We are grateful to those who have already made a donation to the Middle East Forum in 2019. If you have not yet made a gift, you can do so by clicking here. Remember to make your gift online to the Middle East Forum by midnight, tonight, December 31, 2019, to ensure tax credit for 2019 and eligibility for 2020 events.
I hope you, as one of our 90,000 subscribers, agree that we have set the standard for insightful Middle East analyses while promoting American interests.
Your support allows us to rise to the occasion in challenging times – educating our readers as well as counseling leaders, helping them make sense of a bewildering array of issues concerning the Middle East and Islamism, and explaining how American interests and Western values are best protected.
As a “think & action tank,” our views appeared in 614 articles published in 2019 and were read by millions, while our voices were heard in 184 media appearances. In addition, our experts reached the White House, Congress, federal agencies, courts of law, corporate boardrooms, and many campuses; not to speak of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and several royal courts in the Persian Gulf.
Two Areas of Impact
Middle East Studies We are monitoring and reforming U.S. university Middle East studies programs, which are notoriously anti-Western, anti-Israel, and pro-Islamist. For example:
MEF staff played an integral role in the Senate’s forthcoming Reporting of Foreign Funds for Transparency Act and the Department of Education’s new regulations to shine a light on billions flowing from hostile foreign governments – such as Islamist Qatar – to Middle East studies programs at U.S. universities.
Our research showing extreme bias at Georgetown’s Middle East studies programs is prominently cited in Rep. Denver Riggleman’s (R-VA) recent letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, requesting a review of taxpayer funding of the University. Previously, the Department of Education (DoE) launched an in-depth investigation of the Duke/UNC Consortium for Middle East Studies’ misuse of taxpayer funds, following our meetings with DoE and White House officials.
Islamists in Politics We expanded our Islamist Money in Politics project (now called Islamists in Politics) to counter the rising tide of Islamists active in American politics, starting with Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) and Ilhan Omar (D-MN), and extending to the federal, state and local levels. For example:
We challenged the Islamist group CAIR’s agenda in Ohio by warning state and federal lawmakers about its history of involvement with foreign terrorist organizations. In the days leading up to CAIR-Ohio’s “Muslim Day at the Capitol” event, we met with several legislators and wrote to every member of the Ohio General Assembly, asking them to close their doors to CAIR during its lobbying day. Our observers were at the Ohio Statehouse during the event to film a short documentary, and did not observe a single lawmaker meeting with the Islamist delegations.
We played a critical role persuading the Minnesota Department of Human Rights to cancel its “Dismantling Hate Crimes Panel and Open Forum” featuring a local CAIR spokesman. Working with local activist groups, we pressured the FBI to withdraw from the panel, by distributing a contact list and suggested script to activists, who were tasked with reminding the FBI of its moratorium on partnering with CAIR.
Praise from friends
“We are very lucky to have the Middle East Forum play such a leading, muscular, activist role.”–John Baird, former foreign minister of Canada, May 19, 2019, at the Forum’s 25thAnniversary Gala.
“The job of every member of Congress is to know what he or she does not know. We need your [the Forum’s] advice, your counsel – particularly [those of us on] the Foreign Affairs Committee – to advise us on … that region.”– Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick (R-PA), May 19, 2019, at the Forum’s 25thAnniversary Gala.
Back-handed compliments from opponents
“‘The victory caucus’ that Daniel Pipes and the Middle East Forum that he presides over has promoted so successfully in recent months, in effect, advocating a final betrayal of the rights of the Palestinian people, an approach that has evidently found a receptive audience in both the U.S. Congress/White House and the Israeli Knesset.”– former United Nations Human Rights Rapporteur and Princeton professor emeritus Richard Falk, July 12, 2019.
“The Coalition for Civil Freedoms has recently come under attack from a fringe hate group. No purpose would be served in naming that group since its goal apparently is to seek publicity in order to spread hate. The organization has singled out the ‘Threat of Lawful Islamism’ as the focus of its attention.” – Stephen Downs, chairman of the Coalition for Civil Freedoms, December 6, 2019, after the Forum outed the group as founded by a convicted terrorist and functioning as a de facto "martyrs fund" for American jihadists and their families, on the occasion of the group’s lobbying day in Washington, D.C.
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Whether you make a donation, join as a member, or subscribe to the Middle East Quarterly, we welcome your involvement. Your support helps further our mission of educating Americans about the Middle East and influencing U.S. policy towards that region.
On behalf of our Board of Governors, 28 staff, and 22 writing fellows, I deeply appreciate your consideration of support. If you have already made a donation, thank you.
Happy New Year from all of us at the Middle East Forum!
Sincerely,
Gregg Roman Director Middle East Forum
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