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The Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI for short, is a Middle Eastern press monitoring organization located in Washington, D.C., with branch offices in Jerusalem, Berlin, London, and Tokyo. It provides translations of Arabic and persian media as well as original analyses of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.

MEMRI was founded in 1998 by its president Yigal Carmon, a retired colonel from Israeli military intelligence, and the academic Dr. Meyrav Wurmser. The organization became more prominent after the September 11, 2001 attacks, due to increased Western public interest in Arab and Iranian affairs. At that time, it expanded its staff considerably, setting up new branches outside the United States in early 2002.

MEMRI is one of the few free sources of English language translations of material published in Arabic and Persian. MEMRI publishes its translations, analyses, and in-depth reports on its Web site. MEMRI is regularly quoted by major international newspapers. The organization has attracted both criticism and support for its work.

Objectives and projects

MEMRI's "about us" page states, "The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Persian, and Turkish media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East."

MEMRI's translated articles and media analysis focus on the following areas:

  • Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project
  • U.S. And the Middle East
  • Reform in the Middle East and North Africa
  • Arab-Israeli Conflict
  • Inter-Arab Relations
  • Antisemitism Documentation Project

Staff

In its original website of 1998, MEMRI listed 6 staff members: its President and cofounder Yigal Carmon, cofounder Meyrav Wurmser (Executive Director), Aaron Mannes (Director of Research), Yotam Feldner (Director of Media Analysis), Stacey Lakind (Research Associate), and Aluma Solnick (Research Associate). Stacey Lakind left in late 1998, and Aaron Mannes in early 2001; the others were still MEMRI staff as of October 5, 2001, when MEMRI stopped listing its employees on its website. Meyrav Wurmser left in early 2002 to join the Hudson Institute; she was replaced as Executive Director by Steven Stalinsky.

It now has a much larger number of employees ("17, plus translators" in January 2002 , "over 30" in August 2002 of which 20 translators, current number unknown); citing bomb threats, it provides no information on their identities, beyond stating that they are "of different nationalities" and sometimes including by-lines on reports. Yigal Carmon has stated that "...staff include people of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths and they hold a range of political views"

Prominent staff

  • Yigal Carmon — MEMRI's President. He served in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) Intelligence Branch from 1968 to 1988. From 1977 to 1982 he was the Acting Head of Civil Administration in Judea and Samaria and the Advisor on Arab Affairs to the Civil Administration. Following Col. Carmon's retirement from the IDF he was advisor to Premiers Shamir and Rabin for Countering Terrorism from 1988 to 1993. In 1991 and 1992 he was a senior member of the Israeli Delegation to peace negotiations with Syria in Madrid and Washington.
  • Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli received a Ph.D. in development planning from the University of Michigan. He spent most of his professional career at the World Bank, and has consulted for the International Monetary Fund. Dr. Raphaeli, an Iraqi-born, joined the Middle Media Research Institute (MEMRI)as a senior analyst in 2001.
  • Prof. Menahem Milson (Academic Advisor), is a professor at Hebrew University in Arabic literature, and has served as head of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. He has published extensively on modern Egyptian writers. His book on Egypt's great humanist, Najib Mahfuz - Najib Mahfuz: The Novelist-Philosopher of Cairo appeared in 1998.

Financial support

MEMRI is registered in the US with the IRS as a 501(c)3, which means that it is exempt from federal taxation on income. Jay Nordlinger wrote, in the National Review, that "MEMRI exists entirely on private donations — there are about 250 donors, including some foundations — and will not accept any government money, as a matter of policy."

MediaTransparency highlights donors such as the Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation, $100,000 (for the "support of general operations"); the Randolph Foundation, $100,000; the Harold Grinspoon Foundation, (per annual report, for "Israel advocacy"); the Koret Foundation, $20,000 (per annual report: "for Israel advocacy and education"); the Ronald & Mary Ann Lachman Foundation, $7,500; and the John M. Olin Foundation, $5000 (for the "Jihad and Terrorism Project").

MEMRI's income statement (06/2004) states that its' total revenue was US$2,571,899, its' total functional expenses were US$2,254,990, and that it possessed net assets of US$700,784. It has been given a four-star (exceptional) rating by Charity Navigator, meaning that it "..exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its Cause".

Controversy

Criticism

Brian Whitaker, the Middle East editor for the UK Guardian newspaper wrote that "the stories selected by Memri for translation follow a familiar pattern: either they reflect badly on the character of Arabs or they in some way further the political agenda of Israel," that MEMRI's "tweaks, cuts and mistranslations always seem to point in the same political direction," and that MEMRI's "political agenda, and the deceitful way Yigal Carmon go about promoting it "bothers him".

Ibrahim Hooper, a director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, stated in the Washington Times that "MEMRI's intent is to find the worst possible quotes from the Muslim world and disseminate them as widely as possible."

Hussein Ibish, a spokesman for the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee comments that "There is of course some horrific stuff in the Arab press, but one tends to forget that the American press can also be very nasty. MEMRI performs a useful function but unfortunately they have a pro-Israel, right-wing agenda."

William Rugh, former US ambassador to the United Arab Emirates and Yemen, describes MEMRI as a service which "does not present a balanced or complete picture of the Arab print media. ...Quotes are selected to portray Arabs as preaching hatred against Jews and westerners, praising violence and refusing any peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue."

Ken Livingstone, former British MP and the current Mayor of London, has accused MEMRI of "outright distortion". In the foreword to a report he commissioned to explain his reasons for meeting with controversial Muslim scholar Yusuf al-Qaradawi, he states his opinion that MEMRI "tend to portray Islam in a very negative light."

Response to Criticism

Yigal Carmon, MEMRI President, has responded to various claims of critics:

  • Claims of an agenda: "You are right: we do have an agenda. As an institute of research, we want Memri to present translations to people who wish to be informed on the ideas circulating in the Middle East. We aim to reflect reality. If knowledge of this reality should benefit one side or another, then so be it."
  • Claims of selectivity:
"We aim to reflect main trends of thought and when possible general public opinion. We feature the most topical issues on the Middle Eastern or international agenda...We also translate discussions on social issues, such as the status of women in Egypt (Special Dispatches 392, 393, January 2002) and debates on Al-Jazeera TV which reach an estimated 60 million viewers. When controversial matters are aired before such a large audience, Memri does not need to fight shy of translating their contents.
Are the examples chosen extreme? While some of the topics covered do seem extreme to the western reader, they are an accurate representation of what appears in the Arab and Farsi media.
If mainstream papers repeatedly publish the Jewish blood libel; accuse Jews and Americans of deliberately spreading Aids or the US of dropping genetically modified foods with the intention of harming people in Afghanistan (the latter allegation made by no less than the editor in chief of the most important government daily in Egypt) Memri is entitled to translate these articles.
There are even more extreme views - like those expressed by most Islamist organisations - which we rarely translate." ...
"Memri has never claimed to 'represent the view of the Arabic media', but rather to reflect, through our translations, general trends which are widespread and topical. You accused us of distortion by omission but when asked to provide examples of trends and views we have missed, you have failed to answer."

Support

Thomas L. Friedman, a political opinion columnist for the New York Times, credits MEMRI with helping to "shine a spotlight on hate speech wherever it appears" and "presenting the voices of the...courageous Arab or Muslim intellectual, cleric or columnist (who) publishes an essay in his or her media calling on fellow Muslims to deal with the cancer in their midst. The truth tellers' words also need to be disseminated globally." Friedman quotes Husain Haqqani, author of the book 'Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military': "The rulers in these countries have no interest in amplifying the voices of moderates because the moderates often disagree with the rulers as much as they disagree with the extremists...You have to deal us moderates into the game by helping to amplify our voices and exposing the extremists and their amen corner."

Brad Sherman, a Congressman and ranking member of the United States House of Representatives International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Non-proliferation, wrote the introduction to a MEMRI report on Arab and Iranian reactions to 9/11: "Since MEMRI's inception eight years ago, Americans and others in the West have had at least one outstanding source of information on the media of the Arab world, Iran and Turkey. MEMRI provides timely translations of materials that you will find nowhere else. As a member of Congress on the House International Relations Committee, and the top Democratic member of its Terrorism Subcommittee, I have utilized MEMRI.org to better understand the Middle East and its political culture."

References

  1. ^ MEMRI About Us, Memri.org, accessed July 23 2006
  2. Jewish Journal jewishjournal.com, January 18 2002
  3. ^ Email debate: Yigal Carmon and Brian Whitaker at Guardian Unlimited, January 28 2003 Cite error: The named reference "Debate" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  4. Thanks for the MEMRI (.org) Jay Nordlinger, National Review, September 13 2004, accessed July 23 2006
  5. ^ Recipient Grants report on MEMRI, MediaTransparency.org, accessed July 23 2006
  6. the Harold Grinspoon Foundation 2002-2004, accessed July 23 2006
  7. Koret Foundation: Catalyst Spring 2005, accessed July 23 2006
  8. The Ronald and Mary Ann Lachman Foundation, accessed July 23 2006
  9. Charity Navigator, Charity Navigator Rating - The Middle East Media Research Institute
  10. ^ Brian Whitaker, Selective Memri, Guardian Unlimited, August 12, 2002.
  11. , Marc Perelman, No Longer Obscure, MEMRI Translates the Arab World: But Detractors Say a Right-Wing Agenda Distorts Think-Tank's Service to Journalists, Forward, December 7, 2001.
  12. Brian Whitaker, Language matters, Guardian Unlimited, September 28, 2005
  13. "Propaganda that widens the Arab-West divide - Gained in translation". Le Monde Diplomatique. October 2005. See in French (freely available) "Traduction ou trahison? Désinformation à l'israélienne". Le Monde Diplomatique. October 2005. (Persian translation also available for free here)
  14. Mayor of London Press Release
  15. Giving the Hatemongers No Place to Hide reprinted in Der Spiegel Online
  16. Introduction to the MEMRI Compilation on the Arab and Iranian Reactions to 9/11

See also

External links

MEMRI Web sites

Controversy

Categories: