August/September 1991, Page 91

Publishers' Page

Make a Difference—This Minute.

Normally in this space we first instruct our well-wishers in how to save the Washington Report from bankruptcy for another month. Then, in whatever space is left, we tell readers how to save the world.

We'll Get to Both.

Right now, however, there's something that won't wait. September is the big month for Middle East peace.

Go or No Go—Right Now.

If Israel's hard-line Yitzhak Shamir gets a year's worth of US aid this September, and $2 billion in US housing loan guarantees, there's no necessity for him to give up an inch of territory for peace.

Next Year Is Too Late.

A year from now, the Israel lobby reasons, Israeli aid will come up two months before the presidential elections. That year, they figure, will take care of itself, with, again, no progress toward peace. By 1993, according to present Likud government projections, they will have used US aid to plant well over 200,000 Jewish "settlers" among whatever is left of the 1.7 million Palestinians presently living in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

No One to Negotiate Peace With.

Israel will have its Palestinian (and Syrian) lands, and have vanquished their owners. No problems left except the Islamic fifth of humanity on the warpath against Israel for genocide, and the US for paying its costs.

American Aid Will Fix All That.

Therefore, Shamir reasons, with much of humanity down on both Israel and the US, Americans will have to continue giving Israel aid. This US aid is Israel's only natural resource, upon which it bases an entire ramshackle, socialist economy, in which no one produces much but weapons for export, but everyone lives fairly well.

How Do They Do That?

For example, of the Soviet Jewish immigrants who have arrived in Israel over the past two years, fewer than 20 percent are employed. Of the Ethiopian Jewish immigrants who arrived in Israel several years ago, far fewer than 10 percent are employed.

It Doesn't Matter.

The Soviet and Ethiopian Jewish immigrants are bodies to occupy Arab lands, and cannon fodder for Israel's wars, which in turn supply the only raison d'etre for American aid. Peace would spoil everything.

The Only Thing That Can Go Wrong.

The only problem is getting the 1992 aid, in September. George Bush might try to tie it to Israel cooperating in the peace process. Here's how Israel's lobby, the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAQ) plans to get around that.

Silent Pickpockets.

The basic $3 billion in US military and economic aid for Israel already has been written into fiscal year 1992's annual $14 billion foreign aid bill, which is oozing quietly through Congress. Extra goodies, which brought that basic total up to more than $5.6 billion in 1991, will be tacked on, almost invisibly, during the year.

Slipping an Elephant Into the Aid Tent.

Most important, however, are the efforts of two of Israel's minions in Congress, Senators Daniel Inouye (D-HI) and Robert Kasten (D-WI). They are trying to sneak through the Senate the first $2 billion in a projected $10 billion in housing loan guarantees. House-members are ready to do the same thing there.

Slipping It Right by the Taxpayer.

The strategy is to flood Washington, DC with pro-Israel activists in early September. Members of Congress will be aware of them, but since they don't interest the media, the taxpayer stays in the dark.

Keeping a Low Profile.

At the same time, AIPAC has begged the Israeli government to keep its own officials at home between now and Oct.1. The coverage might alert the American public to what's going on under the Capitol dome before the whole heist is completed by Oct.1.

Enter George Bush?

One smidgen of presidential leadership, however, could upset the whole apple cart. With anything as wildly unsalable as giving Israel loan guarantees on conditions not available to any other country

—

—

A Resemblance to the S&L Scandal.

They know that the cost to US taxpayers of those loan guarantees, which AIPAC says won't cost a cent, in fact will range from $3.7 to $117 billion. The low figure is if Israel, whose credit rating is the same one that financial services assign to junk bonds, doesn't default on a cent. The high figure is based on the near inevitability that Israel will default, and the US taxpayer ends up paying all interest, principal and service charges on all of the 30-year loans.

What to Do.

So, before you read on, please call the White House public comment line. The number is (202) 456-1111. It has real people on the other end. It's good, therefore, to identify yourself and your hometown before you speak your piece, so that they know you are real too, and not the employee of some high-powered lobby making multiple calls to neutralize authentic voices of the people.

Say What?

Say what you believe, but be sure the volunteer White House operator understands you are against the housing loan guarantees. Sad to say, as this magazine went to press, White House operators were getting fewer calls on this matter than on other issues currently under public scrutiny. There's not much incentive for a president to take on the most powerful and vindictive lobby in America if no one cares. That White House comments number is open Monday through Friday, from 9 to 5, Eastern time, except for holidays. It doesn't record comments during hours the office is closed. So save your money and your voice for those hours when someone is listening, and counting.

Now That You've Made the Call ...

We'll talk about saving congressional souls later in this column. Now it's time to save the Washington Report.

We're Still on a Circulation Roll.

We print the number of new subscribers for each issue as a quick means of indicating to new recipients of "opinion molder" gift subscriptions why they are getting it.

But the Numbers Keep Changing.

The problem is that we keep getting requests to start subscriptions with an earlier issue, so the numbers keep changing. For the record, the number of new subscribers for the April issue was 1,062, for May/June 1,587, and for July 860 and still climbing. Our circulation increased 38 percent over the preceding 12 months. That's pretty good for a nine-year-old magazine.

Which Brings Us to This Month.

Two weeks before this issue went into the mail, 903 people already were slated to receive it as their first issue. Exactly 269 of them are members of the state legislatures of Nebraska (49), Colorado (100) and California (120). The reason they are getting subscriptions is that long-time AET angel John Usher of Sunnyvale, California grew up in Nebraska, lived in Colorado, and now lives in California. Knowing we lose money on the old $7.50 opinion molder rate, he sent us $2,690, calculated at the $10 opinion molder rate that takes effect next Jan.1, to fund subscriptions for all members of the legislatures in his three states.

State Legislators Should Know. . .

He reasons that they should know how Israel is spending US taxpayer money to provide each new immigrant with $35,000 worth of housing, much of it in the occupied territories in settlements the United States calls "illegal and an obstacle to peace."

The Current Issue Has the Facts.

This Washington Report is the best one yet for that purpose. It contains articles on the cause-and-effect relationships of US aid, illegal Jewish settlements in Israeli-occupied territory, the housing incentives Israel's Likud government has devised to lure Soviet Jewish immigrants into those occupied territories, and how all this adversely affects prospects for Israeli-Arab peace.

Loan Guarantees and Budget Cuts.

This issue also has an article by George Moses listing some of the services being cut for people in each of the 50 US states, while Congress tries to slip through the loan guarantees for Israel.

So We Printed 7,500 Extra Copies.

John Usher's donation gave us an idea. There are 7,567 state legislators in the United States (see the state-by-state table below). Subscriptions for 7,298 of those legislators remain unfunded.

A Copy for Every State Legislator.

We think if they all got copies of this issue, congress members would get a lot of calls from their colleagues (and possible future competitors) in 50 state capitals.

Deciding Who Does Without.

These legislators right now are making decisions about which social and educational services to discontinue, which schools, libraries and jails to close, and which public housing projects won't be funded. When they read that Israel is planning to open, illegally and against specific US warnings, more Jewish settlements in lands the US backed UN Security Council Resolution 242 says must go back to the Arabs, we think they'll have one question and one statement for their colleagues in Congress:

Ten Billion Dollars for Israel? You've Got to Be Kidding!

So, if you want your congress members to hear from their statehouse colleagues, please take a look at t he numbers in the box and help: $7.50 (or $10 if you can) will donate one subscription to the Washington Report to one legislator. If donating a subscription for every legislator in your state is too much, send $1.50 times the number of legislators in your state and we'll see that they at least get a copy of this issue. If we get multiple donations from the same state, we'll spread the donations around until every legislator in all 50 states has at least this issue, and a year's subscription if possible.

Incidentally, if the extra 7,500 copies of this issue we printed on credit aren't paid for as a result of this appeal, we're history.

Which Brings Us To Our Next Topic:

In nine years, we've never been in worse shape financially. This year's huge circulation increase is costing us money we don't have. Right now it costs us about $16 to service a subscription. About two-thirds of our subscriptions are at the $15 (or $25 with a $12.50 book coupon) rate, and nearly one third are donation subscriptions at $7.50.

What We're Doing About It.

Reluctantly, we're increasing our subscription price to $19 as of Jan. 1, 1992 (or, for US subscribers only, $29 with a $12.50 book coupon). Opinion molder donation subscriptions will be $10, starting Jan. 1.

What You Can Do About It.

If you plan to join our Angels' Choir, now would be an excellent time to do it. The choir loft is open to Choirmasters ($5,000 or more), Basso Profundos and Sopranos ($2,500 or more), Tenors and Contraltos ($500 or more), Accompanists ($250 or more), and Hummers ($ 100 or more).

Your Efforts Can Be Deductible.

Tied donations, like those suggested above for members of state legislatures or other opinion molders, also earn places in the choir. Names of choir members are published periodically, unless you specifically request anonymity. To deduct your donation from 1991 federal income taxes, make it to the tax-exempt AET Library Endowment, whose federal ID number is 52-146032. Checks to "AET Library Endowment" are used to fund library and opinion molder subscriptions and books.

Help Us While Helping Yourself.

Another way to help us is to use AET for as much of your holiday gift-giving as possible. Everyone has friends or family members who would enjoy subscriptions to this magazine. Why not give it for birthdays, Christmas, Eid, Hanukkah or Passover?

Eyes Right.

Now please look to the right at the two page book list arranged by author. Books on the list deal with modern and ancient history, literature, poetry, art and religion. There are cookbooks, and even a children's book, Frances Stickles' The Flag Balloon. Best of all, most are available at two copies for the price of one

—

Start Gift Shopping Here.

If you do a lot of your holiday shopping with us now, the magazine makes it to the end of the year, and we acquire the purchasing power to reorder those books in the lots of 500 and 1,000 that make our absolutely unmatched book discounts possible.

All That's How You Can Save Us.

Make a Difference.

We told you how to call the president's opinion line. We hope you did it. If not, do it now, and encourage others to do the same. Congressional switchboard numbers are: Senate-(202) 224-3121; House-(202) 225-3121. Just ask for your representatives by name, and the operator will connect you. Tell these congress members exactly what you told the president. If you're too far away to phone, a note to each will do.

This Month.

Please do all this before September, and perhaps again during September, before it's too late to...

Make A Difference—These Months.