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| Abbreviation | MEF |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1990; 35 years ago (1990) |
| Type | 501(c)(3)nonprofit think tank |
| Location | |
President | Daniel Pipes |
| Revenue | $3.89 million[1] (2023) |
| Expenses | $4.28 million[1] (2023) |
| Website | www |
TheMiddle East Forum (MEF) is anAmerican conservative[2]501(c)(3)[3]think tank founded in 1990 byDaniel Pipes, who now serves as its chairman. Gregg Roman serves as director of the forum.[4] MEF became an independentnon-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal, theMiddle East Quarterly.
The Middle East Forum was founded in 1990 byDaniel Pipes as an independent non-profit organization with the mission of "promoting American interests." In 2002, the MEF advocated for strong U.S. ties with Turkey, Israel, and other pro-American governments 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] The left-leaningCenter for American Progress and theSouthern Poverty Law Center have criticized the MEF for spreading anti-Islamic messages.[8]
In 2018, the MEF stated that it had been "heavily involved"[9] in the release from prison of Britishanti-Islam activist and far-right political operative[10]Tommy Robinson, who is best known as a co-founder, former spokesman and former leader of theEnglish Defence League (EDL) organization, and for his service as apolitical adviser to the leader of theUK 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 9 June and 14 July, which was, they claim, reported byThe Times,The Guardian, andThe Independent; funding travel of theUS congressman, Rep.Paul Gosar, Republican from Arizona, to London to address the rallies; and lobbiedSam Brownback, the State Department'sambassador-at-large forInternational 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 thecounter-jihad movement.[13]
Georgetown University's Bridge Initiative reported in 2018 that the MEF had received millions of dollars fromDonors Capital Fund ($6,768,000), theWilliam Rosenwald Family Fund, the Middle Road Foundation, and the Abstraction Fund.[14]
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| Discipline | Middle Eastern studies |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Jonathan Spyer |
| Publication details | |
| History | 1994–present |
| Publisher | Middle East Forum (United States) |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Yes | |
| Standard abbreviations ISO 4 (alt) · Bluebook (alt) NLM (alt) · MathSciNet (alt  ) | |
| ISO 4 | Middle East Q. |
| Indexing CODEN (alt · alt2) · JSTOR (alt) · LCCN (alt) MIAR · NLM (alt) · Scopus · W&L | |
| CODEN | MEQUFZ |
| ISSN | 1073-9467 |
| LCCN | 94660065 |
| OCLC no. | 644061932 |
| Links | |
Middle East Quarterly was founded in 1994 byDaniel Pipes and the currenteditor-in-chief is journalist and Middle East analystJonathan Spyer.
In 2002Juan Cole, a professor at theUniversity of Michigan and aCampus Watch target, accused the journal of making "scurrilous attacks on people".[15] In 2014, Christopher A. Bail ofDuke 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 foranti-Muslimpolemics".[16]
The journal is abstracted and indexed in:
In 2002, the Middle East Forum launched an initiative calledCampus Watch that it said would identify "analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views,apologetics, and theabuse of power over students" within academia.[19]Winfield Myers is the director of Campus Watch.[20]
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.[21] Subsequently, Campus Watch removed the list from its website.[22][23]
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."[24][25][26]
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