[New-imc] Re: [IMC-Process] imc palestine

[sing and dance]

yes yes i know all this

i even helped with the drafting of a couple of the docs you refer me to
(principles of unity, imc-womyn)

and was part of the debate about cmaq (quebec) being an indymedia, 3
years ago
but they are an indymedia
and continue to be one
http://quebec.indymedia.org

and they are an ngo,and do much the same thing that IMEMC is doing

IMEMC is also not 'liberal' and 'does not affiliate with political
parties', regardless of how the worldnewspaper site wants to classify
the organization...
indymedia itself has been called many things by many websites and people
(including 'liberal'), but that doesn't change who/what we are

about whether IMEMC employs people:
yes, there are three paid staff people
who compile and post the stories on the site
from eyewitness accounts and reports from other (volunteer) reporters
around palestine
the money is from the rapprochement center
(http://www.rapprochement.org)
the non-profit that started the IMEMC
(it's a palestinian/israeli peace and dialogue group)

you should also know, lest there be some conflict of interest, this is
the same NGO that started the non-violent direct action movement called
the 'international solidarity movement'.....
but the NGO is only loosely affiliated, to the ISM, as the ISM, like the
IMEMC, is decentralized in its organizational structure....

that said, maybe i can tell you a little of what i know of the saga of
palestine indymedia
and maybe others can fill in the holes
when i was in palestine in 2002 it was fairly new, but already falling
apart......
-constantly hacked and harassed by zionist attackers, who cared nothing
about posting their opinion but only about attacking the site...
-run out of a refugee camp in which one person held tightly to the
password and wouldn't accept anyone helping, resulting in the site
rarely RARELY being updated
(this is the same person who, as i understand it, was later given a
grant from global of $5000 and proceeded to use it to build his personal
home -- note that this is secondhand info, told to me by timmo from
chiapas indymedia who was there and saw what happened)

so things are a bit more complex in a conflict zone....
open publishing is not so easy.... in this situation....

what to do?  force indymedia's strict adherence to open publishing into
this conflict where there is literally a BATTLE of information going on,
and no good information about what is happening in palestine on a daily
basis getting out of palestine to the rest of the world...
(at least, not consistently, which is what the IMEMC is trying to do)

but yes, new-imc is probably the place for this discussion.

jenka

On Wed, 2005-02-23 at 01:33, melpomene wrote:
> hi,
> 
> On Tue, 2005-02-22 at 07:09, sing and dance wrote:
> > well.....i'm not sure what list to post this to....
> > but i'm wondering about palestine indymedia
> 
> came on process - it is a bit confusing that it comes from an @indymedia
> mail - i made a long explanatory response before realising that .. .
> writing what I am sure that jenka knows already :-) having spent energy
> doing that - here you go:
> 
> > i noticed the link to
> > palestine.indymedia
> > jerusalem.indymedia
> > 
> > now point back to the global site
> > i know some of the saga of palestine indymedia
> > and don't know that it is healthy right now to try to revamp it
> > 
> > but wondering if the site 
> > palestine.indymedia
> > 
> > could point instead to 
> > http://www.imemc.org
> 
> > where should i go with this? new-imc? or here?
> 
> this should, perhaps, go to new-imc....
> 
> so herewith a response from the perspective of one volunteer and open to
> questions, objections, and corrections by anyone on newimc and
> imc-process:
> 
> In case you didn't know:
> 
> Indymedia is a volunteer network that uses primarily Free/Libre Open
> Source Software (www.fsf.org/philosophy/) for its websites as a matter
> of principle. Another principle is to have Open Publishing:
> http://portland.indymedia.org/en/static/openpub.shtml
> 
> Read particularly:
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/PrinciplesOfUnity
> and
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/ImcWomyn
> 
> Find more at:
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewImc
> and ask questions online:
> http://chat.indymedia.org/?chans=newimc
> or:
> irc.indymedia.org - ssl/994 - #newimc
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Sysadmin/IrcHowTo
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/AustriaSecureIrcHowTo
> http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Local/EhAktakAsanbladaChatXchatSSL
> 
> I am sure that IMEMC does a good job and the site looks really good, but
> it does not look like its current setup is compatible with the Indymedia
> philosophy, which prioritises its internal architecture of organisation
> over its external appearance as a media outlet. Self-organisation,
> voluntary input, no commercial ads or links, gender balance etc etc. are
> some of the characteristics of indymedia. decisions are also made by
> consensus --to the best of everyone's abilities :-)
> 
> If you want to better understand the reason for Indymedia's choice to
> consider its means so directly relative to its ends -or why Indymedia
> does not "believe" that the end (whatever that could be?!) can justify
> the means, have a look here:
> http://sandiego.indymedia.org/en/2002/07/1814.shtml
> or in the words of some of the learned people, who learn more by
> observing social movements:
> http://130.209.26.101/Online_Papers/proutledge001.pdf
> http://taylorandfrancis.metapress.com/index/VGRQKLQVPJA72GKY.pdf
> 
> > the international middle east media center, an effort by a group of 40
> > palestinian journalists (non-profit) to keep up daily, consistent
> > reports from palestine.
> 
> There is a clear conflict of interest between IMEMC and Indymedia, which
> can be identified here:
> http://www.imemc.org/mission_statement.html
> 
> where it reads:
> 
> "In cooperation with FOJO, IMEMC is training and developing local
> journalists in international news standards and employing them with the
> organization following training, such that they can more freely publish
> and syndicate their work to a global audience."
> 
> ....Q: Does IMEMC employ people? - if so, how does IMEMC generate an
> income to pay wages?
> 
> and on http://www.world-newspapers.com/palestine.html it reads: 
> 
> "International Middle East Media Center (IMEMC)
> Liberal online news source dedicated to the coverage of the Israel /
> Palestine conflict."
> 
> ......Indymedia is not exactly Liberal and does not affiliate with
> political parties, see for example:
> http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/static/mission.html:
> 
> ...""The Indymedia UK website provides an interactive platform for
> reports from the struggles for a world based on freedom, cooperation,
> justice and solidarity, and against environmental degradation,
> neoliberal exploitation, racism and patriarchy. The reports cover a wide
> range of issues and social movements - from neighbourhood campaigns to
> grassroots mobilisations, from critical analysis to direct action.
> 
> Inherent in the mainstream corporate media is a strong bias towards
> Capitalism's power structures, and it is an important tool in
> propagating these structures around the globe. While the mainstream
> media conceal their manifold biases and alignments, we clearly state our
> position. Indymedia UK does not attempt to take an objective and
> impartial standpoint: Indymedia UK clearly states its subjectivity.""...
> 
> > i've been working with them for three months now in palestine, they've
> > been working on this site for the last two years.
> 
> It may be entirely possible that IMEMC and Indymedia share certain
> levels of ethos in terms of what ought to be "reported on" - and it
> could be that some relations could be built on in various ways - who
> knows?!? 
> 
> in solidarity,
> ciao,
> mp
> 
> > 
> 
> > 
> 
> 
> 
> > 
> > thanks
> > love
> > jenka
> > 
> > _______________________________________________
> > imc-process mailing list
> > imc-process at lists.indymedia.org
> > http://lists.indymedia.org/mailman/listinfo/imc-process
>