It is illegal to report from Lebanon without prior accreditation by the Ministry of Information.

On the day Niels and I arrived in the country, a new rule was introduced by the Ministry specifically excluding online media from accreditation, which is now limited to print newspapers and broadcast TV stations only.

All freelance journalists and independent TV production companies are also specifically excluded.

The specific instruction from the Ministry of Information states:

not: web or digital or online or production house

The new policy is given in writing to journalists who apply, by the Press Bureau of the Ministry of Information. I have been unable to find any evidence of it being announced or what its statutory basis is, but that is probably available in Arabic. None of the many Lebanese journalists I am in contact with were aware of this rule or its implications.

As you will have noticed, by restricting legal publication and reporting from Lebanon to only print newspapers and TV stations – overwhelmingly billionaire- or state-owned – the Lebanese Government is in effect saying “Zionist, pro-Israeli coverage only”.

To illustrate this starkly, when we were in the Ministry of Information on Thursday presenting our credentials from Consortium News, the team from the Murdoch-owned, Zionist Wall Street Journal were being accredited. Consortium News on the other hand was refused as an online publication, even though it hosts some of the most distinguished and experienced journalists on the planet, including Chris Hedges and Joe Lauria.

Consortium News is of course pro-Resistance and was refused permission to report from Lebanon. The Zionist Wall Street Journal was accepted to report from Lebanon.

I am not reporting from Lebanon, merely telling you of my personal affairs in trying to get established to report here. Future articles once we can publish are well advanced – including on American influence in the Lebanon (ahem), the reality of life in carpet-bombed Dahiya, and the multiple functions of Hezbollah – and we plan to visit Tyre, Baalbek and the Resistance in the South.

Being prepared to deploy infinite persistence and resource, we have now been commissioned to report, and designated as correspondents, by a media outlet which does meet the Ministry of Information’s stipulations. We will be presenting our new media credentials first thing on Monday morning.

While not doing any journalism myself until accreditation, I have been advised there is no restriction on myself being interviewed, as a well-known person visiting Beirut, by accredited journalists who can operate and publish from here.

I can’t publish those interviews here, but if you search Russia Today or Wartime Cafe you may find me.

This is a very expensive operation and we have already spent a five-figure sum on travel, accommodation, subsistence, transport and administrative expenses.

Constant liaison with multiple authorities (and, sadly, lawyers) is required, and for what we want to do in both video and written content we need a car and driver, interpreter and production assistant, as well as workspace.

Niels and I both earn our living from this and money goes to us too and, as regular readers know, keeps me in Lagavulin. At the moment not only are we are both not receiving any income, but we have put substantial personal funds into working towards bringing you the real narrative from Lebanon.

I believe we will soon become a force from here in countering the Israeli and Western state propaganda, across multiple outlets.

There is no source of income except the readers of this blog.

I am very grateful indeed to those who have already helped, and I do not want anybody to cause themselves any financial discomfort. Even the smallest subscription does help. Monie a mickle maks a muckle. I intend to launch a full crowdfunder once credentials are finally established, but in the meantime we need funds rather urgently. If you can help by any of the established methods below, it would be greatly appreciated.

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