[imc-baghdad] current fundraising proposal?

[Andrew Stern]

Hi all,

Congratulations to everyone in Iraq on getting the paper to the 
printers.Å I have seen it on the site, and plan to read over it this 
evening.Å So, in response to Sheri's request, i am posting the text 
of the most current funding proposal (based on what we have received 
from Ramzi for equipment needs) that i have been able to draft.Å I 
have written a brief intro to it and divided it into two sections, 
the first is immediate funding needs, and the second is the mission 
statement of the paper and the long-term funding budget.Å I have 
listed myself as the contact person for now as to my knowledge i am 
the next person traveling to Iraq and I could recieve money until the 
31st when I leave (or even until the 10th in a crunch as i will be in 
Palestine for about 10 days before leaving for Amman/Baghdad). Anyone 
can feel free to use this and modify it as changes come up.Å Get in 
touch if there are any questions/issues with this.

Ramzi, let me know if there are any things that I could get (besides 
this eqip list) t cheap here that you all need (media related or 
otherwise), and i'll see what i can do.Å Also, if you could keep me 
posted as to any changes about travel to Baghdad and the border and 
what is required for entry that would be great.Å Will you still be 
there mid-june?Å Look forward to meeting you and everyone there.

Cheers,
Andrew



Al-Muajaha Iraq Newspaper Development Project, a Proposal
Contact: Andrew Stern
expectresistance at yahoo.com


	According to Unicef, over half a million Iraqi children have 
died since the1991 Gulf War due to economic sanctions imposed by the 
United States.Å The numbers continue to climb.Å As an Iraqi doctor in 
the city of Basra said to Democracy Now! correspondent Jeremy Scahill 
shortly before the bombs fell on March 20th, "We don't need a new war 
to enter crisis mode.Å We live it every day."ÅÅ Washington's new 
attack on Iraq has taken what was already a humanitarian tragedy and 
turned it into a complete international emergency.ÅÅ
	The corporate media only covers that which supports 
Washington's interests, while giving almost no attention to the 
effect of the war and sanctions on the Iraqi people.Å This one sided 
reporting leaves the American people largely unaware and with no real 
connection to what is really happening in the daily lives of Iraqis.Å 
If the American people could hear for themselves the stories of Iraqi 
mothers, fathers and children, then popular opinion about the war and 
ensuing occupation might be quite different.Å Unfortunately the 
available platforms for the world to see independent documentation 
from inside Iraq are scarce.Å However, at the present time there are 
a group of Iraqi students and independent journalists in Baghdad that 
have started an independent newspaper, which hopes to serve as the 
nexus for a future Independent Media Center.Å The problem is of 
course lack of resources: with little money, sporadic electricity, 
damaged telecommunications and virtually no equipment, this is a very 
difficult project to accomplish. They need our help, and the time to 
act is now.
	We have been in contact with people on the ground in Baghdad 
and they have provided us with a preliminary list of critical 
equipment needs that we have compiled in this proposal.Å The group of 
Iraqi students and journalists have proposed a twofold project, an 
Arabic/English newspaper, and as telecommunications become more 
readily available in Iraq, a website (as of 5/14/03 the first issue 
has been posted to their test site, http://www.almuajaha.com.)Å We 
would like to do everything in our power to help make this happen.Å 
We hope that you feel as inspired as we do to support this effort.

Critical equipment costs:

computers: $600 each (requesting 5)
printers: $250 each (requesting 2)
digital cameras: $200 each (requesting 4)
tape recorders: $40 each (requesting 4)
Desks & Chairs: $30/set (requesting 5)
File Cabinets: $10 each (requesting 2)
Office Supplies: (pens, notebooks, paper, etc...)
requesting $100

TOTAL CRITICAL EQUIPMENT COSTS: $4,630

	Any contribution to this effort would be extremely valuable 
and appreciated. We hope that a hand full of donations will make up 
the total sum.
	The following is the proposal written by the group of 
independent Iraqi journalists and students that we received from our 
contacts working with Voices in the Wilderness on the ground in 
Baghdad.Å It contains a summary and mission statement for the 
newspaper, and a long term funding budget.

SUMMARY:
	To provide training and resources to a group of young, Iraqi 
journalists unconnected with either the previous Ba'athist regime, or 
with the successor American government - in order to help them begin 
an independent newspaper in Baghdad, called Al-Muajaha, the Iraqi 
Witness. [Al-Muajaha can be translated alternatively as, The Facing, 
Face to Face, and "Confrontation"]. Depending to some extent on 
funding, Al-Muajaha will be published weekly in a single issue with 
both Arabic and English sections, as well as being available on the 
web, again in both Arabic and English.
This project also hopes to become a nexus for a possible, future 
Indymedia center (IMC) in Baghdad, as the physical and human 
infrastructure necessary as an IMC develops in Iraq. We fully endorse 
the guiding principles and philosophy of the Indymedia movement.

MISSION STATEMENT:
	Al-Muajaha is an independent Iraqi newspaper, representing 
all levels of Iraqi society. We aim to help the world understand 
Iraq, and to help Iraq understand the world.
For decades, almost all governments in the world, including our own, 
abused and terribly ignored the basic humanity of the Iraqi people. 
Al-Muajaha aims to provide an open forum for all Iraqis to freely 
debate current issues, and in so doing educate themselves and the 
world. We aim to support the legitimate desires of the Iraqi people 
by providing a voice for them that can reach the world, and we hope 
to promote understanding of the fundamental equality of all peoples 
and nations under both human and divine law.

NEWSPAPER SECTIONS:
‚ÝNews & Features (news & human interest stories), 2-4
pages.
‚ÝArts & Culture (to include 2 poems by local poets),
1 page.
‚ÝReligion (inclusive of all faiths & sects in Iraq),
1 page.
‚ÝLife Under Saddam (open submissions policy), 1/2
page.
‚ÝLife Under Sanctions (open submissions policy), 1/2
page.
‚ÝCommunity Announcements (open submissions policy),
1/2 page.
‚ÝOpinion/Editorial (open submissions, as well as
solicited essays), 2 pages.

DECISION MAKING STRUCTURE:
	Al-Muajaha will use a partial-consensus model for reaching 
all decisions. After group discussion of pending decisions, proposals 
will only move forward if there is full consensus on them, or if no 
one decides to block a decision.
	All Iraqis are welcome to participate in all aspects of this 
project. Pro-active efforts are being made to assure equal 
representation of all levels of Iraqi society, as well as equal 
representation based on gender.
	Limiting factors for participation include a lack of money 
available for salaries, and problems in communication and 
transportation stemming from the war.

SPONSORING ORGANIZATION [this section written by VitW]:
	Voices in the Wilderness (VitW) is/was a grassroots campaign, 
based in both Chicago and London, to end sanctions against Iraq and 
stop the war. For almost 8
years, VitW brought delegations of Westerners to Iraq in order to see 
first hand the effects of sanctions and bombings on the Iraqi people. 
In our home countries, VitW pressured policymakers through advocacy 
and agitation in support of the Iraqi people.
	While many of the members of VitW come from the Christian 
Left, VitW itself is a secular organization, and VitW 's lead 
organizer of this project in Iraq is a Muslim.Å Though VitW is 
helping to provide advice, training and resources to this project, 
all decisions in the project are being made by Iraqis. All research 
and all writing is being done by Iraqis (although VitW is sometimes 
providing advice in English-language phrasing). Furthermore, if 
Indymedia, or another organization with a shared philosophy of 
openness and consensus, would like to take over as the outside, 
sponsoring organization of this project, VitW would be happy to step 
aside as the lead, outside organizer. In any case, this project is 
and must remain solely in the hands of those Iraqis who wish to make 
it a reality.
More information on Voices in the Wilderness is available at: www.vitw.org

Sincerely,
The founding members of Al-Muajaha:
Faris Q. Attia
Mohammad D. Al-Jomaili
Majid A. Jarrar
Waleed M. Al-Merza
Hamsa H. Mohammad
Hosni Mohammad
Haider H. Al-Numany
Marwan Al-Samaraíi

¤For Voices in the Wilderness: Ramzi Kysia]


BUDGET:

EQUIPMENT NEEDS
‚Ý5 computers w/Arabic language support & keyboards
‚Ý2 printers
‚Ýa Xerox machine
‚Ýa fax machine (once phone lines are back up)
‚Ý2 phone lines
‚Ýa dedicated internet line (satellite modems to serve
until phones are up)
‚Ý2 digital cameras
‚Ý2 video cameras (for web reports)
‚Ý2 file cabinets
‚Ý5 desks/chairs
‚Ýa sofa & lounge chairs
‚Ýan air conditioner
‚Ýa fridge
‚Ýa generator (even when power comes up, it's likely
not going to be available at all times)

Satellite modems are $1300 each, plus $13/megabyte
(downloaded or uploaded), the other items come to
$12K, by our estimate (purchasing it locally)


ADDITIONAL COSTS:
‚ÝSalaries: $50/month for 12 full-time staff, or
$7,200/year
‚ÝRent: estimated $7-12K/year
‚ÝTransportation: est. $5K/year
‚ÝFood: est. $1K/year
‚ÝOffice supplies: est. $1K/year
‚ÝUtilities: est. $1K/year
‚ÝPrinting Costs: 18 cents - 30 cents per issue,
depending on the size of the run, and the local
economy (prices are in extreme fluctuation right now).
For a weekly run of 5,000 papers, at 24 cents a paper,
this comes to $1,200 per week, or $62,400 a year [We
are in the process of locating a more affordable
printer, but this is the cost for printing at this
time].


TOTAL COSTS FOR FIRST YEAR:
Estimated $99,100.




>hi everyone,
>
>i wanted to be able to send a proposal about the project to a few 
>people i know
>(regardless of whether it's an imc) before i leave tomorrow at midnight.Å if
>there's a current proposal for the newspaper (phase 1) and the other requests
>for more media making (phase 2), please send it to me.Å i'll do my best to
>generate some interest and get some people aware of the project.
>
>much peace and thanks for the great work to all of you.Å
>
>love
>sheri
>
>
>æ1ÆÝPrinting update
>æ2ÆÝWhere to send
>æ3ÆÝSummary for website
>æ4ÆÝContraints to publishing
>æ5ÆÝPolitics
>æ6ÆÝGetting into Iraq
>æ
>æDear All,
>æ
>æ1ÆÝWe've run into some snags in getting the paper
>ælayed out & published. It looks like we'll have it
>æprinted and ready for distribution on Thursday or
>æSaturday (Sunday at latest).
>æ
>æ2ÆÝMuch thanks to everyone involved in setting up the
>æwebsite. It is appreciated. Thanks also to
>æChristopher, Jacquie, Spike & Mike for volunteering to
>æpost the paper. I'll send it to all of you, along with
>æthe extra articles that didn't make the cut this week.
>æInshallah (God willing), we'll post for ourselves
>æsoon...
>æ
>æ3ÆÝPlease write this yourselves - you're welcome to
>æuse language from the proposal...
>æ
>æ4ÆÝOur major problems, so far, and in no particular
>æorder, continue to be:
>æ
>æa. limited electricity (fairly self-explanatory ;-))
>æ
>æb. limited communications (no phones at all, except in
>æsome neighborhoods, and then only w/i those
>æneighborhoods - no intra-city phone service)
>æ
>æc. security concerns limiting movement after dark, and
>æeven during the day - especially for women
>æ
>æd. no money to pay transportation costs for people
>æcoming to the hotel to drop off
>æstories/edit/type/talk/etc... gas prices have
>æskyrocketed, relatively speaking, and cabs are much
>æmore then folks can afford - especially if they need
>æthem to cover events too...
>æ
>æe. no office space. the paper itself has no money
>æwhatsoever, so no money for renting a place. voices
>æwill let them use space when we get a house, but our
>æsearch has been unsuccessful so far. part of that
>æproblem is that the 2 groups have somewhat different
>æneeds/goals. another part is the requirement that
>æforeigners pay an entire year's rent ahead of time (or
>æat least 6 months at once), and, again, no money to do
>æthat. but, inshallah, we'll find something soon...
>æ
>æf. very limited equipment. we have 2 laptops (mine and
>ævoices') on which we've installed arabic fonts, so we
>æcan type/edit stories in arabic on them. but neither
>æhas arabic-windows, so we can't use any publishing
>æsoftware to lay-out the arabic text for the newspaper.
>æthis is a *MAJOR* hassle. if we could get at least one
>æcomputer here w/full arabic-language support, that
>æwould be very, very, very helpful!
>æ
>æ5ÆÝFolks working on this tend to be anti-Saddam,
>æanti-Occupation, but we are pro-actively trying to be
>æas inclusive of all points-of-view as possible, and
>æpresenting ourselves this way too. Most Iraqis I've
>æspoken to are a divided on whether or not they want US
>ætroops to remain, but all are pretty well united on
>æfearing total chaos (crime) and the possibility of
>æcivil war if the troops just pull out (not that that's
>ælikely to happen anytime soon, lol). Anyway, the point
>æis that I hope folks on this list would be supportive
>æof all opinions being expressed through this project,
>æregardless of whether we, personally, agree with them.
>æI understand that this is the general
>æapproach/philosophy to indymedia, but just want to be
>ævery clear...
>æ
>æ6ÆÝThe situation has changed since I entered. My
>æunderstanding is that currently you have to apply for
>æpermission (not a "visa" - those don't exist) through
>æthe Iraqi embassy in Amman, Jordan, and that only
>æjournalists and NGOs are being allowed in. Most
>æjournalists are staying at the Intercontinental or
>æHyatt hotels in Amman, and you can probably get info
>æon renting a car/joining a convoy at those hotels.
>æWe're at the al-Fanar hotel on Abu Nuwas Street (next
>ædoor to the Palestine), until we find a house. Anyone
>æworking on this project is welcome to come live with
>æus at $11/night at the Fanar, or whatever we work out
>æfor the house (either free or maybe $50/wk if folks
>æcan swing it). Regardless, anyone at all is welcome to
>æcome visit with us, in either location, at any time
>憂©©©
>æ
>æCheers,
>æRamzi Kysia, Baghdad
>æ
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