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 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. The Université de Montréal said the room booked for the event was too small and it was concerned that the "event would not go off peacefully".[6]
Journalism
Beeley has been an associate editor of the conspiracy website 21st Century Wire.[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, 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
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
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 asked "Is UK government working for Bill Gates?".[27]
See also
References
External links
