Was Christopher Hitchens Involved in a Street Brawl in Beirut?

Apparently, true.

Christopher Hitchens had a run-in with Syrian Social Nationalist Party thugs on the streets of Beirut after he defaced a political propaganda poster.

This was first reported on a couple of blogs, and then by Forbes:

But later that night, three of our “scoop” brigade–Jonathan Foreman, Michael Totten and Christopher Hitchens–got involved in a street brawl with some thugs of a Syria-loving skinhead party called the SNPN after Hitchens rather gallantly insulted their swastika flag. On our way to a meeting with Minister of State Nassib Lahoud, Hitchens showed me the gashed knuckles and bruises suffered during the punch up. The attackers had apparently come out of nowhere on posh Hamra Street, where they had gone to buy shoes. “I was on the ground,” Hitchens said, “and getting it in the head.” It was a miracle they didn’t pull Kalashnikovs.

Wonkette’s take (“At least he goes on assignment!”) here.

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