Alternative to what?

It has come to our attention that, to our misfortune, the word Alternative has created unintended reaction among the Lebanese left.

When the team of this publication first embarked on this project, it had in mind several goals including prompting the apathetic youth and introducing it to socioeconomic and political issues.

It aimed at presenting non-leftists with a professional leftist product. It aimed at conveying to these non-leftists the message that the left is committed, capable and alive. In no means the Alternative team aimed at curtailing the efforts of other leftist groups. Alternative came in the aftermath of the inability of the unfocused left to put itself together.

The Lebanese left has five websites, three of which are regularly updated while one of these three is in English and mostly targeted at students.

By adding the Alternative website, the team aimed at introducing a leftist regularly-updated English, French and Arabic website that can reach the different strata of potential leftist activists.

Through printing Alternative, the team aimed at issuing the first regular English publication issued by a leftist group here.

By choosing to drift from the mainstream leftist publication style through presenting different views and opening the newspaper's pages to both leftists and non-leftists, the team aimed at promoting the capability of the left to open up to other trends.

Alternative is the alternative to leftist journalism which has, until now, served as a means of exclusive leftist indoctrination and to mainstream media which does not give any chance for the youth.