Difference between revisions of "Dr Rola"

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[[File:Dr Rola.png|350px|thumb|Dr Rola - BBC Newsnight, 30 August 2013]]
 
[[File:Dr Rola.png|350px|thumb|Dr Rola - BBC Newsnight, 30 August 2013]]
"Dr. Rola" appeared anonymously on UK television to report on the aftermath of an attack in Syria.
+
"Dr. Rola" appeared anonymously on UK television to report on the aftermath of an attack in Syria. Her testimony was just as compelling and emotional as the lies of '[[Nurse Nayirah]]' to the US congress in the run up to the [[Iraq War]].
  
 
==Full Name==
 
==Full Name==
Line 13: Line 13:
  
 
=== Dr Rola Alkurdi FRCA===
 
=== Dr Rola Alkurdi FRCA===
Dr Rola Alkurdi is referenced on the UCL staff page as "Education Fellow + Registrar in Anaesthesia"<ref>[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anaesthesia/people/Alkurdi UCL Staff page]</ref>, and is a coauthor of ''[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rapid-Paediatrics-Child-Health-Brough/dp/1405116420 Rapid Paediatrics and Child Health]''. This is probably her maiden name.
+
Dr Rola Alkurdi is referenced on the UCL staff page as "Education Fellow + Registrar in Anaesthesia"<ref>[http://www.ucl.ac.uk/anaesthesia/people/Alkurdi UCL Staff page]</ref>, and is a coauthor of ''[http://www.amazon.co.uk/Rapid-Paediatrics-Child-Health-Brough/dp/1405116420 Rapid Paediatrics and Child Health]''. She was one of 725 doctors who signed a 2009 open letter demanding the dismissal of newly-appointed WMA president, Dr Yoram Blachar, because of Israeli doctors' complicity in the torture of Palestinians.<ref>[http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/torture-row-doctors-stick-knife Torture-row doctors stick the knife in]</ref>. This is probably her maiden name.
  
==Appearances==
+
==BBC TV Appearances==
===BBC Panorama Footage 26 August 2013===
+
===Panorama - 26 August 2013===
 
BBC Panorama footage of the aftermath of alleged Aleppo 'Napalm' attack was shown on Monday 26 August 2013. It included video described as 'unverified' but shown nonetheless. In it Ian Pannell, the BBC on-the-spot reporter, described how two ''British'' doctors present were working as volunteers for the charity [[Hand in Hand for Syria]]. One of them, 'Dr Rola', was interviewed in the aftermath of the alleged attack. In a related Daily Telegraph article she was described as an 'English Doctor working at a London Hospital' and volunteering for relief work in Syria through '[[Hand in Hand for Syria]]' <ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10276910/Syria-BBC-Panorama-films-napalm-attack-on-school.html Syria: BBC Panorama films 'napalm' attack on school] - Telegraph Friday 30 August 2013</ref>.  
 
BBC Panorama footage of the aftermath of alleged Aleppo 'Napalm' attack was shown on Monday 26 August 2013. It included video described as 'unverified' but shown nonetheless. In it Ian Pannell, the BBC on-the-spot reporter, described how two ''British'' doctors present were working as volunteers for the charity [[Hand in Hand for Syria]]. One of them, 'Dr Rola', was interviewed in the aftermath of the alleged attack. In a related Daily Telegraph article she was described as an 'English Doctor working at a London Hospital' and volunteering for relief work in Syria through '[[Hand in Hand for Syria]]' <ref>[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10276910/Syria-BBC-Panorama-films-napalm-attack-on-school.html Syria: BBC Panorama films 'napalm' attack on school] - Telegraph Friday 30 August 2013</ref>.  
  
===BBC Newsnight on 30 August 2013===
+
===Newsnight - 30 August 2013===
 
Introduced to BBC ''Newsnight'' viewers as ''"A British Doctor just back from volunteering in Syria who wants to be called 'Dr Rola'"'' an attractive thirty-something lady described her experience of an alleged napalm attack in Aleppo, Syria as ''"...one of the most horrific few hours of my life"''. Speaking in an educated English - with just a trace of East Midlands - accent, she gave a bravura, restrained-emotional performance describing the horrors she had witnessed and advocating Western military intervention in support of Syrian anti-government forces. It is not too much of a stretch to say that, had her interview been broadcast before the UK House of Commons vote which had declined military action a few hours earlier, the outcome may well have been different. Her performance was that persuasive.  
 
Introduced to BBC ''Newsnight'' viewers as ''"A British Doctor just back from volunteering in Syria who wants to be called 'Dr Rola'"'' an attractive thirty-something lady described her experience of an alleged napalm attack in Aleppo, Syria as ''"...one of the most horrific few hours of my life"''. Speaking in an educated English - with just a trace of East Midlands - accent, she gave a bravura, restrained-emotional performance describing the horrors she had witnessed and advocating Western military intervention in support of Syrian anti-government forces. It is not too much of a stretch to say that, had her interview been broadcast before the UK House of Commons vote which had declined military action a few hours earlier, the outcome may well have been different. Her performance was that persuasive.  
  
===BBC Politics program on Saturday 31 August 2013===
+
===Politics Programme - Saturday 31 August 2013===
Dr Rolas's access to funding for her cause is clearly no problem because, during her studio interview for this program, she pointedly offered to host a 7 day visit by Ed Miliband and his family to Aleppo '''''"... to see for himself and at my expense"''''' <ref name=BBC2>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23909554 Syria crisis: Doctor criticises Miliband over MPs' vote] - BBC News 31 August 2013</ref>. Her 'opponent' in the studio was Labour MP Dianne Abbott who, in a bizarre contribution and looking VERY uncomfortable indeed in the face of Dr Rola's scathing attack on her leader for declining military intervention, assured us that "''Bombing Syria has probably only been postponed''" because now is not yet judged to be the right time. Towards the end of the Panorama interview in Aleppo (see first section above), Dr Rola opined, in an impeccable estuary English accent ''''': "The whole world has failed our nation"''''', whereas in this studio interview she stated: '''''"The whole world has failed the Syrian nation"''''' - so, is she Syrian or English or both - and where exactly do her loyalties lie? <ref name=BBC2 />
+
Dr Rolas's access to funding for her cause is clearly no problem because, during her studio interview for this program, she pointedly offered to host a 7 day visit by Ed Miliband and his family to Aleppo '''''"... to see for himself and at my expense"''''' <ref name=BBC2>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-23909554 Syria crisis: Doctor criticises Miliband over MPs' vote] - BBC News 31 August 2013</ref>. Her 'opponent' in the studio was Labour MP Dianne Abbott who, in a bizarre contribution and looking ''very'' uncomfortable indeed in the face of Dr Rola's scathing attack on her leader for declining military intervention, assured us that "''Bombing Syria has probably only been postponed''" because now is not yet judged to be the right time. Towards the end of the Panorama interview in Aleppo (see first section above), Dr Rola opined, in an impeccable estuary English accent ''''': "The whole world has failed our nation"''''', whereas in this studio interview she stated: '''''"The whole world has failed the Syrian nation"''''' - so, is she Syrian or English or both - and where exactly do her loyalties lie? <ref name=BBC2 />
  
===BBC Panorama and News coverage 30 September 2013===
+
===Panorama and News - 30 September 2013===
 
In a report headlined ''BBC Crew returns to Aleppo'' on 30 September 2013<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24330521 Syria crisis: BBC crew returns to Aleppo] - BBC 30 September 2013</ref>, rehashed footage from the original program was aired again. It featured BBC reporter Ian Pannel talking to two ''Hand in Hand for Syria'' female doctors. Presented as a heart-rending report of what is undoubtedly grave and genuine humanitarian suffering, it was nonetheless done in such as way as to very effectively demonise of the Syrian government.
 
In a report headlined ''BBC Crew returns to Aleppo'' on 30 September 2013<ref>[http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24330521 Syria crisis: BBC crew returns to Aleppo] - BBC 30 September 2013</ref>, rehashed footage from the original program was aired again. It featured BBC reporter Ian Pannel talking to two ''Hand in Hand for Syria'' female doctors. Presented as a heart-rending report of what is undoubtedly grave and genuine humanitarian suffering, it was nonetheless done in such as way as to very effectively demonise of the Syrian government.
  
====Evidence of Fakery====
+
===Evidence of Fakery===
 
There is compelling evidence of fakery in the Panorama video footage. This is most apparent in the differences in both the backgrounds and sound tracks filmed by the BBC camera crew and shown respectively in the 26 August and 30 September programs. Repeated study of the footage also makes the behaviour of some of those with alleged napalm burns and other injuries appear choreographed. Close viewing of the third party footage described by Ian Pannell as 'unverified' raises disturbing questions about the authenticity of the entire alleged attack.  <ref>[http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1380978198.html Media Lens forum Discussion]</ref> <ref>[http://www.globalresearch.ca/bbc-media-fabrications-on-alleged-incendiary-bomb-attack-in-aleppo-syria/5353099 BBC Media Fabrications on Alleged Incendiary Bomb Attack in Aleppo, Syria] - Global Research 5 October 2013</ref> <ref>[http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/10/fake-bbc-video/ Fake BBC Video] - Craig Murray 7 October 2013</ref>
 
There is compelling evidence of fakery in the Panorama video footage. This is most apparent in the differences in both the backgrounds and sound tracks filmed by the BBC camera crew and shown respectively in the 26 August and 30 September programs. Repeated study of the footage also makes the behaviour of some of those with alleged napalm burns and other injuries appear choreographed. Close viewing of the third party footage described by Ian Pannell as 'unverified' raises disturbing questions about the authenticity of the entire alleged attack.  <ref>[http://members5.boardhost.com/medialens/thread/1380978198.html Media Lens forum Discussion]</ref> <ref>[http://www.globalresearch.ca/bbc-media-fabrications-on-alleged-incendiary-bomb-attack-in-aleppo-syria/5353099 BBC Media Fabrications on Alleged Incendiary Bomb Attack in Aleppo, Syria] - Global Research 5 October 2013</ref> <ref>[http://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2013/10/fake-bbc-video/ Fake BBC Video] - Craig Murray 7 October 2013</ref>
  
==The Nurse Nayirah Affair==
+
==Associations==
To those who remember the run-up to the first Iraq war in 1990, Dr Rola's reports carry disturbing echoes of the '''[[Nurse Nayirah]]''' episode, in which a volunteer 'student nurse' who, for security reasons, wished to remain anonymous, testified before the US Congress that she had witnessed Iraqi troops "throwing new-born babies from incubators and leaving them to die on the cold floor". It later transpired that her testimony was a fabrication cooked up by the US PR firm [[Hill & Knowlton]], whom the Kuwait government had employed to make the case for war. The 'student nurse' was in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US who sat behind her as she delivered her testimony.
 
 
 
==Public right to know==
 
[[File:SNOFlag.png|thumb|200px|Syrian National Opposition in Exile flag]] [[File:HiHLogo.jpg|thumb|200px|Hand in Hand for Syria Logo]] [[File:SARFlag.png|thumb|200px|Official Syrian Arab Republic flag]]
 
You do not volunteer to appear on flag-ship BBC Politics TV programs advocating for a military bombing campaign with any realistic expectation - let alone right - to remain anonymous.
 
 
 
The use of medical, charitable and otherwise altruistic credentials as qualifications to advocate for military intervention of ANY kind - let alone the sort of cowardly stand-off high-tech carnage Dr Rola was effectively shilling for on BBC Newsnight is, by any civilised standard, deeply offensive behaviour.
 
 
 
 
===Dr Saleyha Ahsan===
 
===Dr Saleyha Ahsan===
Both Panorama programs talk of TWO British female doctors, "volunteers for the Charity ''Hand-in-Hand-for Syria''". One is '''Dr Rola Hallam, née al-Kurdi''', the other is '''Dr Saleyha Ahsan'''. Dr Ahsan graduated from Sandhurst and saw service as a Captain with the British Army Medical Corps in Bosnia - IOW, she has  classic qualifications of an MI6 asset. <ref>[http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2013/01/08/saleyha-ahsan-on-providing-medical-care-in-syria/ Saleyha Ahsan on providing medical care in Syria] - BMJ Blogs 8 Jan 2013</ref> <ref>[http://www.saleyhaahsan.com/ Saleyha Ahsan web site] - 30 September 2013</ref> The BBC is careful to hide the affiliations of BOTH it's ''"Charitable Volunteers"'' which, by any measure are probably '''THE most significant information about them.'''
+
Both Panorama programs talk of TWO British female doctors, "volunteers for the Charity ''Hand-in-Hand-for Syria''". One is '''Dr Rola Hallam, née al-Kurdi''', the other is '''Dr Saleyha Ahsan'''. Dr Ahsan graduated from [[Sandhurst]] and saw service as a Captain with the British Army Medical Corps in Bosnia.<ref>[http://blogs.bmj.com/bmj/2013/01/08/saleyha-ahsan-on-providing-medical-care-in-syria/ Saleyha Ahsan on providing medical care in Syria] - BMJ Blogs 8 Jan 2013</ref> <ref>[http://www.saleyhaahsan.com/ Saleyha Ahsan web site] - 30 September 2013</ref> The BBC avoided mentioning the affiliations of BOTH its ''"Charitable Volunteers"''.
  
 
===Hand in Hand for Syria===
 
===Hand in Hand for Syria===
 
{{FA|Hand in Hand for Syria}}
 
{{FA|Hand in Hand for Syria}}
The charity for which Dr Rola works, [[Hand in Hand for Syria]], appears to have a close ideological connection to the Syrian National Opposition in Exile - ie the Rebels and their Free Syrian Army - since the Charity logo is derived from the SNO adopted flag. Also, in her BBC interviews, she repeatedly urges the need (for humanitarian purposes naturally) to overthrow "the regime" (a BBC pejorative for 'government').
+
The charity for which Dr Rola works, [[Hand in Hand for Syria]], appears to have a close ideological connection to the Syrian National Opposition in Exile - i.e. the Rebels and their Free Syrian Army - since the Charity logo is derived from the SNO adopted flag. Also, in her BBC interviews, she repeatedly urges the need (for humanitarian purposes naturally) to overthrow "the regime" (a BBC pejorative for 'government').
  
===Some important questions:===
+
==The Nurse Nayirah Affair==
:1. Dr Rola's Charity is called '''Hand in Hand for Syria'''. In its 29 July 2011 founding statement, <ref>[http://www.aawsat.net/2011/08/article55245595 FSA Founding Statement] - Asharq al-Awsat web site, accessed 1 October 2013</ref> Free Syrian Army leader Colonel Riad al-Asaad said:
+
{{FA|Nurse Nayirah}}
{{QB|
+
To those who remember the run-up to the first Iraq war in 1990, Dr Rola's reports carry disturbing echoes of the '''[[Nurse Nayirah]]''' episode, in which a volunteer 'student nurse' who, for security reasons, wished to remain anonymous, testified before the US Congress that she had witnessed Iraqi troops "throwing new-born babies from incubators and leaving them to die on the cold floor". It later transpired that her testimony was a fabrication cooked up by the US PR firm [[Hill & Knowlton]], whom the Kuwait government had employed to make the case for war. The 'student nurse' was in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US who sat behind her as she delivered her testimony.
... We announce the formation of the free Syrian army to work '''hand in hand''' with the people to achieve freedom and dignity to bring this regime down, protect the revolution and the country’s resources, and stand in the face of the irresponsible military machine that protects the regime.
 
}}
 
:'''Is this conguence of name and FSA objectives mere coincidence?'''
 
 
 
:2. Dr Rola's maiden name is al-Kurdi. The Deputy leader of the Free Syrian Army is Colonel Malik al-Kurdi.  
 
  
:'''How close is that family name connection?'''
+
==Public Right to Know?==
 +
Having appeared on national TV with supposed medical, charitable and otherwise altruistic credentials  to advocate for military intervention advocating for a military bombing campaign, can she have any realistic expectation of anonymity? In light particularly of the Nurse Nayirah Affair, surely the public deserves to know the true identity of "Dr Rola", the better to judge what to make of her testimony?  
  
:3. The original BBC piece claimed the school attack took place during the last week of August 2013, ''"at the end of the school day"'', and killed at least 10 children. However, Syrian school holidays run from 30 June to 1 September.  
+
===Unanswered Questions===
 +
In the fraught circumstances of a rising drum-beat crescendo for military intervention in Syria, the public deserves answers to some basic questions about "Dr Rola"...
  
:'''Why were so many children apparently at school during the school holiday period?'''
+
====1. What is the precise name and location of the alleged school?====
 +
According to an Arab language web site with a contributor said to be from the vicinity of the claimed attack, the bombed building shown in the video is not a school but a fairly standard construction villa with a swimming pool on the other side of the buttressed wall <ref>[http://www.syriatruth.org/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%80%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A9/tabid/93/Article/10462/bbc.aspx SyriaTruth.org] - 2 September 2013. Use Google translate for a garbled English translation</ref>
  
:4. According to an Arab language web site with a contributor said to be from the vicinity of the claimed attack, the bombed building shown in the video is not a school but a fairly standard construction villa with a swimming pool on the other side of the buttressed wall <ref>[http://www.syriatruth.org/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%80%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A9/tabid/93/Article/10462/bbc.aspx SyriaTruth.org] - 2 September 2013. Use Google translate for a garbled English translation</ref>
+
====2. Is there any independent verification of the attack?====
 +
Are witnesses available for interview? What is the condition of the school now?
  
:'''What is the precise name and location of the alleged school?'''
+
====3. Why were so many children apparently at school during the school holiday period?====
 +
The original BBC piece claimed the school attack took place during the last week of August 2013, ''"at the end of the school day"'', and killed at least 10 children. However, Syrian school holidays run from 30 June to 1 September.
  
 
+
====4. What is Dr Rola's name and family background====
----
+
Her maiden name is probably al-Kurdi. The Deputy leader of the Free Syrian Army is Colonel Malik al-Kurdi. Is this a mere coincidence?
<big>'''''In the fraught circumstances of a rising drum-beat crescendo for military intervention in Syria, the public has an absolute right to know exactly who Dr Rola is and what both her affiliations and connections are.'''''</big>
 
----
 
  
 
===Request for information===
 
===Request for information===
Line 76: Line 66:
 
* use the [https://wikispooks.com/anon/anon-ul.html anonymous upload/contact form]
 
* use the [https://wikispooks.com/anon/anon-ul.html anonymous upload/contact form]
 
* [https://twitter.com/wikispooks Twitter] hash-tag #WhoIsDrRola
 
* [https://twitter.com/wikispooks Twitter] hash-tag #WhoIsDrRola
 
==Anti-Israeli Torture Letter==
 
Dr Rola Alkurdi was one of 725 doctors who signed a 2009 open letter demanding the dismissal of newly-appointed WMA president, Dr Yoram Blachar because of Israeli doctors complicity in the torture of Palestinians.<ref>[http://www.thejc.com/news/uk-news/torture-row-doctors-stick-knife Torture-row doctors stick the knife in]</ref>
 
  
 
==References==
 
==References==

Revision as of 16:07, 8 October 2013

Dr Rola - BBC Newsnight, 30 August 2013

"Dr. Rola" appeared anonymously on UK television to report on the aftermath of an attack in Syria. Her testimony was just as compelling and emotional as the lies of 'Nurse Nayirah' to the US congress in the run up to the Iraq War.

Full Name

"Dr Rola"'s full name has not been officially disclosed. She appears to have had two names:

Dr Rola Hallam MBBS, BSc, FRCA

The 'role of honour' entry on the ATFAL website read:

Rola is a doctor in anaesthesia and intensive care, with a passion for education, child and global health. Drawing on her previous charitable work in sub-Saharan Africa, Rola has been working since the beginning of the Syria crisis on delivery of aid to Syria, raising awareness and advocacy.

Dr Rola Alkurdi FRCA

Dr Rola Alkurdi is referenced on the UCL staff page as "Education Fellow + Registrar in Anaesthesia"[1], and is a coauthor of Rapid Paediatrics and Child Health. She was one of 725 doctors who signed a 2009 open letter demanding the dismissal of newly-appointed WMA president, Dr Yoram Blachar, because of Israeli doctors' complicity in the torture of Palestinians.[2]. This is probably her maiden name.

BBC TV Appearances

Panorama - 26 August 2013

BBC Panorama footage of the aftermath of alleged Aleppo 'Napalm' attack was shown on Monday 26 August 2013. It included video described as 'unverified' but shown nonetheless. In it Ian Pannell, the BBC on-the-spot reporter, described how two British doctors present were working as volunteers for the charity Hand in Hand for Syria. One of them, 'Dr Rola', was interviewed in the aftermath of the alleged attack. In a related Daily Telegraph article she was described as an 'English Doctor working at a London Hospital' and volunteering for relief work in Syria through 'Hand in Hand for Syria' [3].

Newsnight - 30 August 2013

Introduced to BBC Newsnight viewers as "A British Doctor just back from volunteering in Syria who wants to be called 'Dr Rola'" an attractive thirty-something lady described her experience of an alleged napalm attack in Aleppo, Syria as "...one of the most horrific few hours of my life". Speaking in an educated English - with just a trace of East Midlands - accent, she gave a bravura, restrained-emotional performance describing the horrors she had witnessed and advocating Western military intervention in support of Syrian anti-government forces. It is not too much of a stretch to say that, had her interview been broadcast before the UK House of Commons vote which had declined military action a few hours earlier, the outcome may well have been different. Her performance was that persuasive.

Politics Programme - Saturday 31 August 2013

Dr Rolas's access to funding for her cause is clearly no problem because, during her studio interview for this program, she pointedly offered to host a 7 day visit by Ed Miliband and his family to Aleppo "... to see for himself and at my expense" [4]. Her 'opponent' in the studio was Labour MP Dianne Abbott who, in a bizarre contribution and looking very uncomfortable indeed in the face of Dr Rola's scathing attack on her leader for declining military intervention, assured us that "Bombing Syria has probably only been postponed" because now is not yet judged to be the right time. Towards the end of the Panorama interview in Aleppo (see first section above), Dr Rola opined, in an impeccable estuary English accent : "The whole world has failed our nation", whereas in this studio interview she stated: "The whole world has failed the Syrian nation" - so, is she Syrian or English or both - and where exactly do her loyalties lie? [4]

Panorama and News - 30 September 2013

In a report headlined BBC Crew returns to Aleppo on 30 September 2013[5], rehashed footage from the original program was aired again. It featured BBC reporter Ian Pannel talking to two Hand in Hand for Syria female doctors. Presented as a heart-rending report of what is undoubtedly grave and genuine humanitarian suffering, it was nonetheless done in such as way as to very effectively demonise of the Syrian government.

Evidence of Fakery

There is compelling evidence of fakery in the Panorama video footage. This is most apparent in the differences in both the backgrounds and sound tracks filmed by the BBC camera crew and shown respectively in the 26 August and 30 September programs. Repeated study of the footage also makes the behaviour of some of those with alleged napalm burns and other injuries appear choreographed. Close viewing of the third party footage described by Ian Pannell as 'unverified' raises disturbing questions about the authenticity of the entire alleged attack. [6] [7] [8]

Associations

Dr Saleyha Ahsan

Both Panorama programs talk of TWO British female doctors, "volunteers for the Charity Hand-in-Hand-for Syria". One is Dr Rola Hallam, née al-Kurdi, the other is Dr Saleyha Ahsan. Dr Ahsan graduated from Sandhurst and saw service as a Captain with the British Army Medical Corps in Bosnia.[9] [10] The BBC avoided mentioning the affiliations of BOTH its "Charitable Volunteers".

Hand in Hand for Syria

Full article: Hand in Hand for Syria

The charity for which Dr Rola works, Hand in Hand for Syria, appears to have a close ideological connection to the Syrian National Opposition in Exile - i.e. the Rebels and their Free Syrian Army - since the Charity logo is derived from the SNO adopted flag. Also, in her BBC interviews, she repeatedly urges the need (for humanitarian purposes naturally) to overthrow "the regime" (a BBC pejorative for 'government').

The Nurse Nayirah Affair

Full article: Nurse Nayirah

To those who remember the run-up to the first Iraq war in 1990, Dr Rola's reports carry disturbing echoes of the Nurse Nayirah episode, in which a volunteer 'student nurse' who, for security reasons, wished to remain anonymous, testified before the US Congress that she had witnessed Iraqi troops "throwing new-born babies from incubators and leaving them to die on the cold floor". It later transpired that her testimony was a fabrication cooked up by the US PR firm Hill & Knowlton, whom the Kuwait government had employed to make the case for war. The 'student nurse' was in fact the daughter of the Kuwaiti ambassador to the US who sat behind her as she delivered her testimony.

Public Right to Know?

Having appeared on national TV with supposed medical, charitable and otherwise altruistic credentials to advocate for military intervention advocating for a military bombing campaign, can she have any realistic expectation of anonymity? In light particularly of the Nurse Nayirah Affair, surely the public deserves to know the true identity of "Dr Rola", the better to judge what to make of her testimony?

Unanswered Questions

In the fraught circumstances of a rising drum-beat crescendo for military intervention in Syria, the public deserves answers to some basic questions about "Dr Rola"...

1. What is the precise name and location of the alleged school?

According to an Arab language web site with a contributor said to be from the vicinity of the claimed attack, the bombed building shown in the video is not a school but a fairly standard construction villa with a swimming pool on the other side of the buttressed wall [11]

2. Is there any independent verification of the attack?

Are witnesses available for interview? What is the condition of the school now?

3. Why were so many children apparently at school during the school holiday period?

The original BBC piece claimed the school attack took place during the last week of August 2013, "at the end of the school day", and killed at least 10 children. However, Syrian school holidays run from 30 June to 1 September.

4. What is Dr Rola's name and family background

Her maiden name is probably al-Kurdi. The Deputy leader of the Free Syrian Army is Colonel Malik al-Kurdi. Is this a mere coincidence?

Request for information

Please send any relevant information to:

References

  1. UCL Staff page
  2. Torture-row doctors stick the knife in
  3. Syria: BBC Panorama films 'napalm' attack on school - Telegraph Friday 30 August 2013
  4. a b Syria crisis: Doctor criticises Miliband over MPs' vote - BBC News 31 August 2013
  5. Syria crisis: BBC crew returns to Aleppo - BBC 30 September 2013
  6. Media Lens forum Discussion
  7. BBC Media Fabrications on Alleged Incendiary Bomb Attack in Aleppo, Syria - Global Research 5 October 2013
  8. Fake BBC Video - Craig Murray 7 October 2013
  9. Saleyha Ahsan on providing medical care in Syria - BMJ Blogs 8 Jan 2013
  10. Saleyha Ahsan web site - 30 September 2013
  11. SyriaTruth.org - 2 September 2013. Use Google translate for a garbled English translation