḫawdh, bayḍāʾ, qubaʿāt, bayḍāʾ, officially, known, syria, civil, defence, arabic, الدفاع, المدن. Not to be confused with White Helmets Commission or Syrian Civil Defence Forces The White Helmets Arabic الخوذ البيضاء القبعات البيضاء al Ḫawdh al bayḍaʾ al Qubaʿat al Bayḍaʾ officially known as Syria Civil Defence 4 SCD Arabic الدفاع المدني السوري ad Difaʿ al Madani as Suri is a volunteer organisation that operates in parts of opposition controlled Syria and in Turkey Formed in 2014 during the Syrian Civil War the majority of the volunteers activity in Syria consists of medical evacuation urban search and rescue in response to bombing evacuation of civilians from danger areas and essential service delivery As of April 2018 the organisation said it had saved about 114 000 lives and that 204 of its members had lost their lives while performing their duties They assert their impartiality in the Syrian conflict 5 White Helmetsالدفاع المدني السوريAbbreviationSCDFormation2014 9 years ago 2014 FounderJames Le Mesurier 1 2 3 PurposeCivil defenseRegion servedSyrian opposition controlled areasHeadRaed Saleh Abdulrahman AlmawwasVolunteers3 000 with monthly stipend Websitesyriacivildefence wbr orgThe organisation has been the target of a sustained disinformation campaign by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Russian state sponsored media organisations such as RT and Sputnik the campaign has promoted false accusations connecting it with terrorist activities and other conspiracy theories a Contents 1 History 2 Operations 3 Partnerships and funding 4 Publicity and recognition 5 Controversies 5 1 Information warfare campaign 5 2 Relationship with SDF 5 3 Other 6 References 7 Further reading 8 External linksHistoryThe rescue teams that later became Syria Civil Defence emerged during the late 2012 escalation of the Syrian Civil War as areas no longer under the control of the Assad government came under sustained attack from its military forces In response in the absence of formal governmental structures small groups of civilian volunteers from affected communities particularly in Aleppo and Idlib assembled to assist civilians injured in bombardment or trapped under the rubble of destroyed buildings 16 17 Training funding and support was provided from international partners including donations from governments in Western Europe the US and Japan the Turkish AKUT Search and Rescue Association and a combination of NGOs private individuals public fundraising campaigns and charities 18 19 Primary support and training was provided by Mayday Rescue Foundation a not for profit foundation established by former British Army officer James Le Mesurier 20 and became a key factor in the development of the organisation 21 1 Local and provincial councils joined with Mayday Rescue Foundation and AKUT Search and Rescue Association to create the first training programmes in early 2013 ARK an international contracting firm based in the United Arab Emirates 15 would facilitate entry of volunteers to Turkey where they would be trained by AKUT 22 23 24 25 1 26 27 Early training courses included trauma care command and control and crisis management 28 Over the next two years the number of independent civil defence teams grew to several dozen as graduates of the early trainings such as Raed Saleh established new centers the national organisation of SCD was founded on 25 October 2014 at a conference of independent teams 29 SCD grew to be an organisation of over 3 000 volunteers operating from 111 local civil defence centres across 8 provincial directorates Aleppo Idlib Latakia Hama Homs Damascus Damascus Countryside and Daraa in 2016 In October 2014 these self organised teams came together and voted to form one national organisation Syria Civil Defence As of January 2017 the SCD claims to have rescued over 80 000 people since they began to keep count in 2014 18 The White Helmets themselves have become targets of Syrian and Russian airstrikes 30 31 According to The Economist approximately one in six SCD have been killed or badly wounded many by double tap one after another Russian and Syrian airstrikes on the same site as they search for bodies 18 Seven members were killed in August 2017 in an apparent assassination at their operations centre in the Syrian city of Sarmin in Idlib Province 32 Although SCD has existed since 2013 their worldwide acknowledgement in media started in late 2014 with the help of The Syria Campaign NGO 33 which introduced the nickname White Helmets 34 On 14 December 2016 as the Syrian Armed Forces were recapturing eastern Aleppo SCD head Raed Saleh requested safe passage of SCD operatives to rebel controlled countryside around Aleppo 35 Syria Civil Defence joined the Independent Doctors Association the Syrian Network for Human Rights and the Violations Documentation Center to accuse Russian forces of war crimes in eastern Aleppo jointly submitting a report to the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Syrian Arab Republic 36 In May 2018 the US State Department announced that funding has been frozen for the White Helmets 37 38 39 A State Department official indicated that they were reviewing assistance programs in Syria overall which included funding for the White Helmets and at the same time indicated that the United States would continue to support the White Helmets through multilateral donations The chairman of the White Helmets stated that the government of the United States and other supportive institutions promised to continue to provide critical funding to the organization 38 On the night of 21 July 2018 Israel opened the Golan Heights boundary to allow a UN rescue mission to evacuate 422 people 98 White Helmet volunteers and their family members to Jordan An international group led by Chrystia Freeland lobbied for the exit of the White Helmets as their lives were in danger due to the Syrian government s advancing offensive in southwestern Syria The White Helmets reported 3 700 of their volunteers remained in Syria 40 41 42 43 A Syrian government official condemned the evacuation of White Helmets as a criminal operation that had revealed the terrorist nature of the group 44 45 President Bashar al Assad said They have two choices to lay down their arms and use the amnesty we have offered over the last four or five years or be killed like other terrorists 46 In September 2018 the United Kingdom granted asylum to about 100 White Helmet staff and relatives that had been evacuated to Jordan 47 The co founder of the White Helmets James Le Mesurier was found dead in Istanbul on 9 November 2019 48 Operations nbsp SCD clearing rubble following an attack in Maarat al Nu man in November 2014 using a USAID supplied bucket loaderSCD s stated mission is to save the greatest number of lives in the shortest possible time and to minimize further injury to people and damage to property 17 Their work covers the 15 civil defence tasks as laid out in international humanitarian law IHL 49 the bulk of their activity in Syria consists of urban search and rescue in response to bombing medical evacuation evacuation of civilians from danger areas and essential service delivery 50 The most prominent role of SCD was rescuing civilians from airstrikes with barrel bombs improvised explosive devices dropped by SAAF helicopters Following a request from Bashar al Assad for support Russia intervened in the Syrian Civil War on 30 September 2015 51 Much of the work of SCD has been in response to aerial bombardments by the Russian Air Force attack aircraft As well as providing rescue services SCD undertakes repair works such as securing damaged buildings and reconnecting electrical and water services clearing roads teaching children about hazards from unexploded ordnance as well as firefighting and winter storm relief 52 53 54 Sometimes described as the most dangerous job in the world 55 19 SCD operations involve risk from being active in a war zone By late 2016 159 White Helmets had been killed since the organisation s inception 53 SCD is not affiliated with the International Civil Defence Organisation ICDO nor is it connected to the Damascus s Syrian Civil Defence Forces SCDF an ICDO member since 1972 56 But since the SCDF operate in government held areas 57 and since civilian casualties in Syria overwhelmingly result from government forces bombardments against targets in opposition held areas the unaffiliated SCD engages in civil defence tasks in said rebel held areas 58 In 2015 the SCD unsuccessfully lobbied the European Union EU and governments to impose a no fly zone over certain parts of Syria to protect civilians from airstrikes 59 The White Helmets have unsuccessfully called upon governments such as France to act to effect a ceasefire and protect lives in subsequent years 60 As of 2015 SCD had an annual budget of 30 million provided by a mix of state donors and public fundraising Volunteers who worked full time received a 150 monthly stipend a figure set by donors 61 62 24 42 43 63 In July 2019 this was raised to 250 63 It has a co ordination office on the Turkish Syrian border in Gaziantep 31 and a training centre in Turkey 18 At the height of its operations it had 4 000 volunteers in 200 teams 63 As of April 2017 there were about 3 000 White Helmet members about 100 of which were women 64 65 As of March 2018 a British government programme review recorded that stipends were being paid for 4 011 volunteers in 179 centres to provide search and rescue and other services and that 114 507 civilians had been reported rescued or aided 66 In June 2018 the British government decided due to the changing military situation to responsibly withdraw from funding other projects in the area that the White Helmets operated in such as policing education and livelihood support while maintaining support for the White Helmets 67 In October 2018 the Jordanian Foreign Ministry announced that at least 300 White Helmets members who had fled Syria into Jordan are now resettled in several Western countries including Canada and the United Kingdom 68 69 Partnerships and fundingSCD is officially an impartial humanitarian NGO with no affiliation to any political or military actor and a commitment to render services to anyone in need 17 Like all NGOs operating in opposition controlled areas SCD negotiates humanitarian access with organisations such as local councils provincial councils and armed groups with relationships varying widely from governorate to governorate 16 Prior to 2020 SCD worked in close partnership with the Netherlands based NGO Mayday Rescue Foundation Mayday Rescue s Program Manager for Syria was Farouq Habib 70 71 who has also been described as the White Helmets Head of International Relations 72 The White Helmets has received charitable funding from the United States the United Kingdom and other western governments 73 Initially the United Kingdom Foreign and Commonwealth Office was the largest single source of funding through Mayday Rescue Foundation 74 U S government funds were directed to SCD through Chemonics a U S based private international development company 73 62 Funders have included the Canadian government Peace and Stabilization Operations Program 71 the Danish government 75 76 the German government 77 the Japan International Cooperation Agency 23 78 the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs 79 80 the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs 81 the United States Agency for International Development USAID 52 and the United Kingdom Conflict Stability and Security Fund CSSF 82 USAID contributed at least 23 million from 2013 to March 2016 83 84 The British government provided 15 million of funding between 2012 and November 2015 85 increased to 32 million by October 2016 86 As of 31 March 2018 the British government had provided 38 4m in aid to the White Helmets 87 The SCD has also received individual donations online to their Hero Fund which provides treatment for wounded volunteers and supports their families 88 In March 2017 the organization was reported to be operating on an annual budget of about 26 million 89 Mayday Rescue reports that between 2014 and 2018 the White Helmets received funding of 127 million 19 million of which came from non government sources it is not clear if this included U S government funding which went through Chemonics rather than Mayday Rescue 62 In 2018 the White Helmets vice president reported that the group s financing for 2018 from foreign governments had fallen to 12 million from 18 million the previous year 60 In April 2018 the Trump administration suspended the funding of the White Helmets as part of a wider suspension of the funding of stabilization projects in Syria while the U S reassesses its role in Syria The U S had provided more than 33 million to support the group since 2013 90 37 On 14 June 2018 the Trump administration authorised USAID and the United States Department of State to release approximately 6 6 million in aid to be shared between the group and the UN s International Impartial and Independent Mechanism in Syria 91 The Netherlands announced that it would end its funding of several aid projects in opposition strongholds in Syria including the White Helmets by December 2018 This announcement followed a Ministry of Foreign Affairs report according to which the supervision over the activity of White Helmets is inadequate and there is a risk that funds meant for the rescue workers would end up in the hands of armed groups instead 62 92 63 A number of accusations against White Helmets and Le Mesurier especially regarding alleged fraud and lavish lifestyle were dismissed in May 2020 by forensic audit experts from Grant Thornton which came to a conclusion that the key finding of our investigation of the flagged transactions leads us to believe that there is no evidence of misappropriation of funds For the most part we have been able to refute the alleged irregularities The audit highlighted that book keeping was sloppy in Mayday but admitted that in the complex war time environment where the organization was operating these that understandable and the leadership was able to ensure transparency and high integrity of its operations 63 93 Mayday went into administration in July 2020 and the White Helmets finances were subsequently managed by a Chemonics a for profit organisation that charges considerably more for their services than Mayday Rescue did 94 Publicity and recognition nbsp Raed al Saleh left SCD Director meets with UK Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt in 2018SCD is widely cited quoted or depicted in regional and international media coverage of the conflict in Syria 95 Raed Al Saleh the Director of SCD has been an outspoken advocate against bombardment of civilians addressing the United Nations Security Council and other international bodies on a number of occasions 96 97 SCD has been the subject of two films The streaming service Netflix released a documentary film entitled The White Helmets on 16 September 2016 by British director Orlando von Einsiedel and producer Joanna Natasegara 98 The film won the Best Documentary Short Subject at the 89th Academy Awards 99 SCD head Raed Saleh was unable to attend the Oscars ceremony due to escalation of the conflict despite having a valid visa Khaled Khateeb cinematographer of the film was unable to attend due to a visa problem 100 The Associated Press reported that the United States Department of Homeland Security under President Trump decided to block Khaled Khateeb at the 11th hour 101 Released in 2017 Last Men in Aleppo was directed by Syrian director Feras Fayyad in collaboration with Danish film maker Steven Johannessen and the Aleppo Media Centre it was the Winner of the Grand Jury Documentary prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2017 102 SCD was nominated for the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize 103 and was a recipient of the 2016 Right Livelihood Award the Alternative Nobel Prize 104 In 2017 it was awarded the McCall Pierpaoli Humanitarian Award by Refugees International 65 105 and its women volunteers were awarded the Theirworld Hope award by Sarah Brown s children s charity Theirworld 106 Female SCD volunteer Manal Abazeed who accepted these awards was listed by Fortune magazine as being among the World s Most Powerful Women of 2017 65 In 2017 Politico listed Khaled Omar Harrah a leading member in Aleppo known as the child rescuer as one of the 28 people shaping shaking and stirring Europe 107 108 He was killed in Aleppo in an airstrike in August 2016 109 Harrah is the main character in Last Men in Aleppo which was dedicated to him after his death 110 Another prominent member is Mohammed Abu Kifah a civil defence team member who rescued another child from beneath the rubble in Idlib 111 32 Following his death in an apparent assassination on 12 August 2017 aged 25 years old Kifah s life was commemorated on BBC Radio 4 s Last Word 112 ControversiesInformation warfare campaign According to investigative journalists and analysts SCD became a target of a systematic information warfare campaign by the Russian government the Syrian government alt right personalities and their supporters who have accused the organisation of taking sides in the Syrian Civil War carrying arms and supporting terrorist groups 113 114 15 115 116 117 110 9 The Russian funded RT television network and Sputnik news agency have made controversial claims about SCD and multiple sources have found issues with the veracity and credibility of the claims 9 10 7 118 6 119 In an interview with Reuters Facebook claimed that a hacking group based out of Syria targeted the White Helmets 120 Olivia Solon from The Guardian speculated that SCD was targeted because they document their activities with handheld and helmet cameras This footage often shows the aftermath of airstrikes and has been used by human rights groups such as Amnesty International and the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre 10 According to The New York Times Assad s claim that the White Helmets are Al Qaeda members was without evidence 121 Assertions made by RT contributor Eva Bartlett that the White Helmets stage rescues and recycle children in its videos were reported by Snopes and Channel 4 News as being false beyond a reasonable doubt 6 8 In December 2017 The Guardian newspaper commented that it had uncovered how this counter narrative is propagated online by a network of anti imperialist activists conspiracy theorists and trolls with the support of the Russian government which attract an enormous online audience amplified by high profile alt right personalities appearances on Russian state TV and an army of Twitter bots 10 A study by Tom Wilson and Kate Starbird published in The Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review in January 2020 found that anti White Helmet discourse dominated postings on Twitter 122 Relationship with SDF The White Helmets have a hostile relationship with the majority Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces SDF The group operated in Afrin until the local Kurdish administration banned it in December 2015 It returned following the capture of the city by the Turkish Army and Syrian rebels in the Turkish led Operation Olive Branch in 2018 In June 2019 after fires set to crop fields by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant threatened the food supply of Syrians living in SDF controlled areas the White Helmets offered to enter SDF territory and help fight the fires but permission was denied Nicholas A Heras a Fellow at the Center for a New American Security stated that the White Helmets as an organization referred to Turkey s operation in Afrin as the liberation of Afrin and maintained that there was credible evidence that the White Helmets assisted Turkish soldiers and rebels by providing de mining assistance The White Helmets denied that they supported the campaign 123 Other In November 2016 the Revolutionaries of Syria Media Office an opposition media organisation published a video showing two SCD volunteers performing a staged rescue operation for the Mannequin Challenge meme The White Helmets apologised for their volunteers error of judgement and said it had not shared the recording on their official channels 124 125 In June 2017 a member of the White Helmets was suspended indefinitely after he was discovered to have assisted armed militants in the burial of mutilated corpses of soldiers belonging to pro government forces 126 Footage showing White Helmets members removing a man s body following his execution by rebel militants has caused critics to accuse the group of assisting in executions The leader of the White Helmets has remarked that these are isolated incidents and are not representative of the leadership of the organisation 10 In 2018 Anglican vicar Andrew Ashdown along with Church of England and House of Lords figures such as Lord Carey of Clifton and Michael Nazir Ali visited Syria and met with Assad Ashdown accused the White Helmets of being militants and accused the group of keeping an injured Syrian child untreated and covered in dust and blood for propaganda purposes 127 128 9 129 130 A UK Foreign Office memorandum criticized the trip warning that it would be exploited by Assad 128 References Sample of sources reporting disinformation campaign against the White Helmets 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 a b c Jan Maria 21 August 2015 Q amp A Syria s White Helmets Al Jazeera Media Network Retrieved 30 November 2017 Die obskuren White Helmets Archived 12 November 2019 at the Wayback Machine Heise de 30 September 2016 Ordinary people turn superheroes Archived 14 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine The Straits Times 9 April 2017 Jihadist assault kills dozens of Syrian soldiers BBC News 23 January 2020 Retrieved 23 January 2020 Saleh Raed The Most Dangerous Place in the World The White Helmets Retrieved 19 April 2018 a b c Worrall Patrick FactCheck Eva Bartlett s claims about Syrian children Channel 4 News Retrieved 24 January 2017 a b Merlan Anna 2019 Republic of Lies American Conspiracy Theorists and Their Surprising Rise to Power London Random House Books pp 91 92 ISBN 9781473553613 Globally false flag theories can have extremely sinister political uses One particularly chilling international conspiracy theory claimed that chemical attacks by the Syrian government against civilians were either staged or perpetrated by the White Helmets a civilian aid group a b Syrian War Victims Are Being Recycled and Al Quds Hospital Was Never Bombed Snopes 14 December 2016 a b c d Giovanni Janine di 16 October 2018 Why Assad and Russia Target the White Helmets The New York Review of Books Retrieved 28 March 2019 The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs began a propaganda campaign largely relying on its agents and followers on Twitter to distribute falsehoods about the event These included the claim that the chemical attacks were staged by the White Helmets using actors as part of a Western conspiracy that was meant to provide cover both for the US airstrike on April 7 on the Shayrat air base and for a plot to bring down Assad by creating a pretext for military intervention a b c d e Solon Olivia 18 December 2017 How Syria s White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine The Guardian Retrieved 18 December 2017 The Syrian volunteer rescue workers known as the White Helmets have become the target of an extraordinary disinformation campaign that positions them as an al Qaida linked terrorist organisation Palma Bethania 15 December 2016 FACT CHECK Syrian Rescue Organization The White Helmets Are Terrorists Snopes Retrieved 31 March 2018 Erickson Amanda 1 March 2017 After Oscar win Russian Embassy calls Syria s White Helmets actors not life savers The Washington Post Ellis Emma Grey 30 April 2017 Inside the conspiracy theory that turned Syria s first responders into terrorists Wired com While the White Helmets might seem like the poster children for feel bad humanitarianism they ve in fact become the target of a sic internet smear campaign one designed to bolster the regime of Syrian president Bashar al Assad and undermine its opponents including the United States Various White Helmet truthers who range from Assad and his supporters to Russian embassies and even to Alex Jones accuse the group of staging rescue photos belonging to al Qaeda and being pawns of liberal bogeyman George Soros The story of how that conspiracy grew is a perfect distillation of how disinformation can spread unchecked supplanting fact with frenzy where no support exists White Helmets staging fake attacks in Syria We sort fact from fiction France 24 14 May 2018 Retrieved 20 June 2018 For the past few months however the White Helmets have been the target of a smear campaign on social media mainly led by supporters of Syrian President Bashar al Assad and Russian President Vladimir Putin a b c Lucas Scott 7 October 2016 Who are Syria s White Helmets and why are they so controversial The Conversation Retrieved 24 January 2017 a b Aikins Matthieu Whoever Saves a Life Matter Medium Retrieved 18 February 2016 a b c Volunteers to Save Lives SCD www syriacivildefense org Archived from the original on 16 March 2016 Retrieved 18 February 2016 a b c d The rise of Syria s White Helmets The Economist 10 October 2016 Archived from the original on 27 July 2018 Retrieved 11 October 2016 a b Bryan Schatz 10 December 2014 The Most Dangerous Job in the World Syria s Elite Rescue Force Men s Journal Archived from the original on 24 March 2016 Retrieved 23 November 2016 Order of the British Empire Archived 19 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine The London Gazette Official Public Record 11 June 2016 The Queen has been graciously pleased on the occasion of the Celebration of Her Majesty s Birthday to give orders for the following promotions in and appointments to the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire O B E To be Ordinary Officers of the Civil Division of the said Most Excellent Order James Gustaf Edward LE MESURIER Director Mayday Rescue For services to Syria Civil Defence and the protection of civilians in Syria Le Mesurier James Our Work Mayday Rescue Retrieved 30 November 2017 Emily Hough December 2014 Meeting Syria s volunteer rescuers Crisis Response Journal 10 2 Archived from the original on 23 September 2016 Retrieved 22 September 2016 a b Train Urban Search and Rescue Teams Analysis Research and Knowledge Archived from the original on 18 January 2016 Retrieved 22 September 2016 James Le Mesurier Mayday Rescue 26 August 2015 Retrieved 22 September 2016 Our Team Mayday Rescue This is why the White Helmets should win the Nobel Peace Prize 5 October 2016 UK training for Syrian activists to save lives Foreign and Commonwealth Office gov uk 6 September 2013 Retrieved 20 November 2016 Sloane Speakman 13 May 2015 Syria Civil Defence A Framework for Demobilization and Reconstruction in Post Conflict Syria Georgetown Security Studies Review Retrieved 10 October 2016 Jonathan Gornall 29 September 2016 Newsmaker The White Helmets The National Abu Dhabi Retrieved 30 September 2016 Malsin Jared 25 September 2016 How the White Helmets of Syria Are Being Hunted in a Devastated Aleppo Time a b Jared Maslin The White Helmets Of Syria TIME Retrieved 13 May 2017 a b Raf Sanchez Seven members of Syria s White Helmets shot dead by unknown gunmen Archived 26 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine Telegraph 12 August 2017 Les Casques blancs syriens des heros trop discrets 3 October 2014 Retrieved 13 April 2018 Meet Syria s Peacemakers Fighting on the Side of Life Archived 8 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine The Syria Campaign Youtube 13 January 2015 Raed Al Saleh 14 December 2016 As a White Helmet I ask for one thing safe passage for those in Aleppo The Guardian Retrieved 17 December 2016 Michelle Nichols 15 December 2016 Syria s White Helmets accuse Russia of Aleppo war crimes letter Reuters Retrieved 17 December 2016 a b Atwood Kylie 3 May 2018 U S freezes funding for Syria s White Helmets CBS News Retrieved 22 May 2018 a b Koran Laura US funding for Syrian rescue group in question amid funding freeze CNN Staff Our Foreign 4 May 2018 White Helmets rescue group have US funding frozen via www telegraph co uk Syrian White Helmets flee to Jordan with Israeli Western help Reuters 22 July 2018 Mackinnon Mark 24 July 2018 How Canada s woman in Istanbul began the daring rescue of Syria s White Helmets The Globe and Mail Retrieved 3 August 2018 Syria s White Helmets call on UN to save trapped volunteers The Guardian 26 July 2018 Retrieved 3 August 2018 Shaheen Kareem 24 July 2018 Heartbroken White Helmets say they fled Syria fearing Assad reprisals The Guardian Retrieved 3 August 2018 Khadder Kareem 23 July 2018 300 White Helmet rescue workers still trapped in Syria CNN Retrieved 3 August 2018 Syria condemns Israeli evacuation of White Helmets as criminal operation ABC News Australia 23 July 2018 Retrieved 3 August 2018 Kalvapalle Rahul 26 July 2018 Syria s Assad says White Helmets are terrorists will be killed if they don t surrender Global News Retrieved 3 August 2018 Ensor Josie 24 September 2018 Britain grants asylum to 100 White Helmet rescuers and relatives after Syria evacuation Daily Telegraph Retrieved 25 September 2018 Chulov Martin 27 October 2020 How Syria s disinformation wars destroyed the co founder of the White Helmets The Guardian Retrieved 18 August 2021 Civil defence ICRC www icrc org 29 October 2010 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Dagher Sam 1 May 2016 White Helmets Are White Knights for Desperate Syrians The Wall Street Journal Retrieved 20 August 2016 Chappell Bill 30 September 2015 Russia Begins Airstrikes In Syria After Assad s Request National Public Radio Inc Retrieved 30 November 2017 a b Syria USAID 27 May 2016 Retrieved 7 October 2016 a b Mehrnoush Pourziaiee 26 August 2016 White Helmets Omran and fading hope in Syria BBC Persian Retrieved 6 October 2016 Pearson Emma Welsford Katie 20 November 2014 In conversation with Syria s White Helmets Middle East Eye Retrieved 24 November 2016 James Lydia 10 October 2014 The most dangerous job in the world New Internationalist Retrieved 23 November 2016 Member states International Civil Defence Organisation Retrieved 20 November 2016 قوات الدفاع المدني Civil Defense Force Defense Ministry in the Syrian Arab Republic Arab The New Syrian regime responsible for 75 of 2016 civilian casualties alaraby Retrieved 24 January 2017 Syria s First Responders Say They Need a No Fly Zone But No One Listens VICE News VICE News Retrieved 9 May 2018 a b Irish John Enough red lines time to act Syria s White Helmets tell Macron U S Retrieved 9 May 2018 Janine di Giovanni 21 January 2016 Syria s White Helmets Save Civilians Soldiers and Rebels Alike Newsweek Retrieved 22 September 2016 a b c d Review of the monitoring systems of three projects in Syria AJACS White Helmets and NLA PDF Policy and Operations Evaluation Department IOB Report Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs August 2018 Retrieved 12 November 2019 a b c d e We were their only hope De Groene Amsterdammer 12 September 2021 Retrieved 16 December 2021 Ibrahim Arwa 9 March 2017 We will play our part says White Helmet female volunteer Middle East Eye Retrieved 19 February 2019 a b c Zillman Claire 28 April 2017 The World s Most Powerful Women Fortune Retrieved 19 February 2019 Programme Completion Review Summary Sheet Syria Resilience OpenDocument Report Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2018 Retrieved 17 November 2019 Programme Completion Review Syria CSSF Community Support in North Western Syria Programme OpenDocument Foreign and Commonwealth Office 2020 CSSF 06 000024 Retrieved 25 May 2020 Jordan Says Nearly 300 Syrian White Helmets Leave for West Voice of America 17 October 2018 White Helmets resettlement gov uk 24 September 2018 Retrieved 25 May 2020 Farouq Habib Mayday Rescue 23 September 2015 Retrieved 17 December 2016 a b Modification Nobel Peace Prize nominees White Helmets to visit five Canadian cities Government of Canada 6 December 2016 Retrieved 17 December 2016 Today Canada is also announcing a 4 5 million contribution to Mayday Rescue to support the White Helmets life saving work in Syria This contribution funded through the Peace and Stabilization Operations Program Nobel Peace Prize nominated White Helmets to visit five Canadian cities British High Commission Ottawa gov uk 28 November 2016 Retrieved 17 December 2016 a b Our Partners Syria Civil Defence Archived from the original on 16 October 2016 Retrieved 16 October 2016 Richard Spencer 27 September 2015 As the West drops demand for Assad to go meet the group the UK funds to support his victims Daily Telegraph Retrieved 22 September 2016 The Government launches a new stabilisation support package to Iraq and Syria Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark 18 October 2016 Retrieved 23 November 2016 Denmark donates DKK 20 million to Syria s White Helmets reliefweb 5 December 2016 Retrieved 12 December 2016 RFQ 160816 Search and Rescue Equipment zip Word Mayday Rescue 22 August 2016 Retrieved 22 September 2016 Donors Mayday Rescue Retrieved 22 September 2016 Zaken Ministerie van Buitenlandse Dutch support for Syrian rescue workers www government nl Retrieved 18 February 2016 Janene Pieters 22 November 2016 Netherlands to give 4 million to Syria rescue workers NL Times Retrieved 24 November 2016 Sam Sachdeva 26 October 2016 NZ Fire Service to train Syria s White Helmets civil defence volunteers stuff Retrieved 23 November 2016 2010 to 2015 government policy peace and stability in the Middle East and North Africa www gov uk Retrieved 18 February 2016 Mark C Toner 27 April 2016 Daily Press Briefing United States Department of State Retrieved 22 September 2016 we provide through USAID about 23 million in assistance to them Salhani Justin 20 April 2016 U S Denies Entry To Syrian Aid Worker Who Came To Receive Humanitarian Award ThinkProgress Providing non humanitarian assistance in Syria Foreign amp Commonwealth Office 1 December 2015 Retrieved 6 October 2016 Conflict Stability and Security Fund House of Lords Hansard UK Parliament 2 November 2016 Column 720 Retrieved 4 December 2016 McVeigh Karen 10 May 2018 UK may increase aid to Syrian White Helmets after Trump pulls funding The Guardian Retrieved 15 June 2018 They ve saved over 60 000 lives Now they need you and me Retrieved 14 September 2016 Erickson Amanda 1 March 2017 After Oscar win Russian Embassy calls Syria s White Helmets actors not life savers The Washington Post Hall Richard 4 May 2018 Trump freezes funding for White Helmet volunteers as part of larger cut to Syrian aid Public Radio International Retrieved 22 May 2018 Funding for the Syrian Civil Defense and UN International Impartial and Independent Mechanism U S Department of State Retrieved 15 June 2018 Nederland stopt steun aan Syrische oppositie wegens gebrekkig toezicht op hulpprojecten Britse organisatie ontkent kritiek Archived 16 September 2018 at the Wayback Machine Volkskrant 10 September 2018 Reuter Christoph 9 December 2021 Deadly Intrigue The Story of the Destruction of an Aid Organization Der Spiegel ISSN 2195 1349 Retrieved 15 December 2021 Hadjimatheou Chloe 27 February 2021 Mayday How the White Helmets and James Le Mesurier got pulled into a deadly battle for truth BBC News Retrieved 15 June 2023 Google www google com tr Retrieved 18 February 2016 Syrian rescue organization appeals to UN Security Council over barrel bombs The Guardian Associated Press 26 June 2015 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Wintour Patrick Black Ian 4 February 2016 David Cameron calls for billions more in international aid for Syrian refugees The Guardian ISSN 0261 3077 Retrieved 18 February 2016 Netflix to Unveil Four Original Documentaries at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival Netflix Media Center Retrieved 14 September 2016 2017 Winners and Nominees Oscars Retrieved 28 July 2017 Messer Lesley White Helmets filmmakers discuss Raed Saleh and Khaled Khateeb s absences ABCNews Retrieved 28 July 2017 Klapper Bradley Syrian who worked on nominated film can t attend Oscar Associated Press News Retrieved 28 July 2017 Charlie Phillips Unflinching film making Last Men in Aleppo Archived 28 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine Guardian Tuesday 24 January 2017 The Nobel Peace Prize Who will win this year BBC News 6 October 2016 Retrieved 15 December 2016 Here s The Story Of White Helmets Who Are Saving Innocent Civilians In War Torn Syria indiatimes com Retrieved 2 January 2017 Shapiro Ari 26 April 2017 Female Syrian White Helmets Honoree Had No Hesitation To Join NPR Female White Helmets from Syria and Afghan footballer receive Theirworld awards Archived 2 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine Theirworld 7 March 2017 Khaled Omar Harrah The First Responder Politico Magazin wahlt Petry und Erdogan zu den Denkern und Machern 2017 Rheinische Post in German 7 December 2016 Tahhan Zena 19 August 2016 White Helmet We called Khaled the child rescuer Al Jazeera Retrieved 9 September 2016 a b Carey Matthew 13 November 2017 Last Men in Aleppo Director Firas Fayyad Russian Disinformation Campaign Distorts Image Of Syrian White Helmets Deadline Civil defense volunteer bursts into tears after rescuing a baby girl in Idlib Orient News 30 September 2016 Retrieved 27 October 2016 Presenter Kate Silverton Interviewed Guest Moaz Al Shami 25 August 2017 Abu Kifah Sir Bruce Forsyth Brian Aldiss Blanche Blackwell Jerry Lewis Last Word 1 10 minutes in BBC BBC Radio 4 Retrieved 27 August 2017 High praise for Syria s White Helmets but who are they France 24 16 September 2016 Retrieved 15 October 2016 Ellis Emma Grey 30 April 2017 Inside the conspiracy theory that turned Syria s first responders into terrorists Wired com Hilsman Patrick 19 December 2016 Russia and the Syrian Regime are Documenting Their Own Crimes Pulsemedia Retrieved 24 January 2017 Assad s allies in the West in Arabic alaraby co uk Retrieved 24 January 2017 Czuperski Maksymilian February 2017 Breaking Aleppo PDF Atlantic Council pp 56 60 ISBN 978 1 61977 449 0 Retrieved 24 July 2018 a href Template Cite book html title Template Cite book cite book a website ignored help Coleman Alistair 4 February 2020 Analysis Russia returns to White Helmets chemical attack narrative BBC Monitoring Retrieved 25 May 2020 There s No Such Thing as a Good Fake When Publicity Stunts Go Wrong bellingcat bellingcat 30 November 2016 Retrieved 24 January 2017 Culliford Elizabeth 16 November 2021 Facebook says hackers in Pakistan targeted Afghan users amid government collapse Reuters Retrieved 3 May 2022 Qiu Linda 10 April 2017 Syria Conspiracy Theories Flourish at Both Ends of the Spectrum The New York Times Wilson Tom Starbird Kate January 2020 Cross Platform Disinformation Campaigns Lessons Learned and Next Steps PDF The Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review 1 1 Retrieved 2 December 2020 van Wilgenburg Wladimir 14 June 2019 Kurds say White Helmets not welcome to help fight fires in northeast Syria Kurdistan 24 Retrieved 31 August 2019 White Helmets backlash after Mannequin Challenge video BBC News 24 November 2016 Mackintosh Eliza 24 November 2016 Syria s White Helmets apologize for Mannequin Challenge video CNN O Connor Tom 22 June 2017 Renown White Helmets fire member for dumping dead soldiers in Syria Newsweek Kennedy Dominic 5 June 2018 White Helmets left Omran Daqneesh in pain to harm Assad claims Rev Andrew Ashdown The Times Retrieved 11 April 2019 a b Kennedy Dominic 27 October 2018 Syria trips by clergy and peers undermine UK The Times Retrieved 28 March 2019 The crazy club Inside the British propaganda trips that seek to legitimise Assad s barbarism The National 24 April 2018 Retrieved 28 March 2019 Hayden Sally 5 April 2018 Fake News Tourism in Syria Westerners Search for Truth But Are They Assad s Pawns Newsweek Retrieved 28 March 2019 Further readingHadjimatheou Chloe 27 February 2021 Mayday How the White Helmets and James Le Mesurier got pulled into a deadly battle for truth BBC News Why no one could save the man who co founded the White Helmets Podcast amp text BBC Radio Intrigue 6 November 2020 External linksSyria Civil Defense The White Helmets fundraising website Mayday Rescue registered foundation in the Netherlands Interim Articles of Association Syria Civil Defence Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title White Helmets Syrian civil war amp oldid 1185070761, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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