Indy Media Watch

I have previously observed that citizens of oppressive Arab states could benefit from the theoretically open nature of Indymedia. Sadly, instead the few Arab Indymedia sites are filled with little more than crossposts of the usual anti-Israel, anti-Bush hysteria like their Western counterparts, and reprints of other Arab media. In other words, they aren't an alternative to the local media, but an echo chamber for it.

However, I keep an eye on it and every now and then find something interesting.

this article on Indymedia Beirut reports:

Dear comrades,

We’re a communist publishing collective from Turkey.

Recently, in a major leftist newspaper an interview supposedly made with Nasrallah was published. We said supposedly, because there were claims that this interview was a fraudulent one. In other words, written in the desk without ever talking to Nasrallah. This interview was translated to English, you can see its content from this link.

The link leads to the World War 4 Report which claims:

Lebanese scholar Gilbert Achcar writes via e-mail: "Many of you have certainly seen an interview allegedly done with [Hezbollah leader] Hassan Nasrallah by a Turkish radical left newpsaper... I have enquired about it, and a source in Beirut in close touch with Hezbollah has confirmed to me that it is a forgery." However, Counterpunch has seen fit to keep the evident forgery on its website, despite growing questions about its authenticity (albeit, with a note at the end acknowledging the controversy). The pseudo-interview is interesting because of what it reveals about the willful illusions the radical left cultivates about radical Islam.

Interesting.