Middle East Forum Explained

Formation:1990
Type:501(c)(3) nonprofit
think tank
Leader Title:President
Leader Name:Daniel Pipes
Abbreviation:MEF
Location:Philadelphia
Revenue:$8.05 million[1]
Revenue Year:2021
Expenses:$6.12 million
Expenses Year:2021

The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative[2] 501(c)(3)[3] think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who serves as its president.[4] MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal, the Middle East Quarterly.

History

The Middle East Forum was founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes as an independent non-profit organization with the mission of “promoting American interests”. The MEF advocates for strong U.S. ties with Turkey, Israel, and other democracies in the region, a stable price for oil, human rights, and peaceful conflict resolutions.[5] It publishes the Middle East Quarterly and runs various advocacy programs.[6] Pipes said in 2003 that "militant Islam is the problem and moderate Islam is the answer",[7] but the left-leaning Center for American Progress and the Southern Poverty Law Center have criticized the MEF for spreading anti-Islamic messages.[8]

Activities

Support for Tommy Robinson

In 2018, the MEF stated that it had been "heavily involved"[9] in the release from prison of British anti-Islam activist and far-right political operative[10] Tommy Robinson, who is best known as a co-founder, former spokesman and former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) organization, and for his service as a political adviser to the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Gerard Batten.[11] They revealed that "the full resources of the Middle East Forum were activated to free Mr. Robinson",[9] which included:conferring with Robinson's legal team and providing necessary funds; funding, organizing and staffing the "Free Tommy" London rallies on June 9 and July 14, which was, they claim, reported by The Times, The Guardian, and The Independent; funding travel of the US congressman, Rep. Paul Gosar, Republican from Arizona, to London to address the rallies; and lobbied Sam Brownback, the State Department's ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, to raise the issue with the UK's ambassador, which he did.[9] [12] The MEF has itself been considered a part of the counter-jihad movement.[13]

Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative reported in 2018 that the MEF had received millions of dollars from Donors Capital Fund ($6,768,000), the William Rosenwald Family Fund, the Middle Road Foundation, and the Abstraction Fund.[14]

Middle East Quarterly

Italic Title:no
Middle East Quarterly
Cover:Middle east quarterly.jpg
Abbreviation:Middle East Q.
Discipline:Middle Eastern studies
Editor:Efraim Karsh
Publisher:Middle East Forum
Country:United States
History:1994–present
Frequency:Quarterly
Openaccess:Yes
Issn:1073-9467
Coden:MEQUFZ
Lccn:94660065
Oclc:644061932
Website:https://www.meforum.org/middle-east-quarterly/
Link1:https://www.meforum.org/middle-east-quarterly/current-issue
Link1-Name:Online access
Link2:http://www.meforum.org/meq/archive.php
Link2-Name:Online archive

Middle East Forum should not be confused with The Middle East Journal.

Middle East Quarterly was founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes and the current editor-in-chief is Efraim Karsh, research professor and former Director of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King's College London.[15]

Reception

In 2002 Juan Cole, a professor at the University of Michigan and a Campus Watch target, accused the journal of making "scurrilous attacks on people".[16] In 2014, Christopher A. Bail of Duke University described it as a "pseudo-academic" journal with editorial board members who share an ideological outlook, adding that while it appears to present legitimate academic research, it is regularly criticized "as a channel for anti-Muslim polemics".[17]

Abstracting and indexing

The journal is abstracted and indexed in:

Campus Watch

In 2002, the Middle East Forum launched an initiative called Campus Watch that it claimed would identify "analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students" within academia.[20] Winfield Myers is the director of Campus Watch.[21]

Initially, Campus Watch published the profile of eight university professors and teachers, who, it said, were "hostile" to America and "preaching dangerous rhetoric to students". This led around 100 professors to accuse Campus Watch of "McCarthyesque" intimidation and ask that their names be listed on Campus Watch too.[22] Subsequently, Campus Watch removed the list from its website.[23] [24]

Israel Victory Project

The Israel Victory Project, launched in 2017, is an initiative aimed at securing an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by putting pressure on Palestinians to end anti-Israel terrorism and acknowledge Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state, rather than through bilateral negotiations. Daniel Pipes has stated that "Peace is not made with enemies; peace is made with former enemies."[25] [26] [27]

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Middle East Forum - Nonprofit Explorer . ProPublica . en . 9 May 2013.
  2. News: Scrutiny Increases for a Group Advocating for Muslims in U.S.. Neil. MacFarquhar. The New York Times. March 14, 2007.
  3. Web site: Middle East Forum . projects.propublica.org . . 22 April 2024.
  4. http://www.fpa.org/topics_info2414/topics_info_show.htm?doc_id=125024 "Middle East Forum"
  5. Web site: April 10, 2002 . American Forum Policy, Islam topic of talk tonight . 2023-12-11 . Newspapers.com . North Adams Transcript . 7 . en.
  6. News: The Islamophobia misinformation experts . Center for American Progress.
  7. Web site: Caruso . David . April 13, 2003 . Peace think tank selection stuns Muslim groups . 2023-12-11 . Newspapers.com . The Atlanta Constitution . A7 . en.
  8. Web site: Pitts . Jonathan . January 18, 2018 . Foreign affairs council won't disinvite critic of 'militant Islam' . 2023-12-11 . Newspapers.com . The Baltimore Sun . A3 . en.
  9. Web site: News from the Middle East Forum . Tommy Robinson Free – MEF Heavily Involved . Middle East Forum . Gregg Roman . 1 August 2018 . 1 June 2019 . en.
  10. Web site: The EDL – Britain's Far Right Social Movement. https://web.archive.org/web/20120121031539/http://www.radicalism-new-media.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/The_EDL_Britains_New_Far_Right_Social_Movement.pdf. 21 January 2012. Radicalism and New Media Research Group, University of Northampton, 22 September 2011. 2 February 2012.
  11. News: This hardline US conservative think tank says it's funding Tommy Robinson rallies in the UK . 14 July 2018 . iNews . Luke . Bailey.
  12. Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution. Ed. Perwee. 2020. Ethnic and Racial Studies. 43. 16 . 211–230. 10.1080/01419870.2020.1749688. 218843237 . free.
  13. Web site: Middle East Forum Factsheet: Islamophobia The Bridge Initiative . Bridge Initiative . . 17 July 2022 . 14 August 2018.
  14. http://www.meforum.org/staff/Efraim+Karsh Biography of Efraim Karsh
  15. Web site: Goldberg . Michelle . Mau-mauing the Middle East . . 2022-05-03 . 2002-09-30.
  16. Book: Bail . Christopher . Terrified : how anti-Muslim fringe organizations became mainstream . 2014 . . 978-0-691-15942-3 . 29–30.
  17. Middle East Quarterly . 1073-9467 . 2022-05-03.
  18. Web site: Source details: Middle East Quarterly . . Scopus Preview . 2022-05-03.
  19. Qtd. from "Mission Statement," in "About Campus Watch", Campus Watch (campus-watch.org), n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.
  20. http://www.meforum.org/staff.php "Who's Who at Campus Watch"
  21. Tanya Schevitz, "Professors Want Own Names Put on Mideast Blacklist", San Francisco Chronicle September 28, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.
  22. Tanya Schevitz, "'Dossiers' Dropped from Web Blacklist", San Francisco Chronicle October 3, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.
  23. Hussam Ayloush, "Column a Slur on Muslim Community", Orange County Register December 1, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.
  24. Web site: Seaman . Daniel . Missing from the election buzz: How to end the conflict . JNS.org . 7 April 2019 . 29 May 2019.
  25. News: "Israel Victory Project" launches new round on Israeli campuses . 29 May 2019 . Israel National News . en.
  26. News: Daniel Pipes and the Israel Victory Project - Arab-Israeli Conflict - Jerusalem Post . 29 May 2019 . www.jpost.com.