F L A M E : Responding to Worldwide Islamic Terror

“The United States is the only country in the world that
is fairly consistently sympathetic with and supportive of Israel. The
Europeans, particularly, who came near to destroying Judaism entirely,
are, to their shame, almost uniformly hostile to Israel...”

Responding to Worldwide Islamic Terror
December, 2002

Dear Friend of Israel, dear Friend of FLAME:

As of today, more than 1,000 Israelis have been killed in the current “Al Aksa intifada.” Many more thousands have been wounded and cruelly traumatized for life. As I am writing these lines, another suicide “martyr” has just killed ten Israelis and has wounded over fifty (many of whom are probably also going to die) on a bus in Jerusalem. All that is ultimately the doing of Yasser Arafat. The Israelis, who are supposed to be so smart, allowed this scoundrel to return to Israel from his exile in Tunis – in order to be a “partner for peace” and for the creation of a Palestinian state, a peaceful neighbor alongside Israel.

But that was never in the cards. The whole Oslo peace process was a sham foisted on the world by the Arabs, to raise false hopes for peace, hopes for a final resolution of the century-old conflict between Jews and Arabs.

Within less than a month of the famous handshake, the “Palestinians” started on a killing spree against the Jews. Arafat, always reassuring his Western audiences of his peaceful intentions, never ceased to be quite blunt abut his true intentions when he talked to Arab audiences. The goal has never changed: It always was and still is the destruction of the Jewish state; the killing, exiling of all the Jews or driving them into the sea; and the creation of a “Palestinian state from the river to the sea.” The meaning of that is quite clear, of course. It means the destruction, the elimination of Israel.

We have been most skeptical of the Oslo process from the very beginning and have published a number of hasbarah (educational and clarifying) messages about it in major national media. While the world, many Israelis, Jews in the U.S. and all over the whole world were almost giddy with excitement that the millennium had finally arrived, we looked at the situation much more soberly and published a series of messages about it in major national media. We warned against the pitfalls of the process and about the treachery of Arafat and his “Palestinians.” I include one of those messages (our #57, “The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Process,” Exhibit 1), as the fourth page of this letter. We published it about two years after the famous handshake. You will have to give us credit for having been prescient and that our skepticism was warranted.

In the ten years in which the Oslo process unfolded, and especially during the last three years of the “Al Aksa intifada,” we published several additional hasbarah messages warning against the dangers and about the treachery and the betrayal by the “Palestinians” and especially by Arafat, who, now as then, is the thuggish leader of the “Palestinians” and their extensive terrorist apparatus. Our warnings seem to have hit the spot and seem to have influenced major sectors of the public and of the government. You will have noted that both President Bush and the usually Arab-friendly Department of State have now completely marginalized Arafat, have never invited him to the U.S., and have tacitly agreed to the Israelis holding him as a virtual prisoner in his Ramallah compound.

If you wish to refer to other messages on the so-called peace process, I direct you especially to messages #61 and #63 — in addition to #57, which I include as Exhibit 1 with this letter.

The United States is the only country in the world that is fairly consistently sympathetic with and supportive of Israel. The Europeans, particularly, who came near to destroying Judaism entirely, are, to their shame, almost uniformly hostile to Israel; they excuse or even condone the barbaric acts that are being committed by the Palestinians with numbing frequency. They do little or nothing to combat the ever-growing anti-Semitism in their countries, which is stoked to a large extent by their ever-growing Muslim populations.

It is of existential importance to Israel that the good will of the United States toward the Jewish state be maintained and if possible enhanced. That is our job and, false modesty aside, I believe that we have been and are doing it well. We have now close to 30,000 supporters in the United States, which makes us one of the major Jewish organizations in this country. I am happy to say that a substantial percentage of our donors are Christians, whose love for Israel is unmatched, a love that we help to preserve and to foster.

As you know, FLAME’s purpose, as stated in every one of our messages, is:

...the 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 fulfill this purpose by bringing, in an ongoing and systematic manner, the truth about Israel and about the Middle East to the attention of the American people. We do that by publishing our messages monthly in major national magazines (such as US News and World Report, The New Republic, The National Review, The Washington Times National Weekly, The Weekly Standard, World Magazine, and quite a few others), in select metropolitan newspapers, in over fifty small-town newspapers all across the United States, and in several Jewish publications here and in Israel.

We work with absolute minimum overhead and have never paid executive salaries. We are the only Jewish philanthropic organization that, without urging, makes its yearly financial statements routinely available to its donors. You can be sure that your donation to FLAME, to this important cause, will be used in almost its entirety to bring the facts about Israel and the truth about the Middle East to the American people. What could be more important?

In this connection, I include as Exhibit 2 a letter from Charity Navigator, America’s premier independent evaluator of charities and philanthropies. Without having solicited it and without any payment on our part, this organization has granted us their coveted 4-star (highest) rating – a recognition that we “…excel, as compared to other charities in America, in the area of strong fiscal management.” That should be reassuring to you. To repeat: we have not solicited this evaluation, and have not contributed nor will contribute any funds to this rating organization. In fact, they wouldn’t accept any such contribution even if we offered it.

What we are doing is very expensive. For instance, our monthly ad in US News and World Report alone costs us $20,000. That is only one of many publications; there are many more, of course.

If you agree with what we are doing, if you too believe that keeping the American public truthfully informed about Israel, I ask you to open your heart and your pocketbook and make as generous a contribution as you can possibly afford. It will enable us to continue and hopefully to enhance our important work. You know of course that FLAME is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. All contributions are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

Thank you on behalf of myself and on behalf of the members of our Board of Directors and our Board of Advisors for your support, for your solidarity, and for your generosity.

Shalom and sincerely yours,

Gerardo Joffe, President

PS1: As of this writing, Israel has exchanged hundreds of Arab criminal prisoners for the bodies of three Israeli soldiers and for one live Israeli businessman. While the concern of Israel for its soldiers and for hostages is admirable, we must strongly disagree with this action. It is totally lopsided , it is being interpreted as weakness and can’t help but encourage more killings and kidnappings. Further, Ron Arad, an Israeli airman, who has been held prisoner and hostage (probably by Iran) for many years is still being held and, if alive, will most likely be offered in exchange for five hundred additional Arab prisoners or more.

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.

PS4: Many supporters have suggested that I once more bring my autobiographical book “Weaned on Carrot Juice” to your attention. Therefore, I have asked the publisher, Advance Books, to include a flyer on the book with this letter. It is really a quite gripping, humorous and thought-provoking story. You’ll like it!

PS5: Finally, I also include copies of our hasbarah message #82, “The Fence,” just in case it hasn’t come to your attention (Exhibit 3) and #83, “The Geneva Accord,” (Exhibit 4), both of which are running currently in major national media. I hope that you agree with the positions taken – especially the validity of the “Fence” and with Israel’s right to built it.

Return to top of page>>