Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, January/February 1998, Page 153

American Educational Trust Publishers' Page

There's Good News and Bad News.

A guy from the Expert Witnesses Protective, Benevolent and Obfuscation Society called and said if we're sure that what the Israel lobby is doing is ruining America's credibility in the world, why don't we hire some expert witnesses to prove it. We said we couldn't afford any. He said, "We've got some who work by the hour for minimum wages." We said...

"That's Good News, Send Them Over."

Of course when they arrived, we asked for references. And that's the bad news. It turned out they were all those expert witnesses from the Tobacco Institute who, despite years of dedicated research, never were able to find a shred of evidence that smoking is injurious to health!

Meanwhile Back in Real Life...

Unmitigated good news comes from our November funding appeal. At this writing the donations, gift subscriptions, gift book purchases and contributions for the lawyers for the case against AIPAC are rolling in, as a glance at the listing of our 1997 Angels' Choir on pp. 150-152 will show. The cutoff date for receipt of names to make this issue was Dec. 6. So don't be alarmed if you gave, but your name isn't yet there.

The Complete 1997 List Will Appear...

In our March 1998 issue. And there's still time to make that list, or move to a more exalted place in the choir loft, so long as your check is dated 1997 or you telephone or fax your donation using your credit card before the end of the year.

This Overwhelmingly Generous Response...

Ends the most frightening year in our 16-year history, and gives us a good start for 1998.

It's Also Given Us the Courage...

To launch a new supplement to the Washington Report. We've always been torn between being a journal of opinion or a journal of news. As we've tried to be both, we've had to throw out more and more material. Some of our readers say "give it all to us, let us decide what to read, and raise your subscription rates accordingly." They point out that our only serious competitors supplying accurate and objective news about the Middle East, Central Asia or South Asia charge between $150 and $350 a year.

Others Say Keep Subscriptions at $25...

And be as selective as necessary. So we're going to follow both schools of advice. The magazine will remain at $25, but we will print our "Other Voices" section as a magazine supplement eight times a year and make it available to subscribers for an additional $15 subscription fee.

Most of the News Will Appear...

In the magazine, and many of the opinion pieces in "Other Voices," which also will contain most of what we reprint from other publications. You'll find a sample 16-page "Other Voices" section starting on p. 87 of this issue. If you like it, we hope you'll phone, fax or mail us $15 to start your subscription.

In a Year or So We'll Reassess.

If by then we have at least 5,000 subscribers for the supplement, we'll continue it. If we don't and have to discontinue it, we'll credit any unused part of your $15 subscription to the next renewal of your regular $25 subscription to the basic magazine. Turn to p. 87 where it's all explained a little more succinctly. And now...

Have We Got a Deal for Someone!

Not just anyone, but someone with $150,000 to donate to a brand-new media project that we think may hasten by four years the demise of AIPAC's stranglehold on media discussion of the negative consequences of America's one-sided Middle East policy. That's right—four years. Maybe enough to avert another war in the Middle East and save maybe 50,000 or 100,000 lives—many of them Americans.

Not a Bad Living Memorial, Non?

No, we're not crazy. Just visionary. But we have a pretty good track record with "the vision thing." For example, this magazine was just a gleam in the eye of two newly retired U.S. foreign service officers only 16 years ago. And now it's a pretty good base from which to launch this new project which is going to speed up the ride to a peaceful and stable Middle East.

So What Else Will We Say About It?

Nichts! Nada! Rien! Unless, of course, you have that $150,000, want something heroic on your tombstone and want your grandchildren to be so impressed that they'll give their kids your last name for a first name. You might even qualify to fill a recent vacancy at Arlington National Cemetery.

If You've Got the Money...

We've got the time to fly anywhere to discuss it with you. Well, maybe not Cali, Srinagar or Kiryat Arba. But almost anywhere.

Throwing in One Towel, Cotton, Frayed.

Exactly 16 years ago, in January 1982, sitting on the floor because the furniture for the newly opened office of the American Educational Trust hadn't yet been delivered, Dick Curtiss, who was a gainfully employed consultant with five other establishments at the time, agreed to become executive director of the American Educational Trust.

The Second Thing He Did...

After loading up a pickup truck with the missing furniture at the store where we'd ordered it, was hire an editor for the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs. Two years later when the editor took another job because of some triviality about not having been paid for a few months, and then the next editor did the same astonishing thing, Dick decided that it might be easier to edit the thing himself.

It Turned Out to Be More Fun, Too.

While other people drum their fingers on tables, Dick drums his on keyboards. So the bi-weekly newsletter became a monthly magazine which grew into the monster you hold in your hand. All with no increase in staff because he went right on being executive director of the American Educational Trust, which publishes it.

People Joked That He Needed a Clone...

So he found one. Same genes. Same chromosomes. Nineteen years living in eight Middle East countries. And working as an editor for a magazine publisher—her second such position and company, as a matter of fact. So Delinda Curtiss Hanley joined AET as circulation director of the Washington Report and its sister publications in mid-1996.

Circulation Increased as Staff Decreased.

There were six full-time paid employees when she arrived. There are four now. (More about that on the editors' page.) And whereas when she joined up people mostly didn't get their magazines on time, now mostly they do. So Dick's doing what he calls...

The Honorable Thing.

He's keeping the executive editor job, and turning over the executive director job to Delinda. Until she finds a clone, she wears the circulation hat too. What does it all mean? He says it means...

"Kudos to Curtiss, Complaints to Hanley."

She was too busy to comment. We suggested that sounds more sneaky than honorable, but he rejoined, "It's an executive director thing, you wouldn't understand."

There'$ One More $ubject.

If you haven't re$ponded to our November funding appeal, there'$ $till time. Phone or fax your donation before Jan. 1 to the tax-exempt AET Library Endowment (Federal ID # 52-1460362) if you plan to deduct it from your 1997 income tax. Otherwi$e make it to the American Educational Tru$t or the Wa$hington Report on Middle Ea$t Affair$ and...

Make a Difference, Thi$ Month!