It
is no coincidence that some of the world’s most ardent imperialists
are behind the cynical exploitation of one heinous murder — of
British MP Jo Cox — to enable global mass-murder as well as human
trafficking under the pretext of “ethical” and “humanitarian”
intervention.
by
Vanessa Beeley and Whitney Webb
Part
3 - Jo Cox and the White Helmets
Beyond
her public calls for intervention, Cox also founded and co-chaired
the all-party parliamentary group (APPG) “Friends of Syria” from
2015 until her death a year later. She was again partnered in this
endeavor by Andrew Mitchell, who was also co-chair of the APPG.
During
that time, Cox hosted several events on behalf of the group, many of
them promoting pro-regime-change speakers from groups like the
European Council on Foreign Relations and the National Coalition for
Syrian Revolution and Opposition Forces. More recent events hosted by
the group have included speakers from the U.S. think-tank Atlantic
Council, largely funded by U.S. weapons manufacturers; and the
filmmakers of the second Oscar-nominated White Helmets documentary,
Last Men in Aleppo, a revisionist project that attempted to
erase from public consciousness the existence of Nusra Front and over
50 other extremist groups that occupied East Aleppo for almost five
years.
In
promoting the White Helmets, the “Friends of Syria” group was
following Cox’s lead, as Cox herself was a vocal supporter of the
group and was instrumental in getting the group nominated for the
Nobel Peace Prize in 2016. Indeed, a few months before her death, Cox
had written a “heartfelt” letter to the Nobel Prize committee,
asserting that “in the most dangerous place on earth these
unarmed volunteers [of the White Helmets] risk their lives to help
anyone in need regardless of religion or politics.”
Cox’s
promotion of the White Helmets to win the Nobel Peace Prize gained
the support of several notable celebrities – George Clooney and
Daniel Craig, among others – as well as 20 other British MPs. The
group was eventually nominated for the prize as a result, but failed
to muster enough support to win the award, which instead went to
Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for the FARC peace deal.
Thus, the inclusion of the White Helmets as beneficiaries of the Jo Cox Fund is certainly in keeping with the Syria policy and narratives that Cox had promoted during her time as a public figure. However, what stands out is not only the extent to which the Jo Cox Fund has been posthumously exploited to continue funding the White Helmets. What is perhaps more striking is the history of the fund’s originators and their deep connections to some of the world’s most powerful individuals and influential “philanthropic” organizations.
Thus, the inclusion of the White Helmets as beneficiaries of the Jo Cox Fund is certainly in keeping with the Syria policy and narratives that Cox had promoted during her time as a public figure. However, what stands out is not only the extent to which the Jo Cox Fund has been posthumously exploited to continue funding the White Helmets. What is perhaps more striking is the history of the fund’s originators and their deep connections to some of the world’s most powerful individuals and influential “philanthropic” organizations.
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