Documentary on Syrian White Helmets Wins Oscar Amid Allegations of Connections to Terrorists
BY: Nisreen Eadeh/Staff Writer
The White Helmets, a documentary film featuring Syria’s famed rescue team won the Oscar for Best Documentary Short Feature last night amid allegations of having ties with terrorist organizations.
The Oscar, which was presented by Arab American actress Salma Hayek, is the first win for film director Orlando von Einsiedel. Backstage, after accepting his award, Von Esinsiedel said the Netflix documentary film is about “shining a very bright light on the heroes of our film, the White Helmets, Syrian rescue workers. We [hope to] continue to magnify their voices.”
The 40-minute documentary focuses on volunteer, unarmed first responders in war-torn Syria, who rescue civilians after attacks. According to the filmmakers, the White Helmets themselves provided the footage for the film, making it a raw experience for many viewers.
In the days ahead of the highly politicized Oscars ceremony, The White Helmets cinematographer, Khaled Khateeb, was denied entry to the U.S. after the Department of Homeland Security found “derogatory information,” according to The Associated Press. “Derogatory information is a broad category that can include anything from terror connections to passport irregularities,” Bradley Klapper reported.
Khateeb, 21, was scheduled to fly into the U.S. from Istanbul on February 25 after being issued a valid visa. At the last minute, the Syrian cinematographer was told he needed a passport waiver from the U.S. The AP reported that the Trump administration would not provide the necessary passport waiver for Khateeb.
No further information has been provided, but many are choosing to refer to the “derogatory information” as “terrorist connections.” Media sources, such as AlterNet and Russian Television are reporting that the White Helmets mostly operate in “Syria’s rebel and Islamist territories”. The sources argue that since the White Helmets are backed financially by Western governments and organizations, and that their website calls for a no-fly zone to “stop the bombs” in Syria, the rescue team is not impartial.
This misunderstanding comes from White Helmets spokesperson Raed Saleh, who has met with U.S., EU, and UN officials on multiple occasions to call for a no-fly zone. In the past, Western-imposed no-fly zones or “safe zones” have forced regime changes. If imposed, some reporters predict that the no-fly zone in Syria would force out the Assad government and make room for an extremist or rebel-controlled government.
While it is very possible that the White Helmets do indeed have an anti-Assad agenda, it is also just as likely that they simply want bombing from all sides of the Syrian conflict to stop killing so many civilians. When did calling for an end to violence become such a political act?
Since the start of the war in 2011, the UN predicts that around 470,000 Syrians have been killed, while another 4.8 million Syrians have fled to neighboring countries or Europe to escape potential death.
Any Syrian can be accused of having ties to the West, Russia, rebels, ISIL, the Assad government, refugees, or any other group involved in the conflict. The once great nation that was home to famous doctors, scientists, artists, and philosophers has been overrun by a nuanced proxy war making it impossible to find an unbiased voice of peace and innocence.
The White Helmets could have been that voice, but the film has fallen to the politicized rhetoric of international reporters looking for a bias wherever they can.