CLASS: Anti-Muslim Bigots/Islamophobes
OVERVIEW:
The Middle East Forum, a think tank founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, claims to promote American interests in the Middle East and protects Western values from “Middle Eastern threats”. It focuses on ways to defeat radical Islam; work for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; develop strategies to contain Iran; and deal with advancing anarchy. Domestically, MEF emphasizes the danger of lawful Islamism; protects the freedoms of anti-Islamist authors, and activists; and works to improve Middle East studies.
MEF’s mission is to “promotes American interests in the Middle East and protect Western values from Middle Eastern threats.” It sees the region — with its profusion of dictatorships, radical ideologies, existential conflicts, border disagreements, corruption, political violence, and weapons of mass destruction — as a major source of problems for the United States. Accordingly, we urge bold measures to protect Americans and their allies.
It utilizes the following methods for achieving its goals:
- Operationally, exerting direct influence through its projects (detailed below), each addressing a specific problem.
- Intellectually, providing context, information, insights, and policy recommendations through the Middle East Quarterly, conference calls, staff and fellows writings, lectures, and media appearances — clearing a path to victory over opponents.
- Philanthropically, distributing about $2 million annually in separately earmarked funds through our Education Fund, to about 75 groups and individuals working to promote the Forum’s goals.
- Projects and Activities
- Campus Watch demands academic integrity in North American Middle East studies programs. It reviews and critiques the intellectual roots of bias with the aim of improving education about the Middle East.
- Islamist Watch unveils and combats nonviolent Islamism in the West on the premise that while violent jihad gets headlines, nonviolent jihad — in the media, courts, prisons, and ballot box — gets results. It counters corporate and governmental support of Islamists, tracks tainted campaign contributions, and enhances the presence and influence of anti-Islamist Muslims.
- Jihad-Intel provides local law enforcement with tools to detect and prevent Islamist terrorism, and circumventing the Obama administration’s ban on mentioning Islam.
- The Legal Project protects the public discussion of Islam and related topics. It helps the growing number of individuals, whose livelihood and freedom are threatened by predatory lawsuits and malign government policies. The
- The Washington Project monitors and influences U.S. policy in the Middle East with a special interest in Iran and Israel. Currently, the Washington Project’s main focus is the reform of UNRWA and exposing U.S. government funding of Islamist organizations.
- The Israel Victory Project is a Forum initiative to steer U.S. policy toward backing an Israel victory over the Palestinians to resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict and seeks to convince Palestinians that the Jewish state will endure.
- The Counter Islamist Grid works utilizes a network of associates, each dedicated to a specific metropolitan area across the United States, to expose the impact of lawful Islamist networks operating within local communities.
- Activities
- Speakers Bureau provides knowledgeable speakers capable of relating accurate and balanced information regarding the Middle East and Islam.
- Conference Calls offer leading analysts discussing topical Middle Eastern and Islamic issues every month. Participation is limited to MEF donors but summaries and audio recordings are posted at MEForum.org. [1]
HISTORY:
The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who serves as its president. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal, the Middle East Quarterly
The Middle East Forum, a 501(c)3, has established the Legal Project to protect researchers and analysts who work on the topics of Islam and related topics from lawsuits designed to silence their exercise of free speech and to discuss key issues of public concern. The Legal Project aided Geert Wilders’ legal defense when he faced a criminal indictment for his views in 2009.
In 2018, the MEF boasted that it had been “heavily involved” in the release from prison of British anti-Islam activist and far-right political operative Tommy Robinson, who is best known as a co-founder, former spokesman and former leader of the English Defence League (EDL) organisation, and for his recent service as a political adviser to the leader of the UK Independence Party (UKIP), Gerard Batten. They revealed that “the full resources of the Middle East Forum were activated to free Mr. Robinson”, 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.
Board of Directors: Daniel Pipes, Steven Levy, Joshua Katzen, Lawrence Hollin, Gregg Roman, Lawrence Gould, Richard Irving, Andrew Lappin, Harley Lippman, Judy Friedman Rosen, Scott Rosenblum, James H.M. Sprayregen, David P. Steinmann, Wilma G. Aeder, Jack Bershad, Marc Paul Blum, Janet Doerflinger, David E. Edman, Marc Epstein, Donald G. Ginsberg, Stanley D. Ginsburg, Brian Grodman, Gaye Slater Gross, Warren Grover, Robert Immerman, Georgette Joffe, Lawrence J. Kanter, Timothy Kapshandy, Arthur Karafin, Joshua Landes, Joel Levine, Robert J. Levine, Peter B. Levy, Margo Spitz Marbut, Adam Milstein, Mort Mower, James Pollack, Adrienne Price, Rick Richman, Howard Rosenbloom, Josiah Rotenberg, Milton S. Schneider, Lindy L. Snider, Hilary Till, Dr. Yehuda Baskin, Sam E. Beller, Howard Bleich, Susan Gardos Bleich, Richard Calmas, Howard M. Casper, Roger A. Gerber, Esq., Benjamin H. Gordon, James Kahn, David J. Kudish, Murray S. Levin, Michael Mooreville, Herbert J. Nevyas, Irene Pipes, Mark H. Rubin, William Seltzer, Joseph Shafran, David Shifrin, Orna Shulman, Marilyn Stern, Jonathan Torop, George A. Violin, David W. Wachs, Michael A. Weiss, Maxine Wolf, Joseph S. Zuritsky
Fellows: Rafael Bardaji, Burak Bekdil, Todd Bensman, A.J. Caschetta, Phyllis Chesler, Mark Durie, Cynthia Farahat, Tarek Fatah, Seth J. Frantzman, Michel Gurfinkiel, Joseph M. Humire, Raymond Ibrahim, Efraim Inbar, Alexander Joffe, Gal Luft, Asaf Romirowsky, Philip Carl Salzman, Wolfgang G. Schwanitz, Joseph Morrison Skelly, Jonathan Spyer, Raymond Stock, Michael Totten
Staff: Daniel Pipes, Gregg Roman, Benjamin Baird, Caitriona Brady, Marc Fink, Gary Gambill, Judy Goodrobb, Efraim Karsh, EJ Kimball, Micah Levinson, Oren Litwin, Marnie Meyer, Winfield Myers, Thelma Prosser, David J. Rusin, Danny Seaman, Kyle Shideler, Clifford Smith, Cinnamon Stillwell, Sam Westrop, Delaney Yonchek
Funders: Donors Capital Fund, DonorsTrust, Fairbrook Foundation, Abraham Kamber Foundation, Klarman Family Foundation, MZ Foundation, Robert A. Immerman Family Foundation, The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Schwab Charitable Fund.
Address: 1650 Market Street, Suite 3600, Philadelphia, PA 19103
Website: https://www.meforum.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Middle.East.Forum
Twitter: https://twitter.com/meforum
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCc9cGV … SSxBwLMi5A
Contact: info@meforum.org and (215) 546-5406