Vanessa Beeley (born 1963/1964Bachner, Michael (August 22, 2018
"UK Labour MP slammed for praising anti-Semitic pro-Assad conspiracist"
. ''

The Times of Israel ''The Times of Israel'' is an Israeli multi-language online newspaper that was launched in 2012. It was co-founded by Israeli journalist David Horovitz, who is also the founding editor, and American billionaire investor Seth Klarman.

''.) is a British activist and blogger known for sharing

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

and disinformation about the Syrian civil war and about the Syrian volunteer organisation the

White Helmets White Helmets may refer to: * White Helmets Commission, a body of the Argentine Ministry of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship * White Helmets (Syrian Civil War), a volunteer organization in Syria and Turkey ** ''The White Helmets'' ...

Early life and career

Beeley is the daughter of former British diplomat

Harold Beeley Sir Harold Beeley (15 February 1909 – 27 July 2001) was a British diplomat, historian, and Arabist. After beginning his career as a historian and lecturer, following World War II, Beeley joined the British diplomatic service and served in pos ...

.Webster, Ben (16 April 2018)
"Academics accused of speaking for Assad condemn Syria raids"
''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper ''The Sunday Times'' (fou ...

''. Initially, she worked as a consultant to a

waste management Waste management or waste disposal includes the processes and actions required to manage waste from its inception to its final disposal. This includes the collection, transport, treatment and disposal of waste, together with monitoring ...

company in the Middle East.

Activism

Beeley has travelled to Palestine where she lived through Israeli bombardments. In 2014, she started her blog titled ''The Wall Will Fall'' in which she supported the Palestinian cause. Since 2015, Beeley has focused her activism on the Syrian civil war. She first visited Syria in July 2016. That year, she met

Syrian President The president of Syria, officially the president of the Syrian Arab Republic (Arabic: رئيس سوريا) is the head of state of the Syria, Syrian Arab Republic. They are vested with sweeping powers that may be delegated, at their sole discreti ...

Bashar al-Assad Bashar Hafez al-Assad, ', Levantine pronunciation: ; (, born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician who is the 19th president of Syria, since 17 July 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the ...

Damascus )), is an adjective which means "spacious". , motto = , image_flag = Flag of Damascus.svg , image_seal = Emblem of Damascus.svg , seal_type = Seal , map_caption = , ...

as part of a

US Peace Council The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

delegation, describing it as her "proudest moment". According to

Bellingcat Bellingcat (stylised as bellngcat) is a Netherlands-based investigative journalism group that specialises in fact-checking and open-source intelligence (OSINT). It was founded by British journalist and former blogger Eliot Higgins in July 2014 ...

, Beeley was on the steering committee for the Syria Solidarity Movement.Davis, Charles (30 September 2019)
"Pro-Assad Lobby Group Rewards Bloggers On Both The Left And The Right"
. Bellingcat. After visiting Syria, Beeley went to

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

to meet Russia's deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov and director of information and press

Maria Zakharova Maria Vladimirovna Zakharova (russian: Мария Владимировна Захарова; born 24 December 1975) is the Director of the Information and Press Department of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation (Spokesw ...

. An article by

Janine di Giovanni Janine di Giovanni is an author, journalist, and war correspondent currently serving as the Executive Director of The Reckoning Project. She is a senior fellow at Yale University's Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, a non-resident Fellow at ...

in ''

The New York Review of Books ''The New York Review of Books'' (or ''NYREV'' or ''NYRB'') is a semi-monthly magazine with articles on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Published in New York City, it is inspired by the idea that the discussion of i ...

'' described Bogdanov as "

Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...

's point man on Syria". Beeley has frequently appeared on the Russian government-owned networks RT and

Sputnik Sputnik 1 (; see § Etymology) was the first artificial Earth satellite. It was launched into an elliptical low Earth orbit by the Soviet Union on 4 October 1957 as part of the Soviet space program. It sent a radio signal back to Earth for t ...

commenting on the Syrian war. In 2019, two of Beeley's planned talks at universities in Canada, organised by the

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

chapter of the

Stop the War Coalition The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars. The Coalition has c ...

, were cancelled after a backlash. The

Université de Montréal The Université de Montréal (UdeM; ; translates to University of Montreal) is a French-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The university's main campus is located in the Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood of Côte-de ...

said the room booked for the event was too small and it was concerned that the "event would not go off peacefully".

Journalism

Beeley has been an associate editor of the conspiracy website ''21st Century Wire''. In 2019, she received the "

Serena Shim Serena Shim ( ar, سيرينا علي سحيم, ''Serena Ali Suhaim''; 10 October 1985 – 19 October 2014) was a Lebanese-American journalist for Press TV.

Award for Uncompromised Integrity in Journalism" from the

Association for Investment in Popular Action Committees Paul Larudee (born April 25, 1946) is an Iranian-born American political activist who is a major figure in the pro-State of Palestine, Palestinian movement. Based in the San Francisco Bay area, he is involved with the International Solidarity Mo ...

, which

describes as a "pro-Assad lobby group". Beeley has claimed to have been a finalist for the

Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, named for the war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn, was established in 1999 by the Martha Gellhorn Trust. The Trust is a UK-registered charity. The award is founded on the following principles: The award ...

, 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.Hadjimatheou, Chloe (February 27, 2021)
"Mayday: How the White Helmets and James Le Mesurier got pulled into a deadly battle for truth"
. BBC News.

Views

Some of Beeley's controversial views include a belief that the human rights NGO

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human r ...

is a "fake" group, that the ''Charlie Hebdo'' shooting in Paris was a

false flag A false flag operation is an act committed with the intent of disguising the actual source of responsibility and pinning blame on another party. The term "false flag" originated in the 16th century as an expression meaning an intentional misr ...

operation, and that

al-Qaeda Al-Qaeda (; , ) is an Islamic extremism, Islamic extremist organization composed of Salafist jihadists. Its members are mostly composed of Arab, Arabs, but also include other peoples. Al-Qaeda has mounted attacks on civilian and military ta ...

was not responsible for the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

Syria

Beeley is a member of the

Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media The Working Group on Syria, Propaganda and Media (SPM) is a group of academics and activists whose stated purpose is to study propaganda and information operations surrounding the Syrian civil war. It was formed by environmental political theor ...

which has attracted criticism for disputing the veracity of the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War. In February 2018, Beeley encouraged her readers to report a list of news outlets and journalists – including the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, ''

Channel 4 News ''Channel 4 News'' is the main news programme on British television broadcaster Channel 4. It is produced by ITN, and has been in operation since Channel 4's launch in November 1982. Current productions ''Channel 4 News'' ''Channel 4 News'' ...

'' and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' – for allegedly violating the UK Terrorism Act.Mackey, Robert (21 February 2020)
"Homeland Security Algorithm Revokes U.S. Visa of War Crimes Investigator Eyal Weizman"
''The Intercept''. The journalists and media outlets listed by Beeley had all been critical of Syrian president

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

White Helmets

Beeley has accused the

, a Syrian humanitarian organisation that operates in parts of opposition-controlled

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

and in

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, of being a fraudulent terrorist organisation that engages in

organ harvesting Organ procurement (also called organ harvesting) is a surgical procedure that removes organs or tissues for reuse, typically for organ transplantation. Procedures If the organ donor is human, most countries require that the donor be legally de ...

, and that its volunteers are a legitimate military target.Kennedy, Dominic (28 April 2018)
"Guests rebelled at Syria trip 'lunacy'"
''The Times''. In 2017, referencing Beeley's false claims, the Russian government submitted a report to the

United Nations Security Council The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) is one of the Organs of the United Nations, six principal organs of the United Nations (UN) and is charged with ensuring international security, international peace and security, recommending the admi ...

that linked the White Helmets to

. Eight countries on the Security Council rejected Russia's submission, saying that the White Helmets are an "impartial, neutral group". Middle East experts have dismissed Beeley's allegations that the White Helmets are linked to al-Qaeda and that the group engages in

Fact-checking Fact-checking is the process of verifying factual information, in order to promote the veracity and correctness of reporting. Fact-checking can be conducted before (''ante hoc'') or after (''post hoc'') the text is published or otherwise dissem ...

website

Snopes ''Snopes'' , formerly known as the ''Urban Legends Reference Pages'', is a Fact checking, fact-checking website. It has been described as a "well-regarded reference for sorting out myths and rumors" on the Internet. The site has also been see ...

gave a rating of "false" for Beeley's claim that the White Helmets were linked to terrorists.Palma, Bethania (December 15, 2016)
"Are the Syrian 'White Helmets' Rescue Organization Terrorists?"
Snopes. 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.

Syrian chemical weapons

Beeley is a member of the

which alleges that the 2018

Douma chemical attack On 7 April 2018, a chemical warfare attack was carried out by forces of the government of Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian city of Douma. Medics and witnesses reported that it caused the deaths of between 40 and 50 people and injuries to possi ...

was staged by the White Helmets. She has claimed that the Syrian government has not carried out chemical weapon attacks. Experts from the

OPCW-UN Joint Investigative Mechanism The United Nations Security Council adopted United Nations Security Council resolution 2235 (2015) on 7 August 2015, in response to use of chemical weapons in the Syrian Civil War. The resolution condemned "any use of any toxic chemical, such as ch ...

have stated that the

Syrian Air Force ) , mascot = , anniversaries = 16 October , equipment = , equipment_label = , battles = * 1948 Arab-Israeli War * Six-Day War * Yom Kippur War ...

was responsible for the 2017

Khan Shaykhun chemical attack The Khan Shaykhun chemical attack took place on 4 April 2017 on the town of Khan Shaykhun in the Idlib Governorate of Syria. The town was reported to have been struck by an airstrike by government forces followed by massive civilian chemical ...

. Beeley has claimed that the attack has been "debunked".

Accusations against MP Jo Cox

In 2017, Beeley called the deceased British MP

Jo Cox Helen Joanne Cox ( Leadbeater; 22 June 1974 – 16 June 2016) was a British politician who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Batley and Spen from May 2015 until her murder in June 2016. She was a member of the Labour Party. Born in B ...

– who had been murdered the previous year – an "al Qaeda advocate" and "warmongering Blairite"."Labour MP Chris Williamson's 'democracy roadshow' criticised"
. BBC News. 21 August 2018.

COVID-19

Beeley has shared

about the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. She has alleged that Microsoft founder

Bill Gates William Henry Gates III (born October 28, 1955) is an American business magnate and philanthropist. He is a co-founder of Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen. During his career at Microsoft, Gates held the positions ...

has ties to

Imperial College London Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

and asked "Is UK government working for Bill Gates?".

References

External links

Homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Beeley, Vanessa 1960s births Year of birth missing (living people) Living people British anti-Zionists 9/11 conspiracy theorists COVID-19 conspiracy theorists British conspiracy theorists British women bloggers Activists for Palestinian solidarity Writers on the Middle East People of the Syrian civil war British expatriates in France British expatriates in Syria