Annie Machon, a former British MI5 intelligence officer, has been removed from a June 6 panel discussion titled, “Determined to Save Succeeding Generations from the Scourge of War,” at the United Nations in New York.
The former intelligence officer is a so-called “truther” who has said that the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks were orchestrated by the U.S. government “as a pretext for war and … to erode our freedom.” After an outcry of criticism, she has been removed from the U.N. panel discussion.
B’nai B’rith International (BBI), a Jewish humanitarian and human rights advocacy group, was the leading group objecting to her invitation, writing to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon and the Permanent Mission of Switzerland to the U.N. at the end of April requesting that she be removed from the panel.
“It is unimaginably inappropriate for Machon to be speaking at U.N. headquarters given her worldview,” BBI president Allan J. Jacobs said in a statement. “To blame 9/11 on a massive conspiracy is vile and outrageously disrespectful to the victims of the attacks in the city she’s speaking in.”
“Her outrageous and offensive views do not deserve a prominent platform — let alone in the city most scarred by the horrific events of 9/11,” B’nai B’rith said in a statement after the announcement of Machon’s removal from the program.
B’nai B’rith International was unable to respond to Mint Press News’ request for comment.
Controversy has followed Machon since her sudden exit from intelligence work in 1996, when she and her partner David Shayler fled the U.K. to tell the public of alleged criminal activity and misconduct within the British intelligence services. Throughout her career in the early 1990s, Machon reported MI5 use of illegal phone taps and a plot to assassinate former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
This information formed the backbone of her popular 2005 book, “Spies, Lies and Whistleblowers: MI5 and the David Shayler Affair.” Since then, she has emerged as a public speaker, writer and media pundit discussing intelligence work and civil liberties.
Machon is arguably most controversial for her support of 9/11 conspiracy theories promoting the belief that the Sept. 11 terrorists attacks were a well-orchestrated event planned by former U.S. President George W. Bush’s administration.
There is no consensus among skeptics, often called “truthers,” about how this was achieved, but many subscribe to the belief that Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency assisted the U.S. government in carrying out the attacks.
B’nai B’rith also objected to Machon’s claims that the Israeli Mossad was behind the 1994 bombing of Israel’s embassy in London, an attack that she claimed was a false flag operation designed to smear Palestinians.
“These claims are reprehensible and don’t deserve to be given a platform at the U.N.,” said B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin. “The Swiss Mission to the U.N. should immediately rescind the invitation for her to speak.