Call for Support: Help Preserve Truthful Media

Monday, 17 March 2008, 12:45 am
Column: Ramzy Baroud

The Palestine Chronicle (www.palestinechronicle.com) continues to appeal to its friends, supporters and readers - and those who wish to preserve and support independent, alternative media - to come to its support, as it strives to raise needed funds to stay online.

The Palestine Chronicle was established in 1999 and has grown to become a leading independent publication online. With a due focus on Palestine and Israel, its coverage touches on many subjects and areas of conflict.

“One of the most special features of the Chronicle lies in the way it incorporates Palestine with wider issues and events, with the aim of making the Palestinian struggle firmly ingrained and incorporated into other contemporary activist movements and areas of dialogue, such as anti-globalization, the anti-war movement and so on,” says Ramzy Baroud, the Palestine Chronicle editor, author and syndicated columnist. “Bringing together special focus on Palestine and Middle East issues by leading international intellectuals and journalists, the Palestine Chronicle remains one of very few such resources in existence at the moment.”

The Palestine Chronicle prides itself with the fact that it has never allied with any political faction nor has it spoken on behalf of any specific interest group. “We have always believed that it is important for the Chronicle to remain independent of any ideology or political affiliation, and have never received grants or state funding for this reason”, emphasizes Baroud. “It is solely due to our readers that we have been able to keep going. As we reach more and more people around the world, we need to send out periodic reminders of our need for funds to sustain the work.”

With tens of thousands of page views daily, the Palestine Chronicle remains one of the most effective websites regarding this subject anywhere.

A home for the writings of numerous progressive writers and commentators around the world, the Palestine Chronicle has widened its outreach and readership following its most recent re-launch on Feb 15, 2008.

“The best way to fight Zionism is to tell the story of Palestine. It is not just the facts on the ground but also making these facts available in English and in America in particular. Spreading the Palestinian perspective is the way forward and The Palestine Chronicle is there to do the job,” states Gilad Atzmon, a writer and internationally acclaimed jazz musician whose CD “Exile” was selected by the BBC in 2003 as Album of the Year.

Kathy Kelly, a well known American commentator, activist and co-coordinator for Voices for Creative Nonviolence says, “The Palestine Chronicle presents independent commentary on crucial issues. The editors and their work constitute a sign of hope for a better future.”

Renowned US author and Professor Emeritus at Binghamton University, James Petras states, “The Palestine Chronicle is an essential publication for keeping up with the big picture in the Middle East.”

“The Palestine Chronicle is proof positive that there is hope that alternative media can one day overpower the corporate mainstream,” says Joshua Frank, widely published author and co-editor of DissidentVoice.org.

Dr. Hasan El-Hasan, a Palestinian political analyst and author states, “supporting the Palestine Chronicle is one way to promote peace with justice through understanding the issues.”

“The Palestine Chronicle started nearly a year before the current Palestinian uprising, and we continue to serve our mission of presenting balanced, morally motivated commentary, news, and features, day after day for all of this time,” states Suzanne Russ, the Chronicle’s managing editor. “We hope that we have lived up to the expectations of our readers, but we certainly need their support to carry on with our mission, especially as events in Palestine and Israel, in Lebanon and Iraq and elsewhere in the Middle East seem to head towards a greater conflict, thus more media bias and misinformation. We must remain alive to fill this gap.”

The Palestine Chronicle “aims to continue growing until the issue of Palestine can no longer be ignored by any informed global citizen. But for this we absolutely rely on your support – we would truly be nothing without it.”

To help the Palestine Chronicle visit the homepage: http://www.palestinechronicle.com

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