Middle East Monitor

The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) is a not-for-profit[1] press monitoring organisation that emerged in mid 2009.[2] MEMO is largely focused on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, but writes about other issues in the Middle East as well. It has Spanish and Portuguese editions.[3]

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

Staff

The staff and contributors of MEMO include Daud Abdullah, Ibrahim Hewitt and Ben White.

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.[4][5]

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.[6][7]

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.[8][9]

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.[10]

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".[2]

In 2011, John Ware of BBC News described MEMO as a pro-Hamas publication.[4]

Haaretz reporter Anshel Pfeffer described MEMO in 2015 as a "conspiracy theory-peddling anti-Israel organisation"[11] 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".[12]

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.[13]

References
  1. "Annual Highlights". MEMO. 2014. p. 2. Archived from the original on 14 April 2015.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  2. 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.
  3. "Monitor De Oriente - Middle East Monitor - Espanol". MEMO. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  4. Ware, John (29 June 2011). "Questions over Sheikh Raed Salah's UK ban". BBC News. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
  5. Palestinian activist wins appeal against deportation, Guardian, 9 April 2012
  6. Amnesty approves controversial anti-Israel event, JPost, 24 May 2011
  7. Amnesty to host anti-Israel Atwan talk, the JC, 28 April 2011
  8. Jeremy Corbyn pulls out of conference at which antisemitic cartoonist is due to appear, the JC, 13 August 2015
  9. Corbyn withdraws from controversial pro-Palestine conference, Jewish News, 13 August 2015
  10. UK: Leaders, academics raise alarm over Saudi 'crisis', Al Jazeera, 18 November 2017
  11. Pfeffer, Anshel (20 July 2015). "Loony-left Front-runner for Britain's Labour Leader Gives anti-Zionism a Bad Name". Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  12. "UK Jews wary over Labour candidate's support for Hamas, Hezbollah". The Times of Israel. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  13. Font of hatred: How Hamas relies on two UK websites, Jewish News, 31 August 2016

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