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Dear Friend of Israel, dear Friend of FLAME: There seems to be no end to the outrages. Despite Israel’s unceasing efforts to bring about peace with the Palestinians and despite the perhaps twenty different “plans” that have been proposed to the Arabs to make peace, nothing will satisfy them, nothing will keep them from their murderous rampages. No concessions will suffice. In their assaults so far, close to over 1,000 Israelis have died and tens of thousands have been wounded, many of them grievously maimed for life. The most disastrous of these concessions has probably been the “peace” accord with Egypt, which was engineered by President Jimmy Carter. In that accord, Israel foolishly yielded the vast Sinai peninsula to Egypt, together with two thriving cities; producing oil fields (developed by Israel, of course), that would have made Israel independent of oil imports and would have represented huge savings; the strategic port of Sharm-el-Sheik; two militarily indispensable mountain passes, and more. What did Israel get in return? Did it get the peace it so much desired? No – it’s true that there has been no war with Egypt since the signing of the accord, but the “peace” is the coldest possible. There hasn’t been an Egyptian ambassador in Israel for three years. There are virtually no relations of any kind – political or commercial. But most ominously, Egypt (sad to say, with the wholehearted assistance of the United States), has armed itself with the deadliest and most modern weapons. Those weapons are most certainly not destined for war against Sudan, Libya or Chad. All guns, all missiles, are pointing toward Israel, ready for another surprise attack just like that of the Yom Kippur War. An about equally disastrous agreement was the so-called Oslo Accord, by which Israel committed the unbelievable folly of bringing Yasser Arafat back from his Tunisian exile and giving legitimacy to the PLO. The PLO, under Arafat’s leadership, has committed countless crimes in Israel and all over the world, not the least of which was the murder of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics. Most catastrophic, the Oslo Accord spawned the current intifada, with all the misery it has brought – not just to the Israelis, but also to the Palestinians. All those plans, all those accords, have been based on one gigantic fallacy, namely that the Arabs can be appeased, that they can be motivated to live peacefully, side-by-side with Israel if only the right “concessions” are made to them. But that is obvious nonsense, and it seems unbelievable that smart people of good will – in Israel, in the United States, and, indeed, all over the world, try to think of ever-new concessions that would appease the Arabs. The bitter reality that most people, even Israel itself,
find difficult to grasp is that short of Israel’s complete disappearance,
absolutely nothing will satisfy the Arabs. If Israel were to cede the
entire land, except perhaps for one small corner of the Negev desert,
it still would not suffice. For the hated infidel Jews to play a dominate
role in even one square inch of “sacred Arab soil,” is unacceptable.
It is an abomination, a grave religious affront that cannot be tolerated. “. . .the real aim of the Arab countries has always been. . .the total destruction of the state of Israel. . .even if we withdrew far beyond the 1967 borders…they would still try to destroy us. We are duty-bound to admit this truth…and to clarify it to all men of good will who are inclined to evade it. We must face this truth in all its harshness so that we may tap, among ourselves and among the Jewish people, all the resources necessary to overcome our enemies.” The latest plan, presented by Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon, is the evacuation of Jews from Gaza. He quite clearly proposed that under enormous pressure from the United States. His own Likud party overwhelmingly rebuffed this initiative, but it won’t go away – it will be resuscitated. The United States, primarily its people and the Congress that represents them (but not the State Department, which is traditionally staffed by Arabists) is the only real friend that Israel has in the world. The Europeans, who actively and passively participated in the Holocaust that almost terminated the Jewish people, are staunchly and often quite nastily opposed to Israel. One wonders why. It can’t really be disapproval of Israeli policies, because Israel is the only country in the entire Middle East and beyond that governs itself by democratic principles and uses kid gloves, even though real show of force could end its miseries and its casualties once and for all. One must assume that it is the deadly virus of anti-Semitism, which many thought to have perished in the ruins and ashes of the Third Reich, that has now resurfaced with fresh vigor. And, of course, it is socially much more acceptable today to be anti-Israeli than being anti-Semitic. But make no mistake: it’s the same thing, under a different name. Although a few diehards have tried to whip up anti-Semitism in our country – the current thrust is that the Jews have influenced the President to go to war against Iraq – such bigotry has made little headway. We certainly don’t wish to take undue credit, but surely, our more than fifteen years of telling the truth about Israel has certainly contributed to the American people’s favorable view about the Jewish state. As you know, we publish monthly hasbarah (educational and clarifying) messages in major national publications – magazines such as US News & World Report, The New Republic, The Weekly Standard, The American Spectator, The National Review, Human Events and others; the Washington Times and an ever-changing array of metropolitan newspapers; about fifty small-town newspapers all across the United States; and in a number of Jewish newspaper in this country and in Israel. Our mission, as stated in each of our messages is: “. . . research and publication of the facts regarding developments in the Middle East and exposing false propaganda that might harm the interests of the United States and its allies in that area of the world.” We are doing this and have done this for over fifteen years and we believe that by doing so, we have rendered a significant service to the American people, to the Jewish community in the United States, and to the people of Israel. Our activities and our finances are totally transparent. Without any urging, we make financial information available to our donors every year. Our financial statement for the year ending December 31, 2003, the latest available, is included (page 4 of this letter). As you can see, we work with a minimum of overhead. You will also be pleased and reassured to know that we have been accorded the coveted 4-Star rating (the highest), by Charity Navigator, a philanthropic rating organization, for “…excelling, as compared to other charities, in the area of sound fiscal management.” We are totally dependent on individual contributors such as you to do our important work. If you agree with us, please show us your solidarity by making a (hopefully generous) contribution to our organization today. FLAME is of course a 501(c)(3) philanthropic organization; all contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law. I hope that I can count on your support now, just as I have in the past. Shalom and sincerely yours, PS1: Just in case they have not come to your attention, I include two of our most recent hasbarah messages, including our most recent one “Abandoning Gaza.” PS2: If you would like to get updated information from us from time to time, please give us your E-mail address in the space provided on the enclosed transmittal card. PS3: Please mark the appropriate box on the transmittal card and consider pledging a given amount per month, for a twelve-month period. Also, consider a gift of appreciated securities, which has many tax advantages to you. And finally, please consider remembering us in your will, thus further assuring the continuity and the survival of FLAME.
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