July/August 1995, pg. 122

Publishers' Page

We're 13 Years Old and...

Our hormones are raging! OK, we already said that in answer to a letter to the editor on page 94. But here on page 122 they're still raging, and that's the way it is when you're a teenager.

One Reason for Our Hormonal Surge...

Is the recognition we received on June 16 from officers and directors of the Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development and the Center for Policy Analysis on Palestine (see page 69). It's special when individuals you greatly respect, representing a people who have been defrauded, disenfranchised, dispossessed, dispersed and defamed for more than half a century by virtually the whole world take time out from their own undeserved misery to recognize sincere friends. It was one of the...

Sweetest Moments of Our Lives.

Looking around at the guests, who had given up an evening and paid a pretty penny to honor us, we saw besides the Palestinian-American sponsors other Arab Americans, Muslim Americans, old Middle East hands like ourselves and peace activists of Democratic and Republican and Jewish and non-Jewish persuasion. If you add up the constituencies in American life from which all of these supporters were drawn, there's no way they would total fewer than 15 million people. That's nearly three times the two percent of the American public who are said by its self-appointed leaders to be one-issue voters for Israel.

Yet That Two Percent of the Public...

Provides the voter base and at least the American part of the financial base for the most powerful lobby in Washington. The Israel Lobby demonstrably dictates U.S Middle East policy, mostly by striking terror in the hearts of the president, at least 500 of the 535 members of Congress, and an overwhelming majority of American publishers, editors and reporters. Judging by results, it also seems to have at least working majorities (or better-organized apparatchiks) within most U.S. think tanks and many university departments dealing with Middle Eastern affairs, among professional librarians and, incredibly, even among Christian leaders, including not only evangelical churches but also among Catholics and many established Protestant denominations.

How Did a Lobby Based Upon...

Such a tiny segment of the population, not all of whom support or even approve of its activities, achieve such incredible power? The answer is organization and singlemindedness over one issue. And how will it ever be cut back down to size so that American Middle East policy can go back to being American—based upon support for self-determination, human rights and fair play? The only answer is...

Organization and Singlemindedness...

Among our 15 million and all those they can convince to support them. The ideal place to start would be for all 15 million to turn into one-issue voters for an even-handed U.S. policy in support of peace and justice in the Middle East. We point out what we think is the way toward that goal.

But We're Not Totally Naive!

We know that among our most devoted readers are strongly committed Democrats and Republicans, and people whose concerns about the environment, the economy, education, pro-life, pro-choice and family planning issues, national security, gun control, smoking, scientific research and a host of other matters may weigh equally heavily when they go into the voting booth. So we'll provide what we think is useful information for persons who want to feed concern about the Middle East into their mental computers along with their other special concerns, and hope by so doing we can help. But, by itself, that's not enough to turn U.S. Middle East policy around.

However, Unity Is not Impossible...

On some matters. For example, suppose the peace process fails, as we think it's about to, either because the Likud comes back into power in Israel, or because the Labor coalition continues to pander to the Jewish West Bank settlers to keep the Likud from winning in 1996.

There Are Things Americans Could Do...

To help bring Israelis and American supporters of Israeli extremism to their senses that, we think, all 15 million could agree upon. Suppose, for example, that we could document that the Middle East programs of Harvard University, the World Affairs Council in New York (and the affiliated Foreign Affairs magazine) and the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, DC had been largely taken over by the Zionists. (We can't document that yet, but perhaps it's only because we haven't tried.) Suppose none of us, not even alumni, gave them donations, enrolled in their classes or attended their programs.

This Is Just Hypothetical...

At this point, since the peace process isn't quite dead and we'd want to have some pretty thoughtful input from our readers and from people intimately familiar with any institutions concerned before we encouraged such specific actions. But does anyone think for a minute that, as our list of Zionist-dominated institutions grew, the tiny percentage of the population that supports Israel, come what may, also could support a rapidly growing number of institutions—and perhaps businesses too—largely cut off from their normal sources of funding? We think not.

And We Think, Too...

That a program of concrete and carefully thought-out action would swell the ranks very quickly from the 15 million we think could be mobilized as a core, if we all ...

Put Our Shoulders to the Wheel.

Think about it, and we'll return to the subject as Middle East events unfold.

We Mentioned PACs in the June Issue...

On page 123. We've received some responses, but not yet enough to make a difference. We're not introducing anyone to anyone yet, and won't do anything with your replies without your permission. But when we see readers they often say, "Count me in." Unfortunately, we don't see 40,000 Washington Report readers personally every month, so we're still largely dependent upon written responses. If you're interested, let us know. If we don't hear from a few more people, we're going to have to conclude that even if our hormones are raging, there aren't enough other people raging out there to make a difference. Yet, somehow, we think there are. So write!

We've Garnered Enough Promises...

To make it through the year, but man and magazine cannot live by promises alone. It's time, therefore, to give if you're planning to donate this year either to our publishing organization, the American Educational Trust or, if you plan to deduct the gift from your 1995 income taxes, to the AET Library Endowment, Federal tax ID No. 52-1460362.

We'll be Publishing Additions...

And changes to AET's 1995 Angels' Choir in the September issue, and we do include the money you send for gift subscriptions in your total of donations. It's also time to begin thinking about holiday gifts. We think Washington Report subscriptions make nice presents, but even we recognize they aren't for everybody. Fortunately...

In Our Book Catalog There Is...

Something for everybody. We have the Middle East-related books you won't find elsewhere, and in buying from us—at the best prices in the world—you also help us survive, and even expand. So while we mull over how to save the world by uniting the good guys in America, we hope you'll mull over how to save us from our creditors with your donations and purchases. Please do it now and...

Make a Difference, This Month!