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Dear former, current, or future Washington Report subscriber,                        

This has been a shattering year for those who care about peace in the Middle East and the Muslim world. Starting with Ariel Sharon's provocative Sept. 28 visit last year to the al-Aqsa Mosque, followed days later by the Sept. 30 shooting death of 12-year-old Mohammed Al-Durra, who died in his father's arms, Sharon's election as Israeli prime minister, and Israeli escalations of closures, assassinations, bulldozed homes, new settlements, and more recently, its invasion of Hebron while the world's attention was focused on this past September's attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

All Americans, including those who had no interest in world affairs before Sept. 11, are asking: "Why did this happen?" For nearly two decades, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs has been providing the answers, warning that U.S. policy toward the Arab-Israeli conflict has become untenable. By turning its back on the right of Palestinians to statehood, peace and justice-as called for in U.N. Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338-Washington not only is losing friends in the Middle East, but is endangering the internal security of countries which continue to embrace America. U.S. foreign policy has been structured to win domestic approval, straying far from our country's ideals of liberty and justice for all.

President George W. Bush declared on Oct. 2 and again on Oct. 11 that the United States supports Palestinian statehood. The Sept. 11 attack forced postponement of the announcement of a major policy initiative to that effect. Unless the U.S. uses its muscle and its annual $3 billion-plus aid to Israel as leverage to end that struggle now, terrorists on both sides of that conflict will have won. Even everyday Americans are beginning to see that it is in our nation's self-interest to pressure Israel to make peace.

Despite President Bush's frequent assurances that his war on terrorism isn't a war on Islam, many Americans and Muslims around the world are hearing that this is the beginning of a "clash of civilizations" and a "holy war." This misinformation is coming from the mainstream media, talking heads, experts, and even some people in the Bush administration. The usual cast of characters is working the streets of America saying this is a war against, it turns out, anyone who is an enemy of Israel. Self-proclaimed terrorism expert Daniel Pipes told the Philadelphia Daily News: "Islamists constitute a small, but significant, minority of all Muslims, perhaps 10 to 15 percent of the population.... Many of them are peaceable in appearance, but they all must be considered potential killers..." No wonder airline crews are kicking Arab and Muslim Americans off planes. Richard Perle, head of the Defense Policy Board, and Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz are pushing to expand the war on terrorism to end regimes in Iraq, Iran, Syria, Sudan and even Lebanon after the Taliban in Afghanistan are annihilated. In fact, however, Osama bin Laden's terrorist cells are more likely to reside in Europe and North America than in the countries targeted by supporters of Israel. Along with Osama bin Laden and Ariel Sharon, these advisers share one great desire: a war pitting America against Islam; East versus West; the U.S. and Israel against the world. We just can't let that happen.

The time has come for the Washington Report and every one of our subscribers to make the supreme effort. If we can't get American support for a Palestinian state and prevent this war on terrorism from erupting into an unholy mess, we all will lose.

This is our last fundraising appeal of 2001 to ask you for the donations, gift subscriptions and book orders we so desperately need. Please use the reverse side of this letter to respond just as generously as you possibly can to this urgent appeal. If you plan to deduct your donation from your 2001 income tax, make it to the "AET Library Endowment," Federal ID #52-1460362. Otherwise, please donate to "AET" or "The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs."

What else can you do? Think night and day about potential new subscribers to whom you can introduce the magazine. Then act:

  • Help us get the Washington Report into the hands of more opinion molders: elected officials, clerics, local editors, and talk show hosts. Give them a one-year subscription or give us their name and address and we'll find an angel underwriter.
  • Check your local public library, as well as high school and college libraries in your area. Tell them about our library gift package of books with a list value of over $200 if they pay for a one-year subscription. If they can't afford a subscription, offer a donated subscription from you or another angel.
  • Ask your doctor, lawyer, teacher or coworker if they would like a gift subscription for their office.
  • Send us membership lists of any organization or society to which you belong. We'll send a postcard or a free introductory issue to likely subscribers on the list.
  • Call us in advance of any local events in your area. We'll send you free magazines to distribute to help educate participants.
  • Go to your favorite bookstore and newsstands to see if they carry the Washington Report. If they don't, ask them to call Ingram Periodicals at 1 (800) 627-6247 and add our magazine (Bi-pad #92017) to their standing order, or set up a new account.
  • Visit our redesigned Web site www.wrmea.com and bookmark it for up-to-date news and in-depth reporting on the Middle East and the Muslim world. We've installed a faster search engine to help researchers from any computer in the world find information-for free-on current affairs and history published since the magazine's first issue in April 1982.
  • Place your holiday book order today using the book list that accompanies this appeal. Give the gift of knowledge to your friends and family.

We hope to see your name very soon on the roster of AET's Year 2001 Choir of Angels! Thank you in advance for your efforts, and let's all ... Make a Difference-Today!

Sincerely,

Rev. L. Humphrey Walz        Amb. Andrew I. Killgore          Richard H. Curtiss
       Chairman                          President                        Executive Editor

 
 

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