The Militant (logo)  
   Vol. 68/No. 19           May 18, 2004  
 
 
$51,000 to go in last two weeks of ‘Militant’ fund
 
BY PATRICK O’NEILL  
“We made a big leap toward our goal of $3,500 at a fundraiser on May 2,” said Tony Dutrow from Houston. “The collection took us to almost $2,500 paid.” At the meeting, Sam Manuel, a Militant staff writer, spoke about U.S. imperialism’s worldwide offensive, calling for the immediate withdrawal of U.S. and other occupying troops from Iraq. “Manuel took on the self-serving liberal claim that the invasion and occupation of Iraq are ‘Bush’s war’—a statement designed to herd votes for the Democratic Party presidential campaign of John Kerry, who supports the occupation,” said Dutrow.

This kind of spirit, concentrated work, and attention to detail is needed from supporters around the world to collect the remaining $51,000 in pledges for the Militant fund drive in the next two weeks. This is a major challenge, since $42,000 has been collected in the previous six weeks. But it is doable.

At a fundraiser in Chicago the same weekend, Militant staff writer Paul Pederson spoke on “Resisting the Israeli Regime’s Military Boot: the Palestinian Struggle for National Liberation.” In the discussion that followed, one person asked why the Israeli regime receives such wide support in the United States—a reference to open backing for the colonial-settler state by successive U.S. governments. Pederson said that Tel Aviv serves as a bulwark for imperialist domination in the Middle East. He also described how Israel is a death trap for the Jews. The 30 participants contributed $750.

Through similar events, discussions on the job and at plant gates, collections at street tables set up to sell socialist literature, and phone banking to reach every person who has made pledges and others, it will be possible to meet the $85,000 goal by the May 17 deadline. In fact, all supporters should shoot for collecting and sending in every penny of the $93,000 that has already been pledged internationally.

New Militant readers, the big majority of the 1,600 people who have bought subscriptions the last six weeks, are especially urged to consider making a donation.

The fund drive provides a big slice of the annual budget of the Militant and its sister magazine in Spanish, Perspectiva Mundial. It helps cover the weekly expenses of producing, printing, and shipping the two publications, along with trips by reporters around the world. It is also needed to meet the larger subsidy for an expanding subscription base. Prices of introductory subs were reduced earlier this year to $5—just below the cost of printing and shipping—to tap into the growing interest among working people and increase the short- and long-term readership of the socialist press.

To make a contribution, send a check or money order payable to “The Militant,” and mail it to 306 W. 37th Street, 10th floor, New York, NY 10018.

See fund drive chart  
 
 
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