A Glimpse Into a Literary Feud. Amer Mohsen wrote this for Iraqslogger. And since it is now subscription based, I can't link. Here is the full text:
"Al-Mada's Owner "Mobilizes" Iraq's Intellectuals to His Defense.

Patriotism is the last refuge of Fakhry Kareem. After a considerable period of silence, Kareem, who owns al-Mada newspaper and publishing house, and is the “official” intellectual of Iraqi President Jalal Talabani (he serves as an adviser to the President,) has decided to involve his newspaper in the ongoing legal and polemical battle with al-Adab cultural magazine, based in Beirut.
The story began when Kareem filed a libel lawsuit against al-Adab in response to a critical piece penned by the magazine’s editor-in-chief, Samah Idriss, which discussed “al-Mada’s Cultural Week,” a semi-official cultural conference held in Kurdistan, sponsored by President Talabani and run by Kareem.
The gist of Idriss’ piece was an attack against Arab “liberal” intellectuals, who, according to Idriss, “suspend” their critical faculty when invited to a conference sponsored by pro-American politicians. Idriss noted that many of the Arab guests who participated in “Al-Mada’s Week” wrote glowing reviews regarding Iraqi Kurdistan, the conference and, in some cases, the political leadership in the Kurdistan Region. Idriss invited the participants to view, with a critical eye, the context of the conference, including reports of Human Rights’ abuses in the Kurdistan Region, the mistreatment of women, the shady political past of President Talabani and the person of the organizer, Fakhry Kareem, who sports an “intriguing” political career, to say the least.
Despite the fact that Kareem was not the central theme of Idriss’ article, he considered some of Idriss’ accusations tantamount to libel, and has filed a lawsuit in Beirut claiming damages from the magazine, one of the oldest and most prestigious Arab cultural publications, and Idriss. However, Kareem’s tactics backfired, with a growing outcry in the Arab cultural scene contesting Kareem’s move and labeling it as a thinly-veiled attempt to silence criticism. Several petitions, signed by hundreds of Arab and foreign intellectuals – including American Professor Noam Chomsky, were written in solidarity with Idriss and in support of free speech.
Last week, Kareem appeared on al-‘Arabiya, in a long interview, where he discussed, among other things, the lawsuit, accusing his critics of being “Saddam loyalists” and “elements of the Iraqi intelligence services.” By any standard, such accusations are preposterous when applied to Samah Idriss, who, an avowed leftist, has a solid record of not supporting any Arab regime, and of being an ardent critic of Arab authoritarianism (Kareem, on the other hand, admitted to receiving financial support from sources as varied as Jalal Talabani, Hafiz al-Assad, Yasir ‘Arafat and the Southern Yemeni regime.)
In the last days, al-Mada was turned into a forum for the defense of Fakhry Kareem, with dozens of articles penned to decry “al-Adab’s campaign” and “counter-petitions” signed by dozens of Iraqi intellectuals in support of Kareem. In fact, al-Mada launched a parallel website devoted entirely for the support of Kareem’s position.
What is interesting about the “counter-campaign” is that, while Kareem sued Idriss in his individual capacity, his newspaper is presenting the issue as one pitting al-Adab against “Iraqi culture,” construing Idriss’ criticisms as “(an attack) on the achievements of Iraqi culture and a questioning of the new democratic transformation in Iraq” claimed a petition published in al-Mada.
While it is customary for Arab literary wars to turn into contests of patriotism, and for (authoritarian) regimes to accuse critics of insulting the “national character,” such arguments seem strange when coming from a Marxist-turned-democratic advocate such as Kareem.
The story does not end here, a measure of “full disclosure” was missing from the pro-Kareem campaign and the petitions signed in his support: Kareem announced in his al-‘Arabiya interview that his foundation (al-Mada) pays monthly salaries to over 500 Iraqi intellectuals, and funds “numerous” cultural activities in Iraq. Such projects may fall under the label of “charity,” but they also raise questions as to the independence of the national intelligentsia, when intellectuals become dependent on the financial support of institutions closely linked to the political establishment (one of the articles in defense of Kareem, written by ‘Abd al-Razzaq al-Nasiri, berated Samah Idriss for “doubting … (Kareem’s) generous hands, which support cultural, intellectual and literary efforts.”) One of the recurrent tactics of Saddam’s regime (as well as many authoritarian regimes) consisted in integrating numerous intellectuals into the state institutions and showering submissive writers and artists with official grants (referred to in Iraq as “Makruma”.) In many ways, history may be repeating itself in the “New Iraq.”"