Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah needs only to whisper in my ear, and I will stop the publication of "Al-Akhbar" without hesitation, if it is in the best interest of the resistance. (Photo: Haitham Moussawi)
Published Friday, September 21, 2012
Reading Ali al-Amin’s reply, which he published in al-Balad newspaper without informing its administration and on janoubia.com, (proudly) funded by the US, one wonders what he is replying to.
He begins by admitting that we did not reveal a secret and does not find anything wrong with his meeting with US diplomats during the July 2006 War. So why is he concerned about my article about the traitors?
Bragging about communications with the US, receiving their money, and retorting by accusing Al-Akhbar of getting money from here and there, is only an attempt to say that you are not the only one to take money from foreign embassies.
And since you quoted fellow journalists Faisal Abdul-Sater and Qasem Qasir, who have various relationships with Hezbollah, Syria, and Iran, I accept all what they say about my relationship with the Syrian and Iranian embassies and with officials in those countries.
I also ask you to inquire further with whomever you select of local and foreign friends, whether in media or security, as you like, as long as you also include Qatar. I wish you patience and prudence to avoid the shock of what you might discover.
I accept – immediately and without hesitation – your offer to disclose private bank account balances at any time and any which way you want. I add that it includes the members of both our families, fathers, sons, even brothers if you want.
I hope that you stick to your opinion and get ready to announce the results to the public, as long as you allow a neutral party to do it, such as a retired judge. Maybe, we can ask Qassem Qasir to pick him.
As for the WikiLeaks documents that Al-Akhbar did not publish, you know – dear cousin – and you can also ask any of the Southern politicians, journalists, and figures about the nature of my relationship with Speaker Nabih Berri and Amal Movement’s leadership.
If you think he scares me or that I fear any other politician, you can ask Walid Jumblatt. As you know, he admires you and likes the way you investigate.
True, Prime Minister Najib Mikati owns a share of Al-Akhbar; as far as I know, no newspaper in the world, not just in Lebanon, dares to print direct criticism of the policies of one of its partners, like we have done with Mikati, including an article asking him to resign.
You can also refer to our colleague Fidaa Itani who you claim we could not handle anymore. But we did deliberately skip Mikati’s documents, just as we did many others. Would you like your audience to know about the history of the pro-NATO opposition in Syria, years before what you call a revolution?
We never claimed neutrality. We never imitated the newspapers in Beirut and other capitals to appease anyone. A few days ago, we refused to publish an article by As’ad Abu Khalil, which he later published on his blog. We said that openly in Al-Akhbar because it is out of context.
If you need more clarification, I can tell you, so you can sleep soundly, that the resistance is everything to us. It is our identity, our dignity, and our future.
Sayyid Hassan Nasrallah needs only to whisper in my ear, and I will stop the publication of Al-Akhbar without hesitation, if it is in the best interest of the resistance.
Do you want more, dear cousin?
You reject my words about impurity, but ask which mosque I go to for prayer. You and everyone else know that I am not a practitioner.
I just wanted to tell you something that will keep you satisfied. Do you remember martyr Khaled Bazzi (Qassem)?
Do you know him? Do you remember the names of our martyrs who fell when you were “enlightening our friends” in the US embassy about the nature of Hezbollah and its popularity in the South? (Do you want me to publish all your articles?)
Martyr Qassem used to take me on trips to the positions of the resistance fighters along the borders. Upon hearing the call to prayer, he would find an excuse, as he used to say, to avoid embarrassing me in front of them, if they knew I do not practice religion.
You also know that I am from a home that was Marxist, decades before you were born. This was never met with disdain in our social circles. We were never ostracized, like those you know very well, who recite verses and sayings night and day, then sneak into coffee shops in Dahiyeh to write fake bills. Who pays them, God only knows.
Not to mention the made-up woman, who takes to the screen frequently and claims Joseph’s legacy because she once had a glass of wine at his table.
The third point is your invocation of the al-Amin family in your delusions. You should know that I was never part of the club that you and your ilk want to exploit to the fullest. I will not play your game. I will leave it up to your listeners to answer with something that fits their legacy and satisfies you.
As for the colleagues you dared to insult at Al-Akhbar, let me remind you where you work and where you write. Maybe you can ask for an independent professional assessment to avoid being accused of impersonating someone else.
Do you want me to say how you always ask for help in organizing your thoughts? Or how you snuck into your newspaper one day to publish your rants without being questioned? And even when you were warned and reprimanded yesterday, you ran to your neighbors in the same building, who also boast about their relations with the US.
In your reply, you used words that are unreadable. Don’t you know – dear cousin – that “my ear is deaf to indecency”?
Nevertheless, there is something new in your reply, an improvement in language and style (which proves that you still ask for help, as you did in this reply which looks like it was written carefully with the help and contribution of two of your friends).
I hope that you learned a good lesson that might result in a professional career in journalism, and you will stop asking for help with vocabulary and formulations.
Despite everything you wrote about your meetings, which are more than those of your friend, the US secretary of state, we did not see you publish one scoop or remarkable article in all those years in the profession.
While I fear what you fear, I repeat what you say. If you believe the article concerns you, you can only do what you see fit. But I tell you, and all those who you listen to, that “traitors have no place among us.”
Those who receive money from the US are serving the number one enemy of humanity. He is despicable and less than the dust that our martyrs left behind!
You accused me left and right, but I will repeat that I am not someone who calls for spilling the blood of others. But my position that “traitors have no place among us” is final and not up for discussion.
The shouting and threatening – first with legal action, then with slander and begging for help from those who suffer from a moral shortage in March 14 and who are also proudly sponsored by the US – will not deter us from exposing all those who are involved in threatening the dignity and lives of our people.
These things shall not pass. They shall not pass. They shall not pass until the last breath, as the most honorable of my people says!
March 14 geniuses tried to play the same game, when they claimed that criticism and unveiling the hidden was a form of incitement and accessory to murder.
Didn’t Saad Hariri make such an accusation against half of the Lebanese people?
Trying to distract people from the contents of the WikiLeaks cables will not work, for they do in the end document the original and unforgivable crime.
Ibrahim al-Amin is editor-in-chief of Al-Akhbar.
This article is an edited translation from the Arabic Edition.
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Uprooted Palestinian 
Uprooted Palestinian 
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this Blog!
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