Middle East Monitor

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Middle East Monitor
Founded1 July 2009
Location
ProductTranslation and original analysis services
MethodMedia monitoring
Websitemiddleeastmonitor.com

The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) is a not-for-profit press monitoring organisation[1] and lobbying group[2][3] that emerged in mid 2009.[4] MEMO is largely focused on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, but writes about other issues in the Middle East as well. MEMO is pro-Palestinian in orientation[5][6][7] and supports Islamist causes.[8][9] MEMO is regarded as an outlet for the Muslim Brotherhood[10][11] and its website strongly promotes pro-Hamas related content.[12][13]

MEMO is financed by the State of Qatar.[14][15] Daud Abdullah, former assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, serves as the director of the organization.[16]

Events

In June 2011, MEMO organized a speaking tour for Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Salah, who was banned from entering the UK by the home secretary, was held in custody pending deportation until April 2012 when an immigration tribunal ruled that the home secretary had been misled.[17][18]

In 2011, MEMO co-organized an event with Amnesty International and Palestine Solidarity Campaign titled "Complicity in oppression: Do the media aid Israel?" featuring Abdel Bari Atwan.[19][20]

On 22 August 2015, MEMO organized an event titled "Palestine & Latin America: Building solidarity for national rights", featuring alleged antisemitic cartoonist Carlos Latuff and British Palestinian activist Azzam Tamimi. Jeremy Corbyn was scheduled to appear as well, but pulled out.[21][22]

In November 2017, MEMO organized an event titled "Crisis in Saudi Arabia: War, Succession and the Future" discussion Saudi Arabia's future monarchy succession and regional rivalries with Iran and war in Yemen.[23]

Staff

The staff and contributors of MEMO include Daud Abdullah, Ibrahim Hewitt and Ben White[citation needed]

Criticism

In 2011, John Ware of BBC News described MEMO as a pro-Hamas publication.[17]

Haaretz reporter Anshel Pfeffer described MEMO in 2015 as a "conspiracy theory-peddling anti-Israel organisation"[24] and in the same year, MEMO was described by Dave Rich as promoting conspiracy theories about "Jews, Zionists, money and power." and said that MEMO had "questioned the suitability of Matthew Gould for the post of UK ambassador to Israel simply because he was Jewish".[25] It was described as “a news site which promotes a strongly pro-Brotherhood and pro-Hamas view of the region.” and also criticised due to its director Daud Abdullah, who “is also a leader of the Brotherhood-linked British Muslim Initiative, set up and run by the Brotherhood activist Anas al-Tikriti and two senior figures in Hamas.”[26][27][28]

Palestine Book Awards

Since 2012, MEMO sponsors and organizes the annual Palestine Book Awards.[29][30][31] The award is intended for books in English on various Palestinian topics.[32][33]

References

  1. ^ Vorhies, Zach; Heckenlively, Kent (3 August 2021). Google Leaks: A Whistleblower's Exposé of Big Tech Censorship. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 90. ISBN 978-1-5107-6736-2.
  2. ^ Zeffman, Henry Zeffman (21 August 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn referred to watchdog over 2010 Hamas visit". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Corbyn met terror leaders, but not Jews, on trip to Israel in 2010 — report". Times of Israel. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  4. ^ Ehud Rosen (2010). Mapping the Organizational Sources of the Global Delegitimization Campaign against Israel in the UK (PDF). Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. pp. 33–35. ISBN 978-965-218-094-0.
  5. ^ Smyrnaios, Nikos; Ratinaud, Pierre (January 2017). "The Charlie Hebdo Attacks on Twitter: A Comparative Analysis of a Political Controversy in English and French" (PDF). Social Media + Society. 3 (1). SAGE Publishing: 7. doi:10.1177/2056305117693647. ISSN 2056-3051. S2CID 151668905.
  6. ^ Rosenfeld, Arno (7 October 2021). "Nike isn't boycotting Israel — despite reports to the contrary". The Forward. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  7. ^ Altikriti, Anas (27 April 2010). "Muslim voters come of age". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  8. ^ Black, Ian (29 June 2011). "Sheikh Raed Salah: Islamic Movement leader loathed by the Israeli right". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  9. ^ Levy, Eylon (20 August 2018). "EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Corbyn's secret trip to Israel to meet Hamas". i24news. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  10. ^ Cook, Steven A. (16 October 2013). "Egypt: Reductio Ad Absurdum". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  11. ^ Knipp, Kersten (30 September 2016). "The flight out of Egypt". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
  12. ^ Yorke, Harry; Tominey, Camilla (21 September 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn's allies drawing up emergency plans amid fears he may be suspended over 'undeclared trips'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Qatari media incites boycott of Bahrain's Palestinian workshop, but ignores leaks about own regime attendance". Arab News. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  14. ^ Willi, Victor J. (4 February 2021). The Fourth Ordeal: A History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, 1968-2018. Cambridge University Press. p. 373. ISBN 978-1-108-83064-5.
  15. ^ Cherkaoui, Tarek (December 2018). "Qatar's public diplomacy, international broadcasting, and the Gulf Crisis". Rising Powers Quarterly. 3 (3): 127–149.
  16. ^ Perry, Damon L. (17 July 2018). The Global Muslim Brotherhood in Britain: Non-Violent Islamist Extremism and the Battle of Ideas. Routledge. p. 130. ISBN 978-1-351-34790-7.
  17. ^ a b Ware, John (29 June 2011). "Questions over Sheikh Raed Salah's UK ban". BBC News. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  18. ^ Palestinian activist wins appeal against deportation, Guardian, 9 April 2012
  19. ^ Amnesty approves controversial anti-Israel event, JPost, 24 May 2011
  20. ^ Amnesty to host anti-Israel Atwan talk, the JC, 28 April 2011
  21. ^ Jeremy Corbyn pulls out of conference at which antisemitic cartoonist is due to appear, the JC, 13 August 2015
  22. ^ Corbyn withdraws from controversial pro-Palestine conference, Jewish News, 13 August 2015
  23. ^ UK: Leaders, academics raise alarm over Saudi 'crisis', Al Jazeera, 18 November 2017
  24. ^ Pfeffer, Anshel (20 July 2015). "Loony-left Front-runner for Britain's Labour Leader Gives anti-Zionism a Bad Name". Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  25. ^ "UK Jews wary over Labour candidate's support for Hamas, Hezbollah". The Times of Israel. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  26. ^ "How the Muslim Brotherhood fits into a network of extremism". The Telegraph. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  27. ^ "Defence Ministry cuts ties with Muslim Council of Britain". The National News. 5 November 2023. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  28. ^ "What on earth was Daud Abdullah doing on Channel 4 News?". The Spectator. 15 December 2009. Retrieved 25 March 2024.
  29. ^ Gadoua, Renée K. (2 May 2023). "'My Poetry Is a Record of What Happened' Says Palestinian MFA Student Mosab Abu Toha G'23". Syracuse University. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  30. ^ "Contact Us". Palestine Book Awards. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  31. ^ "About the Palestine Book Awards". Palestine Book Awards. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  32. ^ "Academic books a place at an awards ceremony for Palestine book". University of Wolverhampton. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  33. ^ "Professor Sonia Nimer wins Translation Award at 2021 Palestine Book Awards". Birzeit University. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2023.

External links