THE HANDSTAND

JULY 2003

Fighting Hackers, Paranoia and Misinformation
By Ramzy Baroud
PalestineChronicle.com Editor


I still recall the launch of the Palestine Chronicle nearly four years ago.Our team gathered around the site's counter watching and praying that our message would reach people. We were only armed with what we perceive as the truth. No money, little experience and no support. Four years later, we cannot help but feel that we've made history.

And why shouldn't we feel this way? We managed to reach many millions of people around the world; our articles are often translated and cited in world renowned newspapers and media; MSNBC, the Washington Post, the Christian Science Monitor; International Herald Tribune and the Guardian are only a few.

Not that we enjoy blowing our own horn, but we truly feel proud. Our initial budget was so small that we couldn't afford purchasing the domain names of PalestineChronicle.org and .net. Unfortunately, a Jerusalem based company had the cash. They purchased both names and turned one into a hate filled site with no respect to readers' feelings and no decency.

At times we felt like calling it quits, and in fact issued a press release in that regard once. The small donations and subscriptions to our web site and the untold support we were showered with were enough to keep us going. It was sad though to see how the fear generated by the terror phobia prevented any organization or institution from stepping forward and offering help. One of Saudi Arabia's largest financial publications wrote a powerful story about our struggle and yet, not one telephone call.

But thanks to you, we managed to continue. Even more. Despite the daily
threats, intimidation and everything else, we doubled our efforts to investigate the Jenin atrocities and, with the help of our friends at Cune Press, we published the first book investigating the Israeli conduct at theJenin refugee camp in April 2002. We addressed audiences in dozens of Universities around the United States and the UK; we appeared on television, numerous radio stations and had the book reviewed in publications all over the world. Our battle of Jenin is yet to cease however. Offers to translate the book were made in many countries; our tours as well continue. In his book review, prominent Israeli Professor Ilan Pappe said that "Searching Jenin: is perhaps 'the most authoritative account of the Israeli conduct in Jenin we will ever get.'"

Ecstatic with enthusiasm, now we are pondering the possibility of documenting the war and occupation of Iraq, in a book similar to Jenin. "Searching Baghdad"? Perhaps. The odds are great however, and as always we are stuck at squire one, plenty of determination, and no funds.

Enough lamenting. We would like to extend a big thank you and a virtual hug to every one of you (just the nice ones though, who never sent us a virus, a death threat, or circulated rumors that we are providing ads to racist groups!) Without your support, touching emails and encouragement, we would have never reached millions of readers in the last a few years. We have grown to be one of the most respected sources on the Arab Israeli conflict anywhere. Also thank you to the readers who used tough love to keep us on our toes all of those years: "Don't go soft on the Israeli lobby", "damn you, what kind of a lame picture is this," and my personal favorite, "if you don't fxxxx respond, say goodbye to my support."

This sounds a reasonable enough entry into the issue of email. Not one email account in the world has been spammed as much as ours. Have you received "Our holy martyrs" spam? That was supposedly sent by me, to millions of people around the world. I swear I sent nothing. After a thorough investigation however, we found that the emails were sent from a fake address using a Palestinian Internet Server Provider in Ramallah. You guessed it, the spam began after Israeli forces raided an Internet company's office in Ramallah and confiscated its equipment.

We were advised not to pursue the issue with the authorities that serious
identity theft has been taking place, because, apparently such thefts are in
line with the first amendment. That's what the FBI had told some of those
who bothered to inquire. Go figure, and until you do, please forgive us if
we are not able to response to each email you send. We do try our best to
address every message we receive, good or bad, supportive or otherwise, but the lack of time and manpower often prevents us from doing so. Rest assured however, that we read every email we receive.

Here is the latest of our news ...

We managed to collect a humble amount of money from the sale of the Jenin book. I hoped to finance a kindergarten, using the money. But apparently, the Israeli army prevents any construction in Jenin. So we are designating the money as scholarships to students in Jenin. The scholarships would carry the name of an American angel that was killed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip only a few months ago. More on this later ..

On the technical front, we are moving to a new server, a dedicated server
that is, where we will dump all of our sites there. To refresh your memory
that includes: PalestineChronicle.com, SearchingJenin.com, the Palestine
Chronicle Forum; the Palestine Chronicle snapshots gallery and the
www.PalestineBooks.com.

Now here's the big news: the Palestine Chronicle will soon re-launch with a much more impressive, convenient and user-friendly look. We are working very hard to bring about such a site.

Also, our gift shop (www.palestinebooks.com) is now loaded with new items. So, please visit the site and recommend us to your friends.

Finally, if our site is down, then the chances are great that we are enduring a hacking attempt. If there is justice in this word, we should be placed on the Guinness book of records for the endless hacking attempts against our site. Don't worry. We are strong and shall remain strong. If the hackers managed to disable the site, then you should know whom to visit until we are back: AntiWar.com, IslamOnline.net, Flashpoints.net, vtjp.org, and in Arabic, hesitate no more: aljazeera.net. But always remember to come back.

A quick reminder, those who want to help Palestine in a more tangible way, my favorite charities are KinderUSA.org, and Palygroundsforpalestine.org. The first brings food and medicine, and the other brings hope.

Another reminder, our site is updated Monday thru Friday, and a lighter update on the weekend, especially if breaking news necessitate such update.

If you haven't yet added your name to our list, and wish to receive occasional articles and notices, please do so. It's on the left hand column where you need to register as a new user. It's very, very simple. I admit it, we no longer set around the counter to figure our how many hits
we get, not only because they are too many to count, but because we have
confident that our readers will always be back. But please do help us reach more readers, recommend us to your friends, lists and add us as a link to your site if you have one, or to other sites, if you have none.

Thanks again. Together we have proven that faith and determination are
stronger than any obstacle, no matter how large and destructive. Thank you very much to all of you, to those who always come to greet us when we are in tours, to those who send us cards with smiling faces, and to those who keep telling us to "keep up the good work," a five word sentence that makes our day.

Thank you
Ramzy Baroud
PalestineChronicle.com Editor