[New-imc] let us know specific problems and -- exploring alternatives

[Break A Silence]

Hi Majid and Yasir and everyone else,
 
Just to put in my two cents about the for-profit model.  Some are not as bad as others.  Majid, an idea to look into might be a model based on what the Zapatistas in Mexico started -- if you are not familiar with that, in an email directly to you, I would be happy to share more.  That model is also built on a collective/cooperative, but does not normally take donations/have "sponsorship" from outside sources.  It might be a way to get much needed money for supplies.  If you really cannot get resources due to lack of funds, and having lived in Europe a long time and now in the United States, I can only speak for the relative abundant availability of resources there (even in former Eastern Bloc countries) compared to what people have shared through this listserve as well as the people I have heard speak here recently who just returned from Iraq about what is available to you and how.  From a much earlier email from Ramzi, the notion seemed to be that supplies are there, just at extreme
 prices and that money is one of the biggest issues. Is that accurate still?
 
If arranging a money-generating self-sufficient model works best for the you and other Iraqis, then maybe it would be useful to explore as many models as possible to make Al-Muajaha and/or an IMC there self-sufficient.  I know that through early emails to this listserve people involved with the paper had been discussing ways to even keep Al-Muajaha open.   I am sure there are many people in the IMCs and outside who could send you information about different ways of how to be self-sufficient so that  the decision is then yours. Since I have never lived in a country with tremendous pressure and bombing by the United States nor with 12 years of sanctions imposed nor in one with a military dictatorship for years nor one which the United States military is occupying, I can imagine that imagination and creativity and being open to many different possibilities will be necessary to keep your group functioning.  I am also not sure that in that situation if there exists such a thing as a
 "pure" resource that is untainted by any government or corruption, etc.  I don't know and maybe what would be helpful is for you to let the general group know more about what is possible/available now and what could be possible/available later or if given circumstances there now, you can even begin to predict the availability of resources in the future.
 
Also, from what I understand -- email availability in Iraq is mostly through United Nations "sponsorship" right now.  Again, maybe if you work out a variety of steps and plans in addition to the IMC process and post those, too, for general IMC readership so we can get a picture of what your limitations are there and your plan to realize them along the way -- this would be useful.  For instance, use what email is available now, even if UN sponsored, then as soon as more acccess becomes available, move as a collective to step 2.  Or rework step 2, or whatever.  Then do the same thing outlining how you get resources now, and then plans for ways you would prefer or that fit more along with an IMC model, as soon as that becomes possible and then move that all to a step 2.  I think it would be helpful for us outside of Iraq to see some of that process to understand the difficulty or not of following all IMC processes and may help us to give you more solid suggestions of what you could do
 instead of speculating just about what could be -- but helping to support you with what is AND what could be.
 
>From what I understand, international donations are keeping the paper alive now.  If this still true?  What would need to happen to move away from that?  
 
I hope some of this has been useful.
 
Hello to Ramzi and if you see Lee Siu Hin, hello to him, too.
 
Crystal


boud <boud1 at wp.pl> wrote:
hi rosa, yasir, majid, everyone,

On Tue, 22 Jul 2003, jvalens wrote:

> Nope. They have already decided to go through the new-imc process -
> http://lists.indymedia.org/pipermail/new-imc/2003-June/004072.html. - first
> step of new imc-process; so it's a new-imc group business.

Thanks for the link - this application looks like it comes from the locals. :)

yasir, majid: hi, glad that you have some email access and are able to
directly communicate with the indymedia network :))). Once more people in 
Iraq have email access, you should consider making an email list
imc-baghdad where most of the discussion will be by and among people *in Iraq*,
for example for discussions about how to have a non-profit budget and avoid any
risk of commercialism, risk of hierarchy, etc.

i thought christopher mitchell was helping you through the new-imc organising
process, but maybe he's busy with other stuff, and maybe rosa or a bristol or
UC person wants to help you, or else you can simply read the stuff and do it
yourselves. If you have web access, please look up:

http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewImcHowTo

You should probably save a local copy of this page, also save local
copies of

http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/PrinciplesOfUnity
http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/MembershipCriteria

and then work through them. Please carefully read the NewImcHowTo page.
You've probably already done a lot of it, but some things you may not
have thought of before - it may take time to discuss these locally 
in your collective and decide in what way you accept them, or if there
are some points that you do not accept, it's better to say that and be
honest. 

IMHO, many indymedia people would be uncomfortable if your collective
wanted to become for-profit. This is clearly a sensitive point which
you should discuss in your collective. When my local IMC was getting
organised, even though the people participating are real activists,
the neoliberal brainwashing here in Central Europe is so
widespread that even real anti-corporate, pro-human rights,
pro-ecology activists here had difficulty realising that IMC PL could
get organised and function without any "sponsorship", and that the
word "sponsorship" itself is about accepting money in return for losing
independence... If we're going to accept any money, we should at least
use a more neutral, "independent" word.

You are of course welcome to contact a few indymedia groups around the
world directly if you want to "test" what opinions there are on this
theme apart from Bristol and urbana-champaign - horizontal
local-to-local links are definitely to be encouraged. Full contact
info is here: http://www.indymedia.org/contact.php3

Regarding the BBC, i suggest you read through the links at
http://www.almuajaha.com/newswire/display/725/index.php
to understand why some people would be concerned.
Some time ago many people in the indymedia network were quite
upset at the idea of accepting money from the Ford Foundation; people
might also be upset at the idea of accepting money from CNN/Fox
News/BBC/Rupert Murdoch/Conrad Black/Lagardere/...

In any case, it's something (among others) for you to discuss locally,
just as deciding on a decision-making process, and editorial policy, etc.
also need to be done.


> I understand Petros concerns - he says that people are diying because of
> this war. But that's the reason why we need to give all support to Baghdad
> IMC. Bristol IMC and UC IMC are doing a terrific job helping them, and
> Baghdad IMC is an extraordinary victory to the Indymedia network and to
> freedom of speech. By the way, everybody already calls Al-Muajaha the
> "Baghdad IMC". The situation there is so urgent, desperate and exceptional
> that I think we should even consider putting them in the cities list
> immediatly, with or without the remark "provisional".

rosa: in that case, you are welcome to help them through the organising
process - the page for a new-imc helper is

http://docs.indymedia.org/view/Global/NewImcHowHelpUs


solidarity
boud (new-imc + IMC PL volunteer)



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