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The idea behind "Take a Pen" is: LET’S INFLUENCE WHAT HAPPENS IN THE MIDDLE EAST, BY WRITING PERSONAL LETTERS! In case you have no experience in letter writing to editors, to the media or to politicians, here are some first ideas how to get started. IT IS EASIER THAN YOU THOUGHT! In order to write an effective letter you do not have to be a professional! YOUR COMMONSENSE is worth more than the tons of information a journalist has if he hasn’t the moral clarity needed. If you want further information on your subject, you are invited to use the sources in our News and Background Articles pages. If you find a clearly distorted report, focus on the main item and formulate a very short letter, POINTING OUT THEIR DISTORTIONS AGAINST YOUR FACTS. You may use also our guidelines. We’ll be happy to assist personally too and we can be reached at chairman@take-a-pen.org and editor@take-a-pen.org The addresses: you’ll probably find the name and address you want in this site. You cannot find the address? Send us an email! Decide about the best way of sending your letter: email, postal letter or fax. Maybe use all of them? Remember: postal letters and faxes have more impact. So START to write NOW! If you want to see an example, here is a text, that has the ingredients of a good letter: To the editor of . . . Sir/Madam Regarding your article of May x, 2002, unfortunately, there are some basic inaccuracies in your article which should be corrected. According to all reliable sources (including human rights organizations, the United Nations, the US State Department and quite a few others), the total death toll from the battle in Jenin was 52. Even the Palestinian hospital in Jenin itself only claims 54 dead. Of these, at least 38 were in uniform and/or armed. Thus, the total number of non-combatants that were killed is at most 14 -16 (and even some of these might have been combatants). This hardly warrants the use of the word "massacre." Comparitavely, Israel lost 24 soldiers in the fighting in Jenin, largely because the battle was waged in a manner that was designed to minimize the loss of human life. The proof of this is in the results, the low number of civilian deaths considering the ferocity of the battle, and the high toll of Israeli dead. Soldiers repeatedly conducted house-to-house searches, rather than use explosives, airpower, and more. There was no massacre, and the "massive" destruction was restricted to a very small area that was booby-trapped by Palestinian gunmen even before Israeli troops entered. If there was a massacre, why is there no physical evidence to back this up? There are no bodies, no graves to match the claims. While one could forgive the media for initial inaccuracies, there is no longer any justification for continuing to print these slanderous remarks. There was NO massacre in Jenin. I suggest your newspaper either print the proof that no one else has been able to find, or retract your accusations
Yours, So go ahead and START to write NOW your first letter. We are sure you will succeed! Don't forget to send us a (blind) copy! |
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