Slate Scribe Gets in Syrian Street Brawl

Hitchens, two others jumped during junket

By Evann Gastaldo, Newser Staff

Posted Feb 19, 2009 9:40 AM CST

(Newser) – Three journalists—including columnist and author Christopher Hitchens—were jumped by thugs during a press junket in Beirut, reports Lawrence Osborne in a column for Forbes. Hitchens “rather gallantly insulted the swastika flag” of a “Syria-loving skinhead party called the SSNP” by scrawling an obscenity on it. He got gashed knuckles and bruises in the resulting fight. “I was on the ground and getting it in the head,” Hitchens says.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

Essayist Christopher Hitchens speaks during a debate on Iraq and the foreign policies of the United States and Britain, on Sept. 14, 2005 in New York. (AP Photo/Chad Rachman)

Writer Christopher Hitchens attends the 9th Annual LA Times Festival of Books on April 25, 2004 at UCLA in Westwood, California. (Getty Images)

Writer Christopher Hitchens participates in a panel discussion on the US and Iraq at the 9th Annual LA Times Festival of Books on April 25, 2004 at UCLA in Westwood, California. (Getty Images)

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It was a miracle they didn't pull Kalashnikovs. - Lawrence Osborne on the brawl

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Slate Scribe Gets in Syrian Street Brawl