Dear Friends and Comrades,

When I came on board at MERIP in 2024 the task at hand was clear: find ways to engage our audience and our supporters more deeply and remain accessible to a wide audience. We’ve come a long way in accomplishing that goal. Our new website, almost a year old, is easier to use and read. The MERIP Podcast is averaging 1,000 downloads a month. We are organizing live and online events with partners in the US and UK. All of this development is happening while Middle East Report and our Current Analysis articles remain some of the most critical, accessible and trusted sources of information on the region in a moment of profound crisis. 

All of this work has been with an eye toward shoring up our organization in a perilous time for publications across the industry. Now, thanks to the support of our readers and partners, MERIP is in a position to build for the future. We are kicking off our fall fundraising campaign with one goal, to bring Middle East Report back into print for the first time since 2020. 

Here's how it will work:

First, this is not a paywall. All of our articles will appear online first and remain free for all to read. Making MERIP an accessible resource for education and understanding is a bedrock commitment. We won't back down on that.

Second, this is a gift, not a subscription. When we come back to print, copies will be mailed directly, on a quarterly basis, to all of our donors whose monthly recurring gifts are at the $10 level, or higher. Our ability to bring MER back into print hinges on driving up our monthly recurring donors from its current level to about 250.

If you can become a recurring donor today, here is our promise:

All monthly donors at the $10 level will receive a MERIP tote bag with our classic logo designed by Palestinian artist Kamal Boullata.

All monthly donors at the $20 level will receive their choice of poster from our recent covers (as seen here, while supplies last).

All monthly donors at the $30 level (and above) will receive a poster AND a tote bag!

Last thing: If we reach our goal of 250 recurring donors by the end of this campaign, we will deliver a special print volume featuring the best essays from Middle East Report since 2020 to all our monthly donors in the fall of 2027.

The future of MERIP depends on building a community of readers who support the work we’re doing to bring accessible and critical research, analysis and reporting on the region to the world, without paywalls. I hope you’ll join us. 

In Solidarity,

James Ryan
Executive Director