Dr Rola

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 emotional testimony was compelling enough to draw parallels with the lies of "Nurse Nayirah" to the US congress in the run up to the 1990-91 Gulf war.

Full Name

The BBC declined a FOIA request for Dr Rola's full name both under journalistic privilege and because "Dr Rola requested anonymity". However, she is identified on the BBC video as Dr Rola Hallam in its reporting of the alleged attack on a school in Syria. This matches a 'role of honour' entry on the ATFAL website which records that "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."

The UCL staff page mentions as "Education Fellow + Registrar in Anaesthesia" a Dr Rola Alkurdi, a name used by 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. 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, included video footage described by the presenter as 'unverified'. 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' .

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 accent (with just a trace of East Midlands), 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. Had this 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.

Politics Programme - Saturday 31 August 2013

During her studio interview for this program, Dr Rola pointedly offered to host a 7 day visit by Ed Miliband and his family to Aleppo "... to see for himself and at my expense". 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. In this studio interview she stated: "The whole world has failed the Syrian nation".

Panorama and News - 30 September 2013

In a report headlined BBC Crew returns to Aleppo on 30 September 2013, 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.

Video Fakery

If Dr Rola was as "overwhelmed" as the video claims, why take time off to do multiple almost identical takes of an interview?

There is clear evidence that the Panorama video footage is not, as it appears, a live action shot of casualties being rushed to hospital, and that the audio is not original. These two points alone raise serious doubts as to the authenticity of the whole report, to say nothing of the multiple subsidiary issues with the video.

Multiple Takes

Close comparison of the video footage in the 26 August and 30 September programs reveals the videos share sections which are almost but not quite identical. This is definitely not simply due to recording the same incident from 2 slightly different vantage points. See, for example, the left arm of the man in the fluorescent jacket next to the doctor, which is down in one video, but not in the other - or check the position of the van. Indubitably, these were shot in different takes.

Audio Editing

The two sound clips in an audio editor.

Inspection of the audio tracks reveals that Dr Rola's words have been edited in at least one of the videos. Not only the words, but the intonation and timing of Dr Rola's voice is identical in both tracks, the only difference being the level of background noise (which is easily reduced with software) for the text "It’s just absolute chaos and carnage here, erm we’ve had a massive influx of what looks like serious burns, er seems like it must be some sort of". On 26th of August she continued "chemical weapon, I’m not really sure." On the 30th September, however, she continued ", I’m not really sure, maybe napalm, something similar to that.." Her face mask prevents easy detection that the audio has been edited.

"Unverified" Footage

Close scrutiny of the third party footage which Ian Pannell described as "unverified" raises disturbing questions about the authenticity of the entire alleged attack. The footage includes no evidence that the building shown is in fact a school. The behaviour of some of those alleged to have napalm like burns and other injuries appears choreographed, and there is evidence that the words spoken by some of those were not their own.

Associations

Dr Saleyha Ahsan

Both Panorama programs talk of two British female doctors, "volunteers for the Charity Hand-in-Hand-for Syria", suspected to be Dr Rola Hallam, née al-Kurdi and Dr Saleyha Ahsan. Dr Ahsan graduated from Sandhurst and saw service as a Captain with the British Army Medical Corps in Bosnia. The BBC avoided mentioning the affiliations and backgrounds of both of the "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.

Unanswered Questions

Having appeared on national TV using medical, charitable and altruistic credentials to advocate a bombing campaign for humanitarian purposes, can Dr Rola have any realistic expectation of anonymity? In light of the fact that she did multiple takes of the interview which purports to be a live shot in the middle of a crisis, her whole performance has strong echoes of the Nurse Nayirah affair. With the background of a rising drum-beat crescendo for military intervention in Syria, doesn't the public deserve some straight answers about who "Dr Rola" really is and what she is up to, the better to judge what to make of her testimony.

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

The Hand in Hand for Syria website reports that the school was in the village of Orum Alkubra in Aleppo province.. 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.

2. When did the attack occur, and what is there by way of independent verification?

Are witnesses available for interview? What is the condition of the school now? Are other media outlets or bloggers covering this story?

3. Why were so many children allegedly 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 ^{[Citation Needed]}.

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

Her maiden name is probably al-Kurdi. Is her father a Dr Mousa Al-Kurdi in the Syrian National Council? Is she related to the Deputy leader of the Free Syrian Army, a Colonel Malik al-Kurdi?

5. What is Dr Rola's nationality?

Towards the end of her first appearance, Dr Rola opined, in an impeccable estuary English accent: "The whole world has failed our nation". However, 5 days later she stated: "The whole world has failed the Syrian nation". A BBC video posted on 30th September introduces the attack "two British doctors, two thousand miles from home". So, is she Syrian or British or both?

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