Request for support from Daniel Pipes

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Dear Reader: I write to request your financial support for the Middle East Forum, the think tank I founded in 1994 and have since headed. The Forum complements my own work by providing sound analyses and policy recommendations regarding the Middle East and Islam. Whereas many think tanks engage primarily in advocacy (right versus wrong), the Forum develops concrete strategies to advance American interests and defeat radical Islam both at home and abroad. Polemics and apologetics have an important place; the Forum and I, however, are working to find the path to victory over those forces that seek "a world without Israel or America." The Forum has come a long way since it began on my kitchen table fifteen years ago; what has not changed is its readiness to ask the hard questions, to set aside conventional wisdom, and to offer sometimes unwelcome analyses. I founded the Forum as a refuge for critical scholarship amidst the post-Oslo euphoria; our skeptical views about Palestinian readiness for peace, once unfashionable, are now widely accepted. A decade later the Forum and I cautioned against the enthusiasm for fast-tracking democracy in the Middle East; our concern that premature elections would strengthen Islamists has materialized in the Palestinian territories and Iraq. Taking principled, if unpopular, positions remains vital today, too. At a time of an unfocused and passive U.S. policy vis-à-vis Tehran, we call on the president to concentrate on a single, transcendent goal: preventing a nuclear Iran. When words like jihad are scrubbed from the official lexicon, we stress that victory begins with an accurate definition of the enemy. When Washington pressures Israel to accommodate the Palestinians, we urge it to stand by its closest regional ally. As policymakers ignore Turkey's drift away from the West, we warn how profoundly the strategic landscape is being reshaped. While the Forum's first job is writing — both rapid, Internet-based critiques and detailed, journal-based analyses — it has established multiple projects to secure the foundation on which to construct a sound strategy. These initiatives get results: The Washington Project, which monitors the Obama administration's policies in the Middle East, played a significant role in convincing the White House to end its confrontation with Israel over the West Bank "settlements." Campus Watch, which exposes extremism and bias in Middle East studies, revealed the pro-Shari'a statements of Dalia Mogahed, an Obama appointee. Islamist Watch, which combats nonviolent radical Islam, assisted the Minnesota Department of Education by exposing the Minnesota Education Trust's Islamist history. The Legal Project, which provides legal aid for anti-Islamist researchers and activists in danger of having their free speech curtailed, helped a client, Joe Kaufman, win dismissal of a suit against him; according to law professor Eugene Volokh, the ruling carries important implications for the nature of free speech protection in the United States. My article in the current Middle East Quarterly, "Peace Process or War Process," has been widely discussed, notably by Jeff Jacoby in the Boston Globe. The Middle East Forum Education Fund, which supports underfunded scholars and organizations researching the Middle East and Islam, commissioned Phyllis Chesler's comprehensive study on honor killings in the West, a subject of recent headlines; this study has become the standard source of information for such media as Fox News, UPI, and AP. www.DanielPipes.org has now had 53 million page visits in nine years, and Google ranks it among the top websites covering the Middle East, just after such major news sources as Al-Jazeera and CNN. Our opponents' attacks continue to offer evidence of our effectiveness. For example, the Huffington Post denounced the work of the Washington Project's Steven J. Rosen as a "novelty act," even as it bemoans his influence. Due to the economic downturn, Forum funding is significantly reduced, which could force us to cut back on activities. However, we maintain ambitious goals; to continue our efforts at their current level, we need to raise $500,000 by the end of the calendar year. I hope you will help us end 2009 better than we started — and will support the Forum as an investment in our joint future. I look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely, Daniel Pipes P.S. For gifts of $150 and over, we are pleased to offer a signed copy of an important new book, Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America. (For my take on it, click here.) Contributions The Forum is effective, as indicated above. It is a good investment. The Forum is a well-managed, lean, but highly productive operation; our staff of 18 operates on a budget of roughly $1.5 million. It is a 501c3 non-profit; contributions are tax deductible to the fullest extent by law in the United States. It offers donors a range of benefits, such as subscriptions to the Middle East Quarterly and invitations to events. OUR GIFT TO YOU For donations of $150 or more, we are offering a gift (upon request): ___ Please send me a signed copy of Muslim Mafia: Inside the Secret Underworld That's Conspiring to Islamize America by P. David Gaubatz and Paul Sperry. Matching Grant to the MEF from the Koret Foundation The Koret Foundation has awarded us a generous matching grant. For every dollar we raise for Campus Watch and the Legal Project, Koret will contribute $2, up to a total of $50,000. Please let us know if we can direct your gift toward these important projects and count it toward the Koret match. Payment Options (1) CREDIT CARD ONLINE (this is easiest): Visit https://www.meforum.org/participation/ and follow the instructions. (This is a secure, encrypted, form; your personal information cannot be read as it travels over the Internet.) (2) CREDIT CARD BY E-MAIL Copy this text to an e-mail message and send it to donations@meforum.org. Credit card authorization I authorize the Middle East Forum to charge $ ________ to my credit card account, to be used as a contribution to the Forum. __ Please earmark my donation for the Koret Foundation Matching Grant. __ Visa __ MasterCard __ American Express Credit card number ________________________________________________ Expiration Date _________________________ Name of cardholder ________________________________________________ E-mail address ____________________________________________________ Street address _____________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________ (3) PAYPAL You may send your contribution using PayPal, to donations@meforum.org. (For security reasons, we do not link directly to PayPal.) (4) BY CHECK Please make checks payable to "Middle East Forum" and mail them to: Middle East Forum 1500 Walnut Street, Suite 1050 Philadelphia, PA 19102
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