Wednesday 8 November 2017 - 16:04
Story Code : 282471
Book Review: Dear World by Bana Alabed - PR for regime change in Syria
Background
Bana Alabed is an 8-year-old Syrian girl who rose to fame in 2016 when a Twitter account was set up in her name and she started tweeting in fluent English from east Aleppo as it was under bombardment by Syrian and Russian forces trying to dislodge insurgents.
The first tweet in Banas name appeared on 24th September 2016. It simply read, I need peace. The Twitter account soon had tens of thousands of followers, among them J. K. Rowling, the author of Harry Potter. It was later observed in a video that 7-year-old Bana knew very little English and was being prompted or told what to say.
Bana and Anne Frank?
The book begins with a quote from The Diary of Anne Frank, thus inferring that there are parallels between Bana and the famous Dutch Jewish girl who was forced to hide from the Nazis in the Second World War. If Bana is meant to represent Anne, then presumably the Syrian and Russian governments are meant to represent the Nazis. This is misleading. Several brave Dutch people hid the young Anne and her family from the Nazis. In Syria, Takfiri militants, such as those in east Aleppo have targeted Syrians simply because they belonged to minorities. Australian anthropologist Dr. Fiona Hill described how her adoptive Syrian brother, a Sunni, risked his life to rescue three Alawi families from the Free Syrian Army and inevitable summary murder at their hands.
Bana and Malala?
Dear World is published by Simon & Schuster, part of the CBS media empire. It was edited or perhaps ghost written by senior editor Christine Pride who sees Bana Alabed as a heroine reminiscent of Pakistans Malala Yousafzai. This is misleading to the point of being bizarre. Before a Taliban gunman shot her, Malala wrote a blog detailing life under Taliban rule. Bana may be a brave and good child, but Dear World does not take a stand against extremist forces. On the contrary, Banas father was active with the extremist insurgents.
Jabhat al-Nusra, a group linked to both the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, was the strongest of the militia groups in east Aleppo at the time Bana was sending her tweets. Former Australian soldier Mathew Stewarts story points to these links. Soon after the start of the war in Afghanistan, Stewart joined the Taliban, and then in 2015 he worked as a trainer with Jabhat al-Nusra, al-Qaidas proxy militia in Syria.
Those who tweet and write in Bana Alabeds name seem unconcerned about the enforcement of harsh punishments by Jabhat al-Nusra, such as the execution of women. Nor are they concerned about the groups violence or terror tactics, which are detailed on the Australian National Security webpage.
Ironically, although peace is a word used liberally in Dear World, one tweet since deleted from Banas Twitter account read,
Dear world, its better to start 3rd world war instead of letting Russia & Assad commit #HolocaustAleppo
The book portrays the young narrator and her mother as courageous and compassionate. According to this narrative the only militants in east Aleppo were the FSA and they were good guys fighting against the evil Syrian government forces. This is public relations propaganda, very far from the reality which American journalists James Foley and Stephen Sotloff documented before being assassinated.
A Western, Not Syrian, Readership
Dear World is not directed at readers in Syria who are aware of the wars complex nature and rebel reality. Most Syrians grieve the loss of loved ones in the war, want women to maintain freedoms and minorities to be able to worship without fear. Most Syrians do not want their country to be partitioned and made a haven for extremists. The book is written for a western audience, conditioned by the simplistic mainstream media narrative of heroic revolutionaries fighting the brutal dictator Assad.
In January 2017, Bana implored Donald Trump to stop the bombs in Syria and save the children. But in April 2017, Bana expressed support for Donald Trumps airstrikes on a Syrian airfield after it was claimed the regime had dropped a bomb containing sarin. There were no calls for a thorough impartial investigation, just a call to bomb. Four children were killed in the U.S. airstrikes. It seems clear there is political manipulation guiding the social media messages of a photogenic sweet girl.
Jesus, King, Gandhi . And The FSA?
Dear World champions Jesus, Martin Luther King Jr, and Gandhi, while extolling fighters in the Free Syrian Army. To the extent that it exists at all, the FSA is made up armed groups that fly the opposition flag rather than al-Qaeda or ISIS ones. This allows them to receive weapons and supplies from western governments even as they defect and turn over these weapons to Syrias version of Al Queda, Jabhat al Nusra.
James Foley, the American journalist beheaded by ISIS, interviewed an FSA commander in east Aleppo who promised Aleppo would burn. In this commanders opinion, the people of Aleppo were only concerned about their barbecues and deserved punishment for not supporting the armed revolution.
Dear World distorts the truth, abusing the trust of its readers. The book is a weapon in the covert and overt efforts of Syria's enemies to effect regime change by any means. Despite the narrators plea for peace, the books depiction of the regime as the personification of evil could lead a generation of young readers in the West to uncritically support war against Syria and its people for years to come.
As a beautifully packaged children's book that includes the endorsement of the author of Harry Potter, Dear World could conceivably encourage some impressionable readers to take up arms against a government. Some young readers may believe Syria is an uncivilized wasteland and a battlefield that even they could potentially enter one day, flying a flag, trying to be a hero, killing locals who dont support the revolution. For an attractive looking childrens book, Dear World is a potentially dangerous package.
British PR Firm Created Bana, The Brand
Could there be any significance in the fact that the PR firm, The Blair Partnership, which handles J. K. Rowlings publicity also handles Banas? The Blair Partnership has transformed Bana from a little girl into a brand that represents opposition to the Syrian government and, in effect, support for British foreign policy.
Lies and Omissions in War
Though J.K. Rowling endorses Dear World, it can be assumed that Peter Ford, the former UK ambassador to Syria would not. According to him the British Foreign Office has lied about the warand it was not the case that the opposition was dominated by so-called moderates.
Apart from mentioning the kidnapping of two of Banas uncles, the book hardly refers to the well-documented violence of the Takfiri factions operating in east Aleppo at the time Bana was supposedly there. Nor is there mention in Dear World of the civilians killed in west Aleppo when insurgents fired rockets into residential areas or detonated car bombs. In October 2016, the mother of 20-year-old Mireille Hindoyan recounted how a rebel missile had killed Mireille and her 12-year-old brother. They had been standing in the street waiting for their mother to finish her shopping. Mireilles body was dismembered. An online search indicates that the BBC, ABC and the American PBS did not present this story. They surely would have if this had happened in a western country: it was an act of terror, the victims were young and innocent, and Mireille was a local swimming star. Like most of the mainstream western media, those behind the Bana phenomenon seem to have no regard for the victims of rebels.
Likewise, the beheading of a young boy in July 2016 by an Takfiri group in east Aleppo that received funding from the United States is not referred to in Dear World.
Investigating Claims
Dear World presents a long list of claims against the regime. They include the bombing of schools and hospitals, the random shooting of civilians from a helicopter, and the dropping of cluster bombs, phosphorous, and chorine on people in east Aleppo.
However, these claims almost invariably originated from media outlets and activists linked to the rebels. The unverified claims have been promoted by western media and some prominent Non-Governmental Organizations while refutations have been ignored. Detailed examinations in caseafter case have shown the accusations to be exaggerated if not false. It seems this book is actually written by an adult with a political motive.
Bana and Turkish President Erdogan
In December 2016, the extremists controlling east Aleppo were finally forced out of the city. Most surviving civilians rushed into the government controlled west Aleppo and described their liberation from the terrorists who had dominated east Aleppo since 2012. In an agreement with the Syrian government, remaining extremists and their families were taken from Aleppo to Idlib province while some others, including Bana and her family, went to Turkey.
Even US Vice President Biden admitted that Turkey supported violent extremists including Al Qaeda (al-Nusra) in Syria. Turkeys pivotal role and complicity in the violence was confirmed in a video produced by American Lebanese journalist Serena Shim, who died for her work.
Thus it is ironic and a measure of the distortions that Bana told President Erdogan at a meeting in the presidential palace, Thank you for supporting the children of Aleppo and helping us to get out from war. I love you.
This is not to suggest that Bana Alabed does not deserve our sympathy. She does, especially since it appears that nefarious forces, which stretch from Syria to Turkey to Britain, are exploiting her. With consummate cynicism, they are using her cute face and demeanor to promote a vicious invasion and war.
Bana Alabeds Dear World is a book that tugs on the heartstrings as it misleads readers. It is actually propaganda for regime change in a small sweet package.
# Tags
