[Imc-antwerpen] the belgium thing

[bruno op indymedia.be]

hi all,

I must say I'm really upset by and sad/angry/disappointed about the way 
the discussion between imc's in belgium is being held, and about the 
rants this issue has caused. I would really & sincerely like to ask a 
question to the people of local imc's in belgium: what's the problem ? I 
would really like to sit down and talk it over, as Han proposed last 
week. So that we can finally put an end to this conflict that has 
become, more often than not, a very ugly one. Imho it's very sad that so 
much energy is being wasted on fighting each other, while there is so 
much work to be done. So please, let's have an open conversation, live, 
face-to-face.

Also, there are some things I'd like to get off my chest.

** Why is it that a certain mister Zétéjév can publish plain lies, false 
info, frontal attacks on ovl.indymedia.org, without them being hidden? 
For instance: the claim about GetBasic (a non profit that was founded to 
organise media workshops and to promote media awareness in Belgium -- 
http://getbasic.be) being a shadow organisation of the PVDA (communist 
party of Belgium), the very insulting claim as if GetBasic would try to 
control all alternative media in Belgium, the call to throw pies (yes, 
pies) in our face during demo's, ... I believe the ovl admin people know 
well enough that it concerns a load of crap, but clearly they don't see 
much harm in the spread of such bogeous information and insults. 
Instead, they post comments to the articles, joining in with mister Zétéjév.

** How on earth is it acceptable for people from imc liege to publicly 
verbally attack a volunteer from indymedia.be during a protest? 
Acceptable, because afterwards they called their act "une agression 
sympathique" and "une action efficace". Christophe was doing an 
interview with activists during an action in front of the US embassy 
(Bush visit to Brussels). I found it highly disturbing to hear that 
people from imc liege started shouting towards him while he was working 
on coverage. Seriously, that's taking it way way way too far.

** However hilarious it may be to read, I find it extremey strange and 
weird to state or even suggest that indymedia.be would be almost dead, 
or in some kind of a coma, as it was mentioned several times on 
indymedia oost-vlaanderen, by ovl volunteers. Please, check with the 
facts first before you write such things. If you're not aware of those 
facts, look for our coverage about the Bush visit, or about the Euro 
manif on the 19th of March. I believe that shows we're doing very well 
indeed. But thanks for the concern ;) .

That said, I would like to meet in person to know what's up exactly. And 
also because there is a lot more to say. I believe we should have this 
face to face meeting, because this discussion is not just about local or 
national imc's, but (again, in my humble opinion) also about a 
fundamental difference in vision on what indymedia is/can be/should be. 
Those differences are very much okidoki, but they should not not not be 
the cause of a fight like this. Please react to this 
proposal/question/invitation so we can arrange something. And please, 
not by calling people liars or anything similar.

Best,
/bruno



-- 

"(...) people who are concerned about human rights issues, issues of 
social justice, the environment, need to understand that unless you 
change the media you never really ultimately are going to change 
anything." -- Robert McChesney

indymedia.be <http://belgium.indymedia.org> _ GetBasic vzw 
<http://getbasic.be>

PGP public key: keyserver.net <http://keyserver.net> _ key id: AFBFA905

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