Middle East Monitor

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]

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

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

Criticism

According to Ehud Rosen, author of a 2010 report for the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs where he is a senior researcher, MEMO generally supports Islamist positions within Palestinian politics and that although it shares platforms with Muslim Brotherhood-affiliates and Islamist supporters, "it seems to have reached the level of more respected institutions such as, for example, Chatham House".[4]

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]

Writing in 2016, Yiftah Curiel, an employee of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, wrote that some of the staff of MEMO as well as the similar Middle East Eye are also active in Interpal, which has been designated in Israel as a terror-supporting group, as well as being on the United States Treasury's list of specially-designated terrorist organisations. The site itself is sympathetic to Hamas, and the Hamas website and social media accounts post and share material from the Middle East Monitor.[26]

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". Social Media + Society. SAGE Publishing. 3 (1): 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. 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. Font of hatred: How Hamas relies on two UK websites, Jewish News, 31 August 2016

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