A Desperate Yet Hopeful Fundraising Appeal

If my work has found favor in your eyes…please lend me your support

Dear Friend, Reader, and Supporter:

Welcome to my first-ever annual fundraising letter. I urgently need your help in order to continue my work. Donations are tax-deductible and can be made to my not-for-profit organization: The Phyllis Chesler Organization. You may send funds through paypal at my website: www.phyllis-chesler.com Or, you may send a check to the not-for-profit Phyllis Chesler Organization c/o my lawyers:

Bender and Rosenthal
451 Park Avenue South
NYC 10016

As you know, I have been doing cutting-edge work on the front lines for many years, as an author, lecturer, media interviewee and blogger. In the early 1970s, I was among the first to speak out against anti-Semitism on the American left and among feminists and progressives. In the mid- to late 70s, I worked hard to defeat the Zionism=Racism mindset at the United Nations. I also worked with groups in Israel. More recently, I had to condemn anti-Semitism more publicly, and in writing. Thus, since the Second Intifada, I was, again, among the handful who first spoke out against anti-Semitism and the demonization of both America and Israel; against jihad and Islamic terrorism; about Islamic gender and religious apartheid; and especially about the betrayal of the truth—indeed, of the “Palestinianization” of the world’s leading progressives, academics, and activists.

I was among the very first who described what happened at Fort Hood as an “act of jihad” and “terrorism” and the first who explained that Major Hasan committed mass murder because he is a jihadist, not because he is “mentally ill.” I spoke about this on CNN on the Lou Dobbs program and I also challenged President Obama for not describing this as an act of jihadic terrorism.

I published the first study which compared honor killings to western domestically violent femicide in Middle East Quarterly. This study received serious attention and led to predictable controversy. I am about to publish my second study about this phenomenon in Middle East Quarterly as well. I served as the only on-air expert for a FOX documentary about honor killings in America. I have also been interviewed by the media and by law enforcement officials on this topic since it is of growing concern in the West and has serious implications for North American and western immigration policies. I have just been quoted in the Canadian media about Canada’s new Guide for Immigrants, which notes that “barbaric customs” such as “honor killings and honor-related violence” is against the law in Canada. I intend to continue researching and speaking out on this issue.

I have been publishing books and articles for more than forty years. They have always been well and widely reviewed. This all changed in 2003, when I published my twelfth book, The New Anti-Semitism. Then, I suddenly became persona non grata in my publishing, media, activist, and social circles. In 2005, when I published my thirteenth book, The Death of Feminism, I condemned feminist leaders for having abandoned a universalist vision of human rights in favor of multi-cultural relativism. This meant that feminists would do anything to avoid being called “racists” or “Islamophobes.” Many feminists focused obsessively on the quintessential evil of Israel and America and, in so doing, sacrificed the cause of women’s rights both here and in the developing, Muslim world.

And thus, in 2003, I began writing for Frontpage magazine, City Journal, the Washington Times, Intellectual Conservative, National Review, and Pajamas Media where I am now happily ensconced.

I was no longer welcome at my old haunts such as the New York Times and Los Angeles Times. I still occasionally published pieces in the Times of London, the London Guardian, and Canada’s Globe and Mail. The usual mainstream media opportunities were no longer mine to claim nor were the old watering holes.
Mind you: I have no regrets about being censored, blackballed, marginalized, or demonized as a “neo-conservative” or as an “Islamophobe.” Anyone who isn’t similarly demonized is part of the problem.

But here’s my particular route to glory.

From 2001 on, I was the first among us to write about a possible second Holocaust of Jews in Israel; the first to challenge the danger of memorializing a previous Holocaust instead of saving people from current and future Holocausts; among the first to warn of the Iranian threat; among the first to begin documenting the systematic bias against Israel, Jews, and America in the mainstream media, in the academy, and among progressives, including feminists; the first to begin a systematic study of Islamic gender apartheid as it has penetrated the West in the form of honor killings and honor-related violence. I was among the handful who first analyzed the dangerous biases against Israel and America at the United Nations and among human rights groups; the first to write about the psychoanalytic roots of Islamic suicide terrorism and the psychological dimension of jihad.

I have lectured about this both here and abroad as a keynote speaker and as a panelist. I’ve done media interviews. I’ve written articles. And, I’ve conducted original research.

I have also hosted informal “salons” in my home so that visiting thinkers and activists can present their views in an intimate setting. For example, I’ve hosted and interviewed speakers from around the world including Seyran Ates, Paul Berman, Nonie Darwish, Bassam Eid, Brigitte Gabriel, Tareq Heggy, Ibn Warraq, Alan Johnson, Philippe Karsenty, Nancy H. Kobrin, Irshad Manji, Nidra Poller, Fred Siegel, Sol Stern, etc. And, I’ve worked with Aayan Hirsi Ali, Zeinab al-Suweij, Zeyno Baran, Valentina Colombo, Irwin Cotler, Leon de Winter, Manda Zand Ervin, Tawfik Hamid, David Horowitz, Douglas Murray, Daniel Pipes, Natan Sharansky, Wafa Sultan, Ruth Wisse, and many others on panels and at conferences.

It is crucial that I continue to inform Americans and Westerners about the danger of jihad and terrorism, and about the nature of Islamic gender and religious apartheid. However, it is just as important to find, work with, and support Muslim and ex-Muslim dissidents and feminists. Our lives depend upon our doing both.

I absolutely cannot continue without your help. I hope you can donate generously at this time. No check will be too small. All donations will be acknowledged and appreciated. For donations of $500.00 or more I will sign a copy of one of my books (your choice) and mail it to you.

Please visit my website at www.phyllis-chesler.com and read some of my work. You may also visit Pajamas Media where I blog at: http://pjmedia.com/phyllischesler

Bless you and thank you for reading my work.

All best,
Dr. Phyllis