The Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations was founded in France in 2012. Organisations that form the coalition are from the US, Canada, UK, France, Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland and Turkey. So no member organisations from Syria, or anywhere else in the Middle East. Yet the Guardian has seen fit to quote them and uncritically run a major piece off what they are saying in the aftermath of Douma.
There’s a lot to unpack. Far too much for me in the time I have between coffees and starting my day.
Maybe someone should have pointed the Guardian to pieces by Robert Fisk and others who have been to Douma and who have spoken to doctors from Douma. The UMCRO assures the Guardian that doctors from Douma (their “colleagues” apparently – as though they work right beside them) are being threatened by the Syrian government should they “speak out” about what happened in Douma. The thing is, when Robert Fisk and others spoke to doctors, none said they were fearful for their safety or lives, and none said that a chemical attack had taken place.
Here’s the Guardian.
The head of the largest medical relief agency in Syria claims that medics who responded to the suspected gas attack in Douma have been subjected to “extreme intimidation” by Syrian officials who seized biological samples, forced them to abandon patients and demanded their silence.
Dr Ghanem Tayara, the director of the Union of Medical Care and Relief Organisations (UOSSM) said doctors responsible for treating patients in the hours after the 7 April attack have been told that their families will be at risk if they offer public testimonies about what took place.
A number of doctors who spoke to the Guardian this week say the intimidation from the regime has increased in the past five days, a timeframe that coincides with the arrival in Damascus of a team from the Organisation for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which aims to determine whether chemical weapons were used. All the medics insisted on anonymity, citing the fear for their lives and those of their families.
And “the number of doctors who spoke to the Guardian this week” (and who insist on anonymity)…well, the doctors who spoke to Fisk and others weren’t bothered about their names being known. And the residents of Douma who reporters approached weren’t fearful of speaking either. So, I’ll state the obvious. The doctors who spoke to the Guardian are either members of UMCRO or ‘First Responders” – ie, White Helmets. And those same doctors from UMCRO who have been speaking to the Guardian, well let’s just say it’s remiss for the Guardian to allow them to suggest they are “colleagues” of doctors from Douma as though they work at their sides day after day. They are no more “colleagues” than say a lawyer might say that all lawyers were his or her colleagues.
Y’know, at least back in the day of the USSR, everyone knew that PRAVDA was a crock of shit. Everyone knew that to get a sense of what was actually happening, it was necessary to read between the lines, read carefully, or pay attention to what was not being reported. It’s much less straightforward dealing with western corporate/liberal media. There is an illusion of plurality dancing around grey, lock-step uniformity. Case in point. Do you think any mainstream liberal/corporate outlet will take the two minutes to rip apart the piece of nonsense the Guardian is pushing? Of course not! But another outlet would have eviscerated the piece if it wasn’t true or accurate, or if it was seriously misleading, right? Because that’s what happens in a pluralistic environment when we’re talking about serious news pieces. And so the fact that isn’t happening, must mean the piece is accurate enough, truthful enough and sign-posting the right stuff.
Welcome to this world we’ve made.
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