Back الخوذ البيضاء Arabic Белыя каскі Byelorussian Бели каски Bulgarian Bílé přilby (občanská válka v Sýrii) Czech Syrischer Zivilschutz (Weißhelme) German Siria Civila Defendo Esperanto Defensa Civil Siria Spanish کلاهسفیدها (جنگ داخلی سوریه) Persian Syyrian siviilipuolustus Finnish Casques blancs (Syrie) French
الدفاع المدني السوري | |
&sq=Sri Lanka&lang=en&file=File:Logo_White_Helmets_(Syrian_civil_war).png) | |
| Abbreviation | SCD |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2014 |
| Founder | James Le Mesurier[1][2][3] |
| Purpose | Civil defense |
Region served | Syrian opposition-controlled areas |
Head | Raed Saleh, Abdulrahman Almawwas |
| Volunteers | 3,000 (with monthly stipend) |
| Website | syriacivildefence |
The White Helmets (Arabic: الخوذ البيضاء ,القبعات البيضاء, romanized: al-Ḫawdh al-bayḍāʾ / al-Qubaʿāt al-Bayḍāʾ), officially known as Syrian Civil Defence[4] (SCD; Arabic: الدفاع المدني السوري, romanized: ad-Difāʿ al-Madanī as-Sūrī), is a volunteer organisation that operated in Turkey and in the then-opposition-controlled parts of Syria before the fall of the Assad regime. Formed in 2014 during the Syrian Civil War, the majority of the volunteers' activity in Syria consisted 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 had asserted their impartiality in the Syrian conflict.[5]
The organisation had 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 promoted false accusations connecting it with terrorist activities, among other conspiracy theories.[a]
In the aftermath of the Assad regime's collapse, the White Helmets played a pivotal role in the Sednaya Prison search-and-rescue efforts following its liberation by rebel forces.[16]
- ^ Jan, Maria (21 August 2015). "Q&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.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Merlanwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:3was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Giovanni 2018was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
Solonwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ 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.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
conversationwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Al Jazeera Staff. "Syria's White Helmets director says Sednaya Prison was 'hell' for detainees". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 12 December 2024.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).