Former leftist turned conservative writer Christopher Hitchens ran into trouble in Beirut last week when he attempted to deface a poster/memorial of the Syrian Social Nationalist Party (SSNP), a Hezbollah ally. Versions of the event claim a heavily intoxicated Hitchens shouted obscenities at the party, ultimately resulting in an altercation with several SSNP members nearby. Hitchens claimed to have been beaten by SSNP members who “had come out of nowhere.” The confrontation exploded onto the blogosphere – reaching as far as The Huffington Post – with many Lebanese bloggers disagreeing as to who should take the blame. Initially, there was doubt as to whether or not the altercation actually occurred. The Angry Arab News Service reveals that Lebanese police sources and the SSNP both denied the fight took place: According to a Lebanese police sources cited in Al-Akhbar, Hitchens was not attacked in Beirut. And the SSNP also denied the story and said that they had no posters in Beirut. If this story is made up it would not be a first: remember that Hitchens claimed to have interviewed Abu Nidal, when there is no evidence whatsoever for that interview. However, Qifa Nabki who attended the Hitchens lecture at the American University of Beirut that night confirmed the incident took place, but the beating was not as severe as Hitchens originally claimed: Curious to see Hitch with a black eye, I headed over to the lecture which was entitled: “Who are the Revolutionaries in the Middle East Today?” The auditorium was crowded when he showed up, sans signs of SSNP punishment. He launched his talk by explaining that his real topic would be “The Ironies of History,” and proceeded to wax philosophic about the dangers of moral equivalency, the evil of Hasan Nasrallah, the greatness of Bush, the incoherence of religion, the need for secular nationalist revolutionaries, the white man’s burden, etc. It was signature late Hitchens: an arch and pompous parody of himself. Elbowing my way to the front of the crowd after the talk, I managed to ask him whether the rumor was true. Had he, in fact, been beaten up in Hamra by the secular nationalist revolutionaries of the SSNP? It was, Hitchens confirmed. “They broke my glasses, tried to break my finger. They roughed me up.” News of the incident was met with criticism of both the SSNP and Hitchens. The Blacksmiths of Lebanon blasted the SSNP for the fight: In a remarkable show of versatility, the SSNP (Syrian Socialist Nationalist Party, i.e. another outlet of Syrian “influence” in Lebanon) showed that not only could its thugs rough up local Beirut residents who rejoice over Syria's withdrawal from the capital and the country, but that they could also do it to foreigners who might be visiting the city and disapprove of their “swastika-like symbol” on posters plastered all over Hamra street. Milder criticism of the SSNP comes from The Human Province, who writes: The big news on the interweb from his trip is that he was beaten up by SSNP thugs for scribbling on their posters, as my friend Qifa confirmed with paparazzi flair after the lecture. I don’t really have much to say about that (in public), except that it’s shameful that the SSNP continues to run around beating people up with impunity. Abu Muqawama condemned the SSNP's thuggery, but criticised Hitchens’ provocation: This story has now been confirmed. Look, it's widely known that since the May 2008 events the SSNP guys have behaved like thugs in Hamra. But seriously, would you roll into East L.A. and start writing over gang signs? I mean, is that smart? C'mon, Brother Hitchens, we're rootin’ for you, but have a little walkin’ around sense. He was probably at De Prague. Where the wait staff is, like, 90% SSNP. Following the confirmation of the fight, The Angry Arab News Service was scathing of Hitchens, and gave a full account of the incident: I was just informed that the boring travel companion of Hitchens in Beirut, i.e., Michael Totten, confirms that Hitchens indeed tried to deface the SSNP's commemorative sign near Wimpy which notes the brave operation by Khalid `Alwan, a Beiruti young man, against Israeli terrorist soldiers who were sitting in the cafe defacing our capital. A small sign was mounted on the location of the brave operation. Hitchens and his boring travel companion are making noises about the ideology of the SSNP and they have been referring to its “inverted” swastika.