Vanessa Beeley

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Vanessa Beeley (born 1963/1964[1]) is a British activist and blogger[2][3][4] known for sharing conspiracy theories[5] and disinformation[2][6] about the Syrian civil war and about the Syrian volunteer organisation the White Helmets.[3][5][7][6][8]

Early life and career[]

Beeley is the daughter of former British diplomat Harold Beeley.[9][10][11] Initially, she worked as a consultant to a waste management company in the Middle East.[2][12]

Activism[]

Beeley has said she travelled to Palestine where she lived through Israeli bombardments.[13] In 2014, she started her blog titled The Wall Will Fall in which she supported the Palestinian cause.[14]

Since 2015, Beeley has focused her activism on the Syrian civil war. She first visited Syria in July 2016.[9] That year, she met Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus as part of a US Peace Council delegation, describing it as her "proudest moment".[1][2][9] According to Bellingcat, Beeley was on the steering committee for the Syria Solidarity Movement.[15] After visiting Syria, Beeley went to Moscow to meet Russia's deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov and director of information and press Maria Zakharova.[2] An article by Janine di Giovanni in The New York Review of Books described Bogdanov as "Putin's point man on Syria".[2]

Beeley has frequently appeared on the Russian government-owned networks RT and Sputnik commenting on the Syrian war.[4][6][2]

In 2019, two of Beeley's planned talks at universities in Canada, organised by the Hamilton, Ontario chapter of the Stop the War Coalition, were cancelled after a backlash.[6]

Journalism[]

Beeley has been an associate editor of the conspiracy website .[3][9][16][11]

In 2019, she received the "Serena Shim Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism" from the Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees, which Bellingcat describes as a "pro-Assad lobby group".[15]

Beeley has claimed to have been a finalist for the Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism,[17] however, according to James Fox, a member of the prize committee, there are no finalists for the Gellhorn Prize, and only winners or special commendations are published.[17]

Views[]

Some of Beeley's controversial views include a belief that the human rights NGO Human Rights Watch is a "fake" group,[1] that the Charlie Hebdo shooting in Paris was a false flag operation, and that al-Qaeda was not responsible for the September 11 attacks.[1][6][8]

Syria[]

Beeley is a member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media which has attracted criticism for disputing the veracity of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War.[18][19]

In February 2018, Beeley encouraged her readers to report a list of news outlets and journalists – including the BBC, Channel 4 News and The Guardian – for allegedly violating the UK Terrorism Act.[20] The journalists and media outlets listed by Beeley had all been critical of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.[20]

In leaked private chats, Beeley admitted knowing that the Syrian government engages in torture, but said that she would never publicly state so.[2]

White Helmets[]

See also: White Helmets (Syrian Civil War)

Beeley has accused the White Helmets, a Syrian humanitarian organisation that operates in parts of opposition-controlled Syria and in Turkey, of being a fraudulent terrorist organisation that engages in organ harvesting, and that its volunteers are a legitimate military target.[9][21][2][6][11][22] In 2017, referencing Beeley's false claims, the Russian government submitted a report to the United Nations Security Council that linked the White Helmets to al-Qaeda.[2] Eight countries on the Security Council rejected Russia's submission, saying that the White Helmets are an "impartial, neutral group".[2]

Middle East experts have dismissed Beeley's allegations that the White Helmets are linked to al-Qaeda and that the group engages in organ harvesting.[21][23] Fact-checking website Snopes gave a rating of "false" for Beeley's claim that the White Helmets were linked to terrorists.[24]

According to data analyst organisations Graphika and Hoaxy, in 2018 Beeley was among the most influential figures in spreading content online about the White Helmets.[9][10]

Syrian chemical weapons[]

See also: Use of chemical weapons in the Syrian civil war

Beeley is a member of the Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media which alleges that the 2018 Douma chemical attack was staged by the White Helmets.[21][25] She has claimed that the Syrian government has not carried out chemical weapon attacks.[10] Experts from the OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism have stated that the Syrian Air Force was responsible for the 2017 Khan Shaykhun chemical attack.[7] Beeley has claimed that the attack has been "debunked".[7]

Accusations against MP Jo Cox[]

In 2017, Beeley called the deceased British MP Jo Cox – who had been murdered the previous year – an "al Qaeda advocate"[1] and "warmongering Blairite".[26]

COVID-19[]

Beeley has shared conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. She has alleged that Microsoft founder Bill Gates has ties to Imperial College London and that the UK government is working for Gates.[27]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e Bachner, Michael (August 22, 2018) "UK Labour MP slammed for praising anti-Semitic pro-Assad conspiracist". The Times of Israel.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Giovanni, Janine di (16 October 2018). "Why Assad and Russia Target the White Helmets". The New York Review of Books. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  3. ^ a b c "Assad Supporters Plan to Put the 'Media on Trial' for Doing Journalism in Syria". Snopes.com (in American English). Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  4. ^ a b Wilson, Tom; Starbird, Kate (14 January 2020). "Cross-platform disinformation campaigns: lessons learned and next steps". Harvard Kennedy School Misinformation Review (in American English). 1 (1). doi:10.37016/mr-2020-002.
  5. ^ a b "White Helmets 'staging fake attacks' in Syria? We sort fact from fiction". The France 24 Observers. 14 May 2018. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  6. ^ a b c d e f York, Chris (7 December 2019). "'Conspiracy Theorist' Vanessa Beeley Faces Backlash As Universities Cancel Her 'Journalism' Talks". uk.news.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
  7. ^ a b c "The online activists pushing Syria conspiracy theories". BBC News (in British English). 19 April 2018. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  8. ^ a b "The 'crazy club': Inside the British propaganda trips that seek to legitimise Assad's barbarism". The National. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  9. ^ a b c d e f Solon, Olivia (18 December 2017). "How Syria's White Helmets became victims of an online propaganda machine". The Guardian (in British English). ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  10. ^ a b c Keate, Georgie; Blanchard, Sam (14 April 2018). "To say Douma attack was staged is to enter an Orwellian world". The Times. Retrieved 24 November 2020.
  11. ^ a b c Webster, Ben (16 April 2018). "Academics accused of speaking for Assad condemn Syria raids" The Times.
  12. ^ Weiss, Michael (20 April 2021). "Syria Chemical-Attack Deniers Admit Links to WikiLeaks and Russia". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  13. ^ "Britisk journalist svarer Khader igen: "Jeg er hverken støttet af Assad eller Putin"". jyllands-posten.dk (in Danish). 2 January 2017. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  14. ^ "About". The Wall Will Fall. 12 September 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2020.
  15. ^ a b Davis, Charles (30 September 2019). "Pro-Assad Lobby Group Rewards Bloggers On Both The Left And The Right". Bellingcat.
  16. ^ Berlatsky, Noah. "Dear Leftists: Going on Tucker Carlson Is Not Going to Stop Imperialism". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 15 March 2020.
  17. ^ a b Hadjimatheou, Chloe (February 27, 2021). "Mayday: How the White Helmets and James Le Mesurier got pulled into a deadly battle for truth". BBC News.
  18. ^ "Mysterious death of White Helmets co-founder spotlights toxic propaganda". PBS NewsHour. 24 December 2019. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Syria: on academic freedom and responsibility". openDemocracy. Retrieved 22 February 2021.
  20. ^ a b Mackey, Robert (21 February 2020). "Homeland Security Algorithm Revokes U.S. Visa of War Crimes Investigator Eyal Weizman" The Intercept.
  21. ^ a b c "Mysterious death of White Helmets co-founder spotlights toxic propaganda". PBS NewsHour (in American English). 24 December 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2020.
  22. ^ Kennedy, Dominic (28 April 2018). "Guests rebelled at Syria trip 'lunacy'" The Times.
  23. ^ 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 19 July 2021.
  24. ^ Palma, Bethania (December 15, 2016). "Are the Syrian 'White Helmets' Rescue Organization Terrorists?" Snopes.
  25. ^ Hadjimatheou, Chloe (26 March 2021). "The UK professor and the fake Russian agent". BBC News. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  26. ^ "Labour MP Chris Williamson's 'democracy roadshow' criticised". BBC News. 21 August 2018.
  27. ^ Kennedy, Dominic (10 April 2020). "British academics sharing coronavirus conspiracy theories online - News". The Times. Retrieved 19 July 2021.

External links[]

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