October 1991, Page 91

Publishers' Page

Congratulations! You're a Problem.

A publication issued at a national meeting of B'nai B'rith's Anti Defamation League last June listed the American Educational Trust as a "potentially serious problem," for Israel's political support network throughout the United States.

Potential?

We think that's a potentially serious understatement. On the last working day of August, we attended a meeting of some of the church affiliated, Arab-American, Jewish peace and other groups working against the $10 billion in US government loan guarantees that Israel's US lobby is trying to push through Congress at this writing.

A Kind of Hushed Awe.

One awed participant reported the White House was amazed by the size of the opposition. There had been a lot of calls and letters opposing the guarantees. Mainstream columnists were asking the right questions. "It's great!" said a White House aide, expressing a personal, not official, position.

Greased in the Senate.

Although the legislation was said to have been "greased" to slide through the Senate without a recorded yes or no vote, one legislative assistant now wasn't so sure because, "You're giving AIPAC a real kick in the expletive."

Velcroed in the House?

In the House, there were members who promised to bring the legislation to an up or down vote. Can you imagine what people in the real America will do to representatives who vote for that giveaway at this time? Well, try to. You should discuss it with your representative after you finish reading this.

Feeling Smug.

As we listened to the discussion, we realized, with awe, that we don't lobby, but our readers do. There are tens of thousands of them, and they proved it throughout August, by using the White House comment line number, (202) 456-1111, which is staffed during weekday working hours.

White House Is the Key.

Groups opposing loan guarantees or other aid unless Israel freezes settlements now and agrees soon to land-for-peace wanted to concentrate on the White House in August. Then they would bear down on Congress at the same time Israel's legions assembled thousands of activists in early September to lobby Congress.

There's Still Time to Weigh In.

Clearly the battle must be fought in the White House and in Congress simultaneously. While continuing to weigh in with the president, readers can reach their two senators by name at the Senate switchboard, (202) 224-3121. Their representative can be reached through the House switchboard, (202) 225-3121.

Just Keep It Up.

We know our readers are a major reason some White House and congressional staffers now believe this giveaway can be stopped, or at least frozen until Israel shapes up.

Forget Potential.

Potential's great. Here and now is better!

Call Again. Be a problem!

We'd Rather Make Than Be History.

We took a big chance last month. We haven't paid some of our creditors for almost a year. But we put the whole roll on one spin of the printing press. and published a lot of extra copies of our Aug./Sept. special issue on "Soviet Emigrants, Israeli Settlements and US Aid."

Reaching 7,567 State Legislators.

Our hope was to find donors to fund subscriptions, or at least mailings of that one issue, to all 7,567 state legislators in the United States. Well, we did, sort of. As we reported, John Usher of Sunnyvale, CA started it by funding one year subscriptions for the 296 Nebraska, Colorado and California legislators.

Matching Donors and States.

Most other contributors mentioned one or more states, but let us decide whether to use the money at $1.50 each to send one issue to a lot of legislators, or at $10 each to give their own legislators a full year's subscription. As a result, 7,143 legislators got the issue. We held back only on 424 New Hampshire legislators. Nobody mentioned them specifically, but if someone does, they'll get it too.

Full-Year Subscriptions Still Needed.

Meanwhile, as additional donations come in earmarked for the legislators project, we'll convert them to full year subscriptions for as far as they'll stretch.

Sticking Around.

We said if our readers didn't bail us out on that one, we'd be history. Instead, we're going to go on making history thanks to Linda Thain Ali, living in Turkey; George Brown and Kim Craig, both of Florida; Paul Ferracin of Wisconsin; Barbara Duffy Schultz and an anonymous donor, both of Illinois; John Gerhart of New York; Lawrence Hansen of Oregon; Fonville Kelley of South Dakota; Miles Learned of the State of Washington; Ramsey Madany of Arizona; Helen Overdiek of Minnesota; Eileen Woods of California; and a very anonymous (and very generous) donor who won't even let us name his northeastern state.

We Had One Other Idea.

A lot of our donors aren't interested in "potential." They want to get a message out now. They come to us with ideas, but they're stunned when we tell them how expensive one shot advertisements in mainstream dailies can be. Even in journals of opinion, advertising isn't cheap. Yet, two years ago when we first published Stealth PACs, we spent $12,000 on little one and two line ads, measured in centimeters rather than inches, in daily newspapers all around the country. They brought us more than 12,000 inquiries (and a few death threats).

Institution Building.

This month we had hoped to interest someone in paying for the kind of information providing advertisement shown on the next page. It gets the information out now to a mainstream audience, but also helps us build circulation and a long-term institution with which to fight again tomorrow.

No Dice on This One.

We didn't find a taker for this one, though we've still got enough magazines to back it up. If no reader picks up on it, perhaps we'll send some copies to New Hampshire after all.

But Think About It.

We could prepare such an advertisement for every issue. John Thompson, our typesetter, did three versions of this one, including one with photos of our cover, in a morning, at the request of a visitor who wanted to help until he found out how much ads cost in his own hometown newspaper.

It May Sound Pathetic.

It's smalltime compared to national Jewish groups like the one that took 16 full pages in the September 1 issue of the New York Times Magazine alone. The problem is that we're up against a lobby that raises from its donors millions of dollars "for Israel," but then spends a huge percentage of them in the United States to extract from Congress billions of taxpayer dollars to actually go to Israel.

How Can We Win?

We think that when all Americans understand this, the US subsidies for Israeli expansionism and intransigence can be stopped.

Our Weapon Is the Truth.

But we can't do something with nothing.

And Now the Moment We Dread.

In response to a letter to the editor on page 6, we promised to discuss our very serious financial plight.

In the Beginning ...

AET was incorporated in January 1982 and the Washington Report's first issue was in April. Two of the original founding officers still are on board. The third was the fundraiser. At the beginning, in all good faith, he thought he had secured an institutional endowment which would pay us a generous amount every year. It was on basis that we opened, rather grandly, a speakers bureau, book publishing and film making departments, and a newsletter called the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

The Awful Truth.

Then he learned that what we had for the first year was all we were going to get from that institution. There was no endowment. He had two heart attacks, advised us to close down, and went home. (Where, happily, he lives and writes today.)

The Rest Is History.

We suggested the speaker's bureau director take his brochure and telephone number, and open a separate organization. It's doing fine. We finished two films, but no more. We went on publishing books, mostly new editions of the original ones, and took on book selling. The newsletter evolved into a magazine and circulation soared.

We Weren't Totally Naive.

We knew, however, we couldn't make a profit from a magazine which marches headlong into a controversy that mainstream publications prudently pretend doesn't even exist. And in which the advertisers are on the other side or the sidelines.

We Waited for a Big Daddy.

We counted on the many sisterly and brotherly angels whose names we regularly list in our choir to keep us going, while we demonstrated what we could do to help turn US public opinion around.

But Nothing Happened.

Praise poured in from movers who would turn into shakers if they thought we would quote them by name. But we never found a big institutional, company, public interest or family foundation to make up for that lost "endowment."

Too Controversial.

The fact is, we're at the end of our rope. If we can't find a big foundation, a handful of smaller ones will do. With only six full-time paid employees in three tiny, adjoining office suites, our overhead is modest. But with circulation climbing at 1,000 new subscribers a month (and that happened again with this issue) our printing expenses are enormous.

Exit Gracefully?

We actually were talking about how to exit gracefully on the very day in August that we were notified that Ms. Gerda Styles, whom we hadn't met, had bequeathed us $10,000. What to do? Say "keep the money, we're folding"? Take the money and use it to pay final bills? Or use it to help keep us going permanent margin between our expenses and our income.

One More Try.

We're going to try. We feel there are some people out there, somewhere, who are going to find a way to help us. If you want to be one of them, please don't start by telling us to go find some "oil sheikhs." We're too controversial for tycoons sitting on boards of international banks. Frankly, we're too outspoken even for advertising departments of the various Middle East airlines. They've told us so. Please don't tell us all we have to do is advertise in other publications, unless you plan to help pay for the advertising. And please don't tell us, again, we ought to spend our money more carefully.

There isn't a journal of opinion in the 50,000 circulation range in this country that doesn't have a sponsoring individual or foundation or a bunch of them except the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs.

Be an Angel.

Please be a brotherly or sisterly angel, as best you can personally. But then please also put your mind to the problem of company, institutional or family foundations that can help on an annual basis. We're talking, here, of stipends of $10,000 to $50,000.

The Time Is Short.

For us it's a matter of survival, and the time frame is two to six months.

And Meanwhile . . .

Now we hope you'll move right on to the next page and see how you also can help us get through the next few months, while we beat the bushes one more time.

There's One More Thing.

If, while you've been reading this, you've thought of a couple of additional things to say to the president and your representatives in Congress, there's no reason not to use those three phone numbers on the previous page again. And a two to four paragraph letter to any of them, or to every editor in your area, won't hurt. Sometimes editors just count them and for every 10 or 20 letters they receive expressing a viewpoint, they select and print a short one.

Don't Wait.

The time to deal with the loan guarantees is right now. When people see a battle can be won, perhaps then they'll see why we ought to stick around to fight the rest of them.

Make a Difference, This Month.