Middle East Forum / Inst

<div>added institute 2/19</div><div>
</div><div>=<a href="https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/the-foreign-policy-money-trail-in-washington-how-middle-eastern-powers-fund-government-think-tanks-and-influence-us-legislation/">https://www.alternet.org/2019/02/the-foreign-policy-money-trail-in-washington-how-middle-eastern-powers-fund-government-think-tanks-and-influence-us-legislation/</a>The 2016 elections awakened Americans to a startling reality: the country’s political system is ripe for foreign interference. The Russians took full advantage of social media with <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/us/politics/russia-facebook-twitter-election.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">bot armies</a> and through <a href="https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/internet_research_agency_indictment-02-16-2018.pdf?mod=article_inline" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">unregistered</a> foreign agents. While their influence garnered considerable attention and has led to <a href="https://www.law360.com/whitecollar/articles/1126502/fara-enforcement-the-year-ahead" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">increased</a> enforcement of the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), one area has remained largely off the congressional and media radar screens. Yet it remains a vital part of the way other governments try to influence policy in this country: the foreign funding of think tanks.<div class="p1_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />This story originally appeared at <a href="https://www.tomdispatch.com/blog/176530/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Tom Dispatch</a>.<div class="p2_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div class="teadsNative" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Most Americans undoubtedly have little idea what a think tank actually does. Having worked at two of them myself, it’s fair to say that even those of us who have labored inside these basic building blocks for policymaking in Washington are often still trying to figure out just what many of them do. Still, whether you know it or not, you’ve certainly seen think-tank employees on cable news, heard them on the radio, or read their op-ed pieces.<div class="p3_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />After all, think tanks are homes for so many of the “experts” who are the go-to sources for media coverage of foreign and domestic policy topics on just about any day — and are often key go-to sources for those making policy in Washington, too). You know, the former Department of Defense official you caught on <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/rebuffed-iran-diplomacy-trump-getting-more-traction-venezuela-n970861" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">NBC News</a> discussing Iran or the Middle Eastern expert you saw quoted in <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/iran-pompeo-middle-east-human-rights-1287333" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">Newsweek</a> critiquing the Trump administration’s policies there. Outside the public eye, members of Congress and executive branch officials rely heavily on think tanks for expertise on a wide range of issues, for key congressional <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/FA/FA00/20180508/108272/HHRG-115-FA00-Wstate-HarmanJ-20180508.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">testimony</a>, and even for quite <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/theapothecary/2011/10/20/how-a-conservative-think-tank-invented-the-individual-mandate/#5a59d4a06187" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">literally</a> helping craft public policy.<div class="p4_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Those who run Washington generally trust the inhabitants of think tanks of their political bent to provide the intellectual foundations upon which much of public policy is built. At least in some cases, however, that trust couldn’t be more deeply misplaced, since cornerstones of the ever-expanding think-tank universe turn out to be for sale.<div class="p5_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Every year foreign governments pour tens of millions of dollars into those very institutions and, though many think tanks are tax-exempt non-profits, such donations often turn out to be anything but charitable gifts. Foreign contributions generally come with critically important strings attached — usually a favorable stance toward that country in whatever influential work the think tanks are doing. In other words, those experts you regularly read or see on screen, whose scholarship and advice Washington’s politicians and other officials often use, are in some cases being paid, directly or indirectly, by the very countries on which they are offering advice and analysis. And here’s the catch: they can do so without ever having to tell you about it.<div class="p6_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />The Money Trail From Foreign Governments to Think Tanks<div class="p7_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />“I’ve never had to worry in my years at CAP about an analyst or me saying X, Y, and Z and worry about a funding source. Never thought about it. Never,” explained Brian Katulis of the Center for American Progress (CAP). He was speaking at a Middle East Institute (MEI) event in January entitled “The Role of Think Tanks in Shaping Middle East Policy.” MEI President Paul Salem echoed this sentiment, noting that funding, particularly foreign government funding, shouldn’t ever shape a think tank’s work. “Independence,” he proclaimed, “is sacred.”<div class="p8_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Such comments, like the events themselves, are just the norm in Washington think-tank life — unless, that is, you follow the money, in which case they seem both striking and supremely ironic. On any given day, Washington is, in fact, awash in foreign-policy events at think tanks. There, experts convene to publicly discuss just about every topic you’d want to hear about — except one, of course: their funding. And that is what made the Katulis-Salem exchange particularly interesting. What they and their follow panelists never mentioned at an event extolling the importance of think tanks in helping craft political Washington’s Middle East policies was this: both CAP and MEI have received millions of dollars from authoritarian governments in the Middle East.<div class="p9_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />MEI has publicly <a href="https://www.mei.edu/sites/default/files/2016%20Contributions.pdf" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reported</a> receiving millions from Saudi Arabia and lesser amounts from the Persian Gulf states of Oman and Qatar. By far its largest donor, however, seems to have been the United Arab Emirates (UAE), <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/09/gulf-government-gave-secret-20-million-gift-to-d-c-think-tank/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reportedly</a> making a “secret” $20 million contribution to that think tank, earmarked to “hire experts in order to counter the more egregious misperceptions about the region” and “to inform U.S. government policymakers.” In other words, in the spirit of that MEI panel title, the UAE’s funding was explicitly designed to shape that think tank’s — and so U.S. — policy considerations.<div class="p10_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />While hardly in that $20 million range, CAP has also <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/our-supporters-2017/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">publicly</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/our-supporters-2016/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reported</a> <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/about/c3-our-supporters-2014/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">receiving</a> at least $1.5 million from the UAE.<div class="p11_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />And keep in mind that those two think tanks are hardly the only ones receiving donations from countries in the Middle East. The Center for a New American Security, for instance, received <a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/07/30/uae-yousef-otaiba-cnas-american-progress-michele-flournoy-drone/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$250,000</a> from the United Arab Emirates to produce a study on the need for the U.S. to export military-grade drones to countries like… the UAE. That think tank’s subsequent report on the topic notes that the U.S. doesn’t export <a href="https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2018/11/14/hidden-toll-of-us-drone-strikes-in-yemen-nearly-a-third-of-deaths-are-civilians-not-al-qaida/" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">drones</a> to the UAE and other countries, but should because “this reluctance to transfer U.S. drones harms U.S. interests in tangible ways.” Never mind that a third of those killed in drone strikes in the devastating war in Yemen are civilians.<div class="p12_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />The Brookings Institution <a href="https://www.vox.com/2016/3/21/11275354/saudi-arabia-gulf-washington" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">received</a> a $14.8 million donation from Qatar. In fact, according to a New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/09/07/us/politics/foreign-government-contributions-to-nine-think-tanks.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">analysis</a>, nearly all of the most prominent foreign-policy think tanks in Washington have accepted money from authoritarian regimes in the Middle East or elsewhere. And that, in turn, is just the tip of the iceberg, since think tanks are not legally required to publicly disclose their funding.<div class="p13_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Charity or Influence Buying?<div class="p14_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />If think tanks are to be believed, the money they receive from such funders changes little. Recent events at a number of think tanks, including the Center for American Progress and the Middle East Institute, should, however, give pause to anyone who assumes that such institutions are by their nature insulated from the influence of foreign funders.<div class="p15_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Recently, serious questions have been raised about whether CAP’s ties to the UAE, itself a close ally of the Saudi royals, contributed to its awkward response to the brutal murder of Washington Post journalist and Saudi citizen Jamal Khashoggi in that Kingdom’s embassy in Istanbul, Turkey.  Following that killing, CAP released a <a href="https://www.americanprogress.org/press/statement/2018/10/12/459335/statement-saudi-arabia-must-held-accountable-alleged-murder-jamal-khashoggi-caps-kelly-magsamen-says/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">response</a> condemning the Saudis for their involvement in Khashoggi’s murder, but not calling for specific consequences to punish the Kingdom.<div class="p16_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />According to <a href="https://theintercept.com/2019/01/16/center-for-american-progress-cap-uae-leak/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">reporting</a> by the Intercept’s Ryan Grim, such consequences were stripped from the statement by a CAP staffer who just happened to be Brian Katulis. Then, in December, CAP largely sat on the <a href="https://theintercept.com/2018/12/23/yemen-war-resolution-vote-senate/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">sidelines</a> as the Senate passed a historic resolution to end U.S. involvement in the devastating Saudi-UAE war in Yemen. At the MEI <a href="https://www.mei.edu/events/role-think-tanks-shaping-middle-east-policy" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">event</a> in January, Katulis dismissed those giving “energy and dynamism” to “the Yemen debate” for ignoring “the full complexity of the challenges.” Jamal Khashoggi’s name wasn’t even mentioned.<div class="p17_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Despite MEI head Salem’s claim that “independence is sacred,” there’s reason to question how independent scholars can be when their work is, at least in part, dependent on foreign funding. In at least one case, for instance, Salem’s institute published the work of Fahad Nazer, who was directly on the Saudi payroll. While earning <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6389-Exhibit-AB-20161109-1.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$7,000</a> a month as a <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/6389-Supplemental-Statement-20181112-5.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">foreign agent</a> for Saudi Arabia, Nazer wrote <a href="https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2019/01/registered-foreign-agent-turned-saudi-spokesperson-revolving-door/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">several</a> pro-Saudi articles for both think tanks and mainstream media outlets, including <a href="https://www.mei.edu/publications/mohammed-bin-salman-and-campaign-counter-extremism" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">one</a> for MEI that made no mention of his financial ties to the Saudis. That March 2018 article did, however, encourage yet more U.S. support for the country’s ruling crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, who, Nazer wrote, would “be good for Saudi Arabia, the United States, and the world.”<div class="p18_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Just seven months later, bin Salman would reportedly <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/cia-concludes-saudi-crown-prince-ordered-jamal-khashoggis-assassination/2018/11/16/98c89fe6-e9b2-11e8-a939-9469f1166f9d_story.html?utm_term=.f53dedffd47e" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">authorize</a> the brutal murder of Jamal Khashoggi and, in January 2019, Nazer himself would <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-embassy-of-the-kingdom-of-saudi-arabia-appoints-fahad-nazer-as-official-spokesperson-300783317.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">become</a> the official spokesperson for the Saudi Embassy in Washington.<div class="p19_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Blurred Lines and Lack of Transparency<div class="p20_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Nazer’s case also illustrates a growing pattern of interactions between think tanks that receive foreign funding and the registered foreign agents of those countries. In fact, Emirati foreign agents last year reported contacting think tanks at least 85 times, according to an analysis of Foreign Agents Registration Act filings for a forthcoming report on the Emirati lobby in the U.S. by the Foreign Influence Transparency Initiative at the Center for International Policy, which I direct.<div class="p21_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Perhaps not surprisingly, CAP’s Katulis and MEI were among the top think-tank contacts for UAE’s foreign agents. According to <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5478-Supplemental-Statement-20181102-31.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">2018</a> <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5478-Supplemental-Statement-20180521-30.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">filings</a>, Katulis was contacted at least 12 times by the Harbour Group, which the UAE paid more than <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5478-Supplemental-Statement-20180521-30.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">$5</a> <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5478-Supplemental-Statement-20181102-31.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">million</a> in 2018 to “influence U.S. policy,” according to the firm’s <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5478-Exhibit-AB-20171222-28.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">FARA</a> filings. Katulis was a particular focus for them because he was helping to organize a “study tour” in which think-tank experts would take a luxurious trip to both the UAE and Saudi Arabia. That group also contacted MEI at least 14 times on behalf of the UAE, <a href="https://efile.fara.gov/docs/5478-Supplemental-Statement-20181102-31.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">directing</a> most of its efforts towards a “speaking engagement at MEI” for the Emirati ambassador to the U.S., the same man who had directed that “<a href="https://theintercept.com/2017/08/09/gulf-government-gave-secret-20-million-gift-to-d-c-think-tank/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">secret</a>” $20 million contribution to the institute.<div class="p22_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Under current law, it is perfectly legal for think tanks that receive funding from foreign governments to also work with foreign agents registered to represent those very governments. FARA includes an <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2009-title22/pdf/USCODE-2009-title22-chap11-subchapII.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">exemption</a> for those engaged in “bona fide… scholastic, academic, or scientific pursuits.” Like many parts of the FARA statute, it’s not at all clear what “bona fide” means, but think tanks are presumably exempt from registration if they meet this threshold.<div class="p23_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />While the work done by both think tanks and registered foreign agents can sometimes overlap, the two are worlds apart on one critical score: transparency. Under FARA, registered foreign agents are required to disclose a considerable amount of what they do, including whom they’re working for, how much they’re being paid, and whom they’re contacting, as well as when and where they do it, on behalf of foreign principals like the United Arab Emirates. And most of that information is available <a href="https://www.justice.gov/nsd-fara" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">online</a>. Anything they distribute on behalf of a foreign backer must also <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2009-title22/pdf/USCODE-2009-title22-chap11-subchapII.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">include</a> a “conspicuous statement” to let anyone know that what they’re reading is being distributed on behalf of a foreign principal.<div class="p24_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Think tanks receiving funding from foreign sources are, however, not required to do any of the above.<div class="p25_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />As is appropriate during tax season, most of this should, in the end, be blamed on the Internal Revenue Service. Think tanks usually operate as tax-exempt organizations and, according to the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/public-disclosure-and-availability-of-exempt-organizations-returns-and-applications-contributors-identities-not-subject-to-disclosure" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">IRS</a>, “a tax-exempt organization is generally not required to disclose publicly the names or addresses of its contributors set forth on its annual return.”<div class="p26_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />While MEI and CAP do both disclose their funding sources on their websites — for which they should be commended — many think tanks do not. And few, even among those that do, mention any potential conflicts of interest that might be reflected in their published reports or the speeches and media appearances of their members. Even more worrisome, a Project On Government Oversight <a href="https://www.pogo.org/investigation/2018/09/foreign-influence-at-the-witness-table/" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">investigation</a> by Lydia Dennett found numerous examples of think-tank experts not reporting or mentioning financial ties to foreign governments when testifying before Congress. Hiding such potential conflicts of interest is likely to leave the public and policymakers with the impression that they’re hearing truly objective experts, when they may, in fact, be taking testimony from someone who is functionally or literally on the payroll of a country with a deep stake in what they’re telling Congress.<div class="p27_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />If think tanks are to remain credible sources of foreign-policy expertise, such ties must, at the very least, be laid bare.<div class="p28_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />A first step would simply be to require think tanks to publicly disclose any foreign funding they receive, something easily done by amending the IRS code. In addition, just as registered foreign agents are <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/USCODE-2009-title22/pdf/USCODE-2009-title22-chap11-subchapII.pdf" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">required</a> to include a “conspicuous statement” letting readers know they’re working on behalf of a foreign power, think tanks should have to fully disclose their funding sources and any potential conflicts of interest in all their written products, as well as at speaking engagements, especially testimony before Congress. It should also be incumbent upon the media to do a better job of vetting sources. Sure, journalists are extraordinarily busy, but if a simple Google search can reveal that the Middle East “expert” you’re quoting is being paid by a country in the Middle East, it behooves you to tell your readers that.<div class="p29_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />Finally, transparency is essential, but it’s well past time for think tanks themselves to focus on the track records of the countries they’re getting money from. The Brookings Institution did just that by cutting <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/think-tanks-reconsider-saudi-support-amid-khashoggi-controversy-193104698.html" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">ties</a> with the Saudis shortly after the murder of Khashoggi and, soon after, MEI, too, <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/international/411545-washington-think-tank-declines-saudi-money-amid-khashoggi-controversy" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">announced</a> that it would decline any further funding from the Saudi government. More recently, and following the questions raised about CAP’s involvement with the United Arab Emirates, that think tank <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jan/25/united-arab-emirates-funding-center-for-american-progress" target="blank" rel="noopener" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; transition: color 0.3s ease 0s; cursor: pointer;">announced</a> that it would no longer accept UAE money. As a CAP spokesperson said, “It’s just the right thing to do.”<div class="p30_31" style="box-sizing: border-box; outline: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;" />CAP, MEI, and Brookings are, however, the exceptions.  Most think tanks haven’t done “the right thing” and dropped funding from autocratic regimes. Nor are they likely to voluntarily increase transparency about that funding. The burden then falls on Congress to enact reforms ensuring that senators and representatives will know when the expert they’re hearing discuss a specific country or the region it’s in is being paid by that very same country. Failure to act could leave Americans asking a simple and uncomfortable question: Which country is buying U.S. foreign policy today?
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</div><div><div>=</div><div>Robert Spencer is the director of Jihad Watch, a program of the David Horowitz Freedom Center, and the author of nine books on Islam and jihad, including the New York Times bestsellers The Truth About Muhammad and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades). Spencer is a weekly columnist for Human Events and FrontPage Magazine, and has led seminars on Islam and jihad for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, the U.S. Army's Asymmetric Warfare Group, the FBI, the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community.</div><div>
</div><div>Spencer has also written eleven monographs and well over three hundred articles about jihad and Islamic terrorism. Along with the bestsellers The Truth About Muhammad (Regnery) and The Politically Incorrect Guide to Islam (and the Crusades) (Regnery), he is the author of Islam Unveiled: Disturbing Questions About the World's Fastest Growing Faith (Encounter); Onward Muslim Soldiers: How Jihad Still Threatens America and the West (Regnery); Religion of Peace? Why Christianity Is and Islam Isn't (Regnery), a refutation of moral equivalence and call for all the beneficiaries and heirs of Judeo-Christian Western civilization, whatever their own religious or philosophical perspective may be, to defend it from the global jihad; and Stealth Jihad: How Radical Islam is Subverting America without Guns or Bombs (Regnery), an expose of how jihadist groups are advancing their agenda in the U.S. today by means other than terrorist attacks.. He is coauthor, with Daniel Ali, of Inside Islam: A Guide for Catholics (Ascension), and editor of the essay collection The Myth of Islamic Tolerance: How Islamic Law Treats Non-Muslims (Prometheus). His latest book is The Complete Infidel's Guide to the Koran (Regnery). Spencer's books have been translated into many languages, including Spanish, Italian, Finnish, and Bahasa Indonesia.</div><div>
</div><div>Along with his weekly columns, Spencer has completed a weekly Qur'an commentary at Jihad Watch, Blogging the Qur'an, which has been translated into Czech, Danish, German and Italian. He is an Associate Fellow of the American Freedom Alliance and a contributing writer to Steven Emerson's Investigative Project on Terrorism. His articles on Islam and other topics have appeared in the New York Post, the Washington Times, the Dallas Morning News, Canada's National Post, Middle East Quarterly, WorldNet Daily, First Things, Insight in the News, National Review Online, and many other journals.</div><div>
</div><div>In addition to the seminars on Islam and jihad that Spencer has led for the United States Central Command, United States Army Command and General Staff College, a Department of Homeland Security task force, the FBI, branches of the Joint Terrorism Task Force, and the U.S. intelligence community, he has discussed jihad, Islam, and terrorism at a workshop sponsored by the U.S. State Department and the German Foreign Ministry. He has also appeared on the BBC, CNN, FoxNews, PBS, MSNBC, CNBC, C-Span, France24 and Croatia National Televison (HTV), as well as on numerous radio programs including Bill O'Reilly's Radio Factor, The Laura Ingraham Show, Bill Bennett's Morning in America, Michael Savage's Savage Nation, The Sean Hannity Show, The Alan Colmes Show, The G. Gordon Liddy Show, The Neal Boortz Show, The Michael Medved Show, The Michael Reagan Show, The Rusty Humphries Show, The Larry Elder Show, The Barbara Simpson Show, Vatican Radio, and many others.</div><div>=</div><div>
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<div>http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/</div><div>
</div><div>Middle East Forum (MEF) is a controversial Philadelphia-based policy institute founded by <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/pipes_daniel" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Daniel Pipes</a> that employs extremist rhetoric regarding Islam and attacks academics who disagree with its militaristic views on Israeli security and Middle East politics. MEF promotes its agenda through a number of programs, including Campus Watch, Islamist Watch, and the quasi-academic Middle East Quarterly journal.Claiming to advocate “American interests in the Middle East and protect Western values from Middle Eastern threats," MEF aims to “to defeat radical Islam; work for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; develop strategies to contain Iran; and deal with the great advances of anarchy.” The group works to "combat lawful Islamism" and to protect "the freedom of public speech of anti-Islamist" figures.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn1" name="ednref1" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[1]</a> Pipes has said that MEF also focuses “heavily on Middle Easterners living in the West” in order to “contribute to an understanding of these new populations and the issues they raise.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn2" name="ednref2" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[2]</a><img src="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/middle-east-forum-MEF1.JPG" alt="" style="box-sizing: border-box; vertical-align: middle; max-width: 100%; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); line-height: 19.696px; float: right; margin: 20px 0px 20px 20px; border: 4px solid rgb(240, 240, 240) !important; height: auto !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" />MEF revised its mission statement in 2014 to remove mention of “robustly asserting U.S. interests vis-à-vis Saudi Arabia.” A reason for this change could be that Israel and Saudi Arabia are strategically moving closer together, united by a common desire to maintain status quo in the region and counter a rising Iran.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn3" name="ednref3" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[3]</a>MEF has lamented what it sees as the declining influence of the United States in the Middle East during the presidency of Barack Obama. "With Barack Obama, the United States has slid into shocking irrelevance in the Middle East, the world's most turbulent region. Inconstancy, incompetence, and inaction have rendered the Obama administration impotent," Pipes complained in an August 2013 editorial. "Obama acts as though he would rather be the prime minister of Belgium, a small country that usually copies the decisions of its larger neighbors when casting votes at the United Nations or preening morally about distant troubles. Belgians naturally 'lead from behind,' to use the famed phrase emanating from Obama's White House."<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn4" name="ednref4" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[4]</a>In 2013, Pipes broke with many of his fellow neoconservatives—and much of his own prior work—in arguing that instead of ousting Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, Washington should seek to ensure that the stalemated Syrian civil war goes on as long as possible to maximize the damage the various sides inflict on each other. Citing both the U.S.-Soviet alliance in World War II and Washington's double-sided intrigue during the destructive Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s, Pipes wrote: “Evil forces pose less danger to us when they make war on each other. This (1) keeps them focused locally and (2) prevents either one from emerging victorious (and thereby posing a yet-greater danger). Western powers should guide enemies to stalemate by helping whichever side is losing, so as to prolong the conflict."<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn5" name="ednref5" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[5]</a>In September 2013—after calls for the United States to intervene in Syria after its alleged use of chemical weapons—Pipes argued that "the methods by which Syrians kill each other [are] a decidedly less vital matter for Congress than Iranian plans to bring the United States to its knees." Echoing an oft-repeated neoconservative claim—one disputed by U.S. intelligence agencies—that "the mullahs in Tehran are getting ever closer to the point where they at will can order nuclear bombs to be made and readied for use," Pipes argued that instead of bothering with Syria, Congress should "pass a resolution endorsing and encouraging force against the Iranian nuclear infrastructure."<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn6" name="ednref6" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[6]</a>On the domestic front, MEF’s attacks on “lawful Islamism” have led observers to associate the group with a burgeoning U.S. “Islamophobia network,” a patchwork of prominent rightwing U.S. foundations, opinion makers, and media personalities who spread negative impressions about Islam and Muslims in the United States.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn7" name="ednref7" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[7]</a>In a widely noted <a href="http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2011/08/islamophobia.html" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">2011 report</a> about the network, the Center for American Progress listed MEF as one of “five key think tanks led by scholars who are primarily responsible for orchestrating the majority of anti-Islam messages polluting our national discourse today.” The report argued that Pipes, who has a doctorate in medieval Islamic history, “has parlayed his prestigious academic credentials to great effect,” but has “become increasingly out of touch with the realities of the Muslim world at home and abroad, making more extreme and unfounded observations about Islam in the United States.” The report noted that Anders Breivik, the Norwegian terrorist who in July 2011 murdered 77 people in a protest against “cultural Marxism,” cited the work of Pipes and MEF 18 times in his xenophobic manifesto.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn8" name="ednref8" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[8]</a>Pipes has attempted to draw a distinction between himself and more recent Islamophobes like <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/geller_pamela" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Pamela Geller</a>. “This anti-Islamic agitation has been growing over time, and it’s much stronger than in 2001,” he told Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post in 2010. According to Boorstein, “Pipes says while he shares a concern about radical Islam with today's crop of bloggers, he considers them ‘anti-Islam’ because in his view they see the faith and it[s] scripture as fundamentally problematic for a pluralistic, democratic society like the United States and unchangeable.” Pipes told Boorstein, "We're in the same trench but we have different views of what the problem is. We both see an attempt to impose Islamic law, sharia, in the West. We are both against it, and want to maintain Western civilization.” However, Pipes claimed that he understood “the nature of the problem differently.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn9" name="ednref9" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[9]</a>MEF fellows have argued that the primary factor motivating suicide terrorism is the Islamic religion and not foreign military interventions or occupations in the Muslim world. In a summer 2015 report for MEF’s Middle East Quarterly, MEF fellow A.J. Caschetta stated that “far too often” Western scholars suggest that the “causes of suicide terrorism are … the policies of the West.” Caschetta claimed that the “post-1979 bloom of suicide bombings is all but unthinkable without Islamic tradition.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn10" name="ednref10" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[10]</a>After the takeover of swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria by the so-called Islamic State group (IS or ISIS) in 2014, Pipes criticized President Obama in a National Review article for arguing that the group was "not Islamic." Pipes claimed that “moderate Islam does not presently exist” and that "neither U.S. Presidents nor Islamist apologists fool people. Anyone with eyes and ears realizes that the Islamic State, like the Taliban and al-Qaeda before it, is 100 percent Islamic.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn11" name="ednref11" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[11]</a>MEF also strongly opposed the July 2015 Iran nuclear deal. One MEF fellow called it “horrendous” and disparaged the U.S. diplomats who negotiated the agreement. “Clownish performance by the chief negotiator, Secretary of State John Kerry, a man driven equally by incompetence, ego, and pacifism, has long been the norm,” MEF fellow Alexander Joffe wrote in the Times of Israel in August 2015. Joffe added that because the Obama administration was supposedly “Led by social justice ideologues,” it was “fated to understand nothing about a revolutionary Islamist regime.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn12" name="ednref12" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[12]</a>ActivitiesAccording to its website, MEF “works to define and promote American interests in the Middle East and protect the Constitutional order from Middle Eastern threats” in “three main ways: 1) Intellectually: Through the Middle East Quarterly, staff writings, lectures and conference calls, the Forum provides context, insights, and policy recommendations. 2) Operationally: The Forum exerts an active influence through its projects, including Campus Watch, Islamist Watch, the Legal Project, and the Washington Project. 3) Philanthropically: The Forum distributes nearly $2 million annually through its Education Fund, helping researchers, writers, investigators, and activists around the world.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn13" name="ednref13" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[13]</a>MEF's flagship publication is the Middle East Quarterly (MEQ), currently edited by Efraim Karsh. Describing itself as "a policy-oriented journal aimed to provide cutting-edge information for specialists and absorbing information for a general readership" and the "only journal on the Middle East consistent with mainstream American opinion,"<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn14" name="ednref14" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[14]</a> the MEQ publishes analyses and diatribes typically covering Mideast politics, national security, and the supposed spread of Islamism. Senior editors of the journal include <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/rubin_michael" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Michael Rubin</a> of the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/american_enterprise_institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">American Enterprise Institute</a> (AEI) and <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/clawson_patrick" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Patrick Clawson</a> of the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/washington_institute_for_near_east_policy" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Washington Institute for Near East Policy</a> (WINEP). Robert Satloff and <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/smith_lee" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Lee Smith</a> sit on MEQ's Board of Editors, along with Fouad Ajami of Johns Hopkins, James Phillips of the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/heritage_foundation" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Heritage Foundation</a>, and Steven Plaut of the University of Haifa. Also on the board is <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/ross_dennis" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Dennis Ross</a>, a hawkish former Middle East adviser to President Obama who left the administration to rejoin WINEP.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn15" name="ednref15" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[15]</a>MEF also works in Washington through its Washington Project. Led by former AIPAC foreign policy director <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/rosen_steven_j" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Steven J. Rosen</a>, the program aims to place op-eds in outlets like theWashington Post and lobby policymakers directly. Among other things, the project has claimed credit for encouraging the Obama administration to oppose the Palestinian Authority's statehood bid at the UN, for "alerting policy-makers and policy-influencers" about "the Obama administration's relentless pressure on Israel to stop all construction activities in the settlements," and for leading the opposition to Chas Freeman, a diplomat who withdrew from consideration to lead the National Intelligence Council after hardline groups attacked comments he had made that were critical of Israel.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn16" name="ednref16" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[16]</a>One of MEF's most controversial programs has been Campus Watch, an initiative aimed at monitoring what MEF claims are the "often erroneous and biased teachings and writings of U.S. professors specializing in the Middle East." In the early 2000s, Joel Benin, a former professor of Middle East studies at Stanford University, said of the program: "Campus Watch … compiles dossiers on professors and universities that do not meet its standard of uncritical support for the policies of George Bush and Ariel Sharon. … The efforts to stifle public debate about U.S. Middle East policy and criticism of Israel are being promoted by a network of neoconservative true believers with strong links to the Israeli far right. They are enthusiastic supporters of the Bush administration's hands off approach to Ariel Sharon's suppression of the Palestinian uprising. And they are aggressive proponents of a preemptive U.S. strike against Iraq."<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn17" name="ednref17" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[17]</a>The international relations scholars John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt wrote in their controversial 2006 critique of the influence of the “pro-Israel lobby” on U.S. foreign policy that Campus Watch was founded by "passionately pro-Israel neoconservatives” with the intention of "encourag[ing] students to report comments or behavior that might be considered hostile to Israel" in a "transparent attempt to blacklist and intimidate scholars.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn18" name="ednref18" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[18]</a>Since 2008, MEF has also run a project called “Islamist Watch,” which <a href="http://www.islamist-watch.org/about.php" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">bills itself</a> as an outfit to combat “the ideas and institutions of nonviolent, radical Islam in the United States and other Western countries.” A <a href="http://www.meforum.org/1869/middle-east-forum-launches-islamist-watch-website" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">press release</a> on MEF’s website explained that “nonviolent radical Islam is more likely to alter the makeup of Western society over time than is terrorism,” and quotes Daniel Pipes: "Quietly, lawfully, peacefully, Islamists do their work throughout the West to impose aspects of Islamic law, win special privileges for themselves, shut down criticism of Islam, create Muslim-only zones, and deprive women and non-Muslims of their full civil rights."<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn19" name="ednref19" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[19]</a> Noting that its interest is not in “counterterrorism” but rather the “political, educational, cultural, and legal activities of Islamists” in the West, the Islamist Watch website chronicles articles in a database called “Creeping Dhimmitude,” which attempts to show the “special accommodations” made for Muslims in non-Muslim countries.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn20" name="ednref20" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[20]</a>A related campaign is MEF’s Legal Project, which aims to provide legal resources to defendants facing libel lawsuits from Muslims and Islamic activists. “Such lawsuits are often predatory, filed without a serious expectation of winning, but undertaken as a means to bankrupt, distract, intimidate, and demoralize defendants,” claims a statement on the Legal Project website.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn21" name="ednref21" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[21]</a> The campaign has taken special aim at internationally orchestrated anti-Islamophobic campaigns. Commenting on an anti-Islamophobia conference convened by the Turkish government in 2013, Legal Watch leaders Andrew Harrod and Sam Nunberg called such efforts "yet another example of Islamists seeking to internally codify blasphemy under Sharia."<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn22" name="ednref22" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[22]</a>A website launched in February 2015, Canary Mission, has very similar tactics to MEF projects like Campus Watch, although it is unclear if there is an explicit connection between these initiatives. Canary has been described by Forward as “publicizing the identities of pro-Palestinian student activists to prevent them from getting jobs after they graduate from college.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn23" name="ednref23" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[</a><a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn23" name="ednref23" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">23]</a> Canary claims to “expose individuals and groups that are anti-Freedom, anti-American and anti-Semitic in order to protect the public and our democratic values.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn24" name="ednref24" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[24]</a>While MEF and other hawkish “pro-Israel” groups like the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Horowitz_David" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">David Horowitz</a> Freedom Center have denied they have a relationship with Canary, MEF founder and president Daniel Pipes has defended the website. “Factually documenting who one’s adversaries are and making this information available is a perfectly legitimate undertaking. Collecting information on students has particular value because it signals them that attacking Israel is serious business, not some inconsequential game, and that their actions can damage both Israel and their future careers,” Pipes has said.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn25" name="ednref25" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[25]</a>In May 2015, MEF launched “Jihad Intel,” a project that claims to educate “law enforcement and the general public with intelligence on radical Islam and Islamic terrorist groups.” Jihad Intel claims to provide a database housing “visual identifiers” of “over 125 Islamic terrorist groups” and background information about each of these groups. According to an MEF press release announcing the project, Jihad Intel “also responds to the Obama administration's removal of references to Islam from law enforcement and national security training materials.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn26" name="ednref26" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[26]</a>On its website, Jihad Intel states its research fellow is Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, who, the website says, “has become the go-to source for intelligence on jihadists in Syria, Iraq and beyond.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn27" name="ednref27" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[27]</a> Al-Tamimi is also a researcher at the Israel-based IDC Herzliya.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn28" name="ednref28" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[28]</a>MEF's Education Fund "disburses close to $2 million annually to researchers, writers, moderate Muslims, investigators, and activists whose work focuses on the Middle East and Islam." In practice, this has translated into substantial financial support for anti-Islamic groups like <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/americans_for_peace_and_tolerance" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Americans for Peace and Tolerance</a>, hardline "pro-Israel" organizations like <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/ngo_monitor" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">NGO Monitor</a> and the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Middle_East_Media_Research_Institute" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Middle East Media Research Institute</a>, and hard-right neoconservative think tanks like the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/center_for_security_policy" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Center for Security Policy</a>.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn29" name="ednref29" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[29]</a>Until 2004, MEF co-published with the now-defunct <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/US_Committee_for_a_Free_Lebanon" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">U.S. Committee for a Free Lebanon</a> (USCFL) the Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, which <a href="http://www.meforum.org/meib/about.htm" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">described itself</a> as “a monthly online publication focused on internal political developments in the Middle East, especially those that are thinly-covered in other English-language publications.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn30" name="ednref30" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[30]</a>In an earlier collaboration with <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Abdelnour_Ziad" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Ziad Abdelnour</a> and the USCFL, MEF and the Committee coauthored a jingoistic report that advocated U.S. military action to force Syria out of Lebanon and to disarm Syria of its alleged weapons of mass destruction.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn31" name="ednref31" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[31]</a> Virtually all 31 signatories of the MEF report, which was used to persuade Congress to introduce and pass the 2003 Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act, were USCFL members, and several became high officials or advisers in the Bush foreign policy team, including <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/abrams_elliott" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Elliott Abrams</a>,<a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/dobriansky_paula" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Paula Dobriansky</a>, <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/perle_richard" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Richard Perle</a>, <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/feith_douglas" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Douglas Feith</a>, and <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/wurmser_david" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">David Wurmser</a>. Other high-profile USCFL signatories were <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/gaffney_frank" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Frank Gaffney</a>, director of the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/center_for_security_policy" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Center for Security Policy</a>, <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/steinmann_david" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">David Steinmann</a> of the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Jewish_Institute_for_National_Security_Affairs" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs</a> (JINSA), and <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/ledeen_michael" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Michael Ledeen</a> of AEI.Passed in the House of Representatives on October 15, 2003, and signed by Bush on December 12, 2003, the Syria Accountability and Lebanese Sovereignty Restoration Act enumerated several reasons—support for terrorism, possession of weapons of mass destruction, and harboring Iraqi Ba'athists—that laid the groundwork to justify another "regime change" invasion in the region. The appointment of David Wurmser, a longtime advocate of U.S. military action against Syria, to the staff of Vice President <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/cheney_richard" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Dick Cheney</a> in September 2003 was widely regarded as another signal that the U.S. regional restructuring crusade might soon be taking the road to Damascus.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn32" name="ednref32" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[32]</a>LeadershipPipes, son of the anti-Soviet crusader <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/pipes_richard" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Richard Pipes</a> (who was both a <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Team_B_Strategic_Objectives_Panel" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Team B</a> and <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/committee_on_the_present_danger" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Committee on the Present Danger</a> member in the 1970s), frequently lambasts Arab politics, urges militarist polices aimed at overthrowing Mideast regimes, and pushes a hawkish “pro-Israel” agenda. He has stirred controversy in the past with seemingly anti-Arab remarks that have bordered on racism, once referring to Muslim immigrants to Europe as "brown-skinned peoples cooking strange foods and not exactly maintaining Germanic standards of hygiene."<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn33" name="ednref33" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[33]</a> He has also expressed support for anti-Islamic politicians like <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/wilders_geert" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Geert Wilders</a> in the Netherlands, and served a controversial term at the U.S. Institute for Peace under President George W. Bush, which was marked by his friction with the administration over its supposed “legitimization” of U.S.-based Arab and Islamic groups.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn34" name="ednref34" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[34]</a>Other notable MEF staff include Efraim Karsh, MEF director and editor of the organization’s journal Middle East Quarterly, and <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Rosen_Steven_J" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Steven Rosen</a>, a former lobbyist for the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/American_Israel_Public_Affairs_Committee" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">American Israel Public Affairs Committee</a> (AIPAC) who works as director of MEF’s “Washington Project.” According to his MEF bio, Karsh is an academic who has authored 15 books and “has held various academic posts at Harvard and Columbia universities, the Sorbonne, the London School of Economics, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies in Washington D.C., and the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies at Tel-Aviv University.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn35" name="ednref35" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[35]</a> Rosen is a controversial “pro-Israel” ideologue who was indicted by the U.S. Justice Department as part of a federal investigation into the alleged passing of sensitive U.S. information to Israel. The charges were eventually dropped.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn36" name="ednref36" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">[36]</a>Unlike other neoconservative groups to which it is sometimes compared—including the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/center_for_security_policy" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Center for Security Policy</a> and the <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/foundation_for_defense_of_democracies" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Foundation for Defense of Democracies</a>—MEF’s various boards are not brimming with well known ideological wonks and former politicians. Some critics have suggested that the entire organization acts as a vehicle for Pipes and his diatribes against those with whom he disagrees. In 2002, Juan Cole, a University of Michigan professor whose criticism of one-sided U.S. support for Israel and other U.S. “war on terror” policies has made him a target of MEF’s “Campus Watch” project, argued that the “Middle East Forum is not really a forum. Somebody rich in the community has set [Pipes] up with a couple of offices and a fax machine and calls him a director. … They put out this Middle East Quarterly. It publishes scurrilous attacks on people. There’s no scholarship. It’s a put-up job. As for Pipes himself, let’s just say that he’s not a full professor at a major university.”<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn37" name="ednref37" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[37]</a>FundingIn 2012, MEG reported nearly $4.7 million in revenues.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn38" name="ednref38" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[38]</a>A non-exhaustive Right Web investigation of MEF’s Form 990 tax records from 2000-2009 revealed that the organization’s coffers have been replete with funds from foundations identified by CAP as top funders of the Islamophobia network. During this period, MEF received at least $325,000 from the Russell Berrie Foundation, $240,000 from the Lynde and Harry <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/bradley_foundation" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">Bradley Foundation</a>, $200,000 from the Newton and Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust, and over $2 million from both the Donors Capital Fund and the William Rosenwald Family Fund. All told, Right Web identified at least $8,801,450 raised by MEF in this period, primarily coming from “pro-Israel” organizations and other right-wing outfits. (See our findings <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/images/uploads/Right_Web_Nov.2011-MEF_Funding.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background-image: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-color: transparent; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">here</a>).Between 1996 and 2005, according to Media Transparency, the Middle East Forum received nearly $300,000 from the Lynde and Harry <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/bradley_foundation" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Bradley Foundation</a>, much of it to support Campus Watch.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn39" name="ednref39" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[39]</a> According to its 2004 Form 990, MEF received $1,800,000 in 2003 in the form of gifts, grants, and contributions. In 2001 <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Hascoe_Norman_1929-2007" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">Norman Hascoe</a>'s Hascoe Family Foundation gave MEF $20,000, and in 2003 the Hascoe Charitable Foundation gave MEF $10,000.<a href="http://rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/middle_east_forum/#edn40" name="ednref40" title="" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">[40]</a> Hascoe served as president of <a href="http://www.rightweb.irc-online.org/profile/Jewish_Institute_for_National_Security_Affairs" style="box-sizing: border-box; color: rgb(209, 16, 16); text-decoration: none; background: transparent;">JINSA</a>.<div>
</div><div>=</div><div>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum</div><div>
</div><div><table class="infobox vcard" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); border-spacing: 3px; color: black; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.5em 1em; padding: 0.2em; clear: right; line-height: 1.5em; width: 22em; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr><th scope="row" style="vertical-align: top; padding-right: 0.6em;">Motto</th><td class="note" style="vertical-align: top;">Promoting American Interests</td></tr></tbody></table>
</div><div><div id="mw-content-text" lang="en" dir="ltr" class="mw-content-ltr" style="direction: ltr; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Middle East Forum (MEF) is an <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservatism_in_the_United_States" title="Conservatism in the United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">American conservative</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[1]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Think_tank" title="Think tank" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">think tank</a> founded in 1990 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Pipes" title="Daniel Pipes" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Daniel Pipes</a>, who serves as its president.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[2]</a> MEF became an independent <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-profit_organization" class="mw-redirect" title="Non-profit organization" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">non-profit organization</a> in 1994. It publishes a journal, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Quarterly" title="Middle East Quarterly" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Middle East Quarterly</a>.The Forum's actions include combatting lawful Islamism, protecting the freedom of public speech of anti-Islamist authors, activists, and publishers, and working to improve Middle East studies in North America.Based on a belief that the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">United States</a> has vital interests in the region of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East" title="Middle East" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Middle East</a>, according to the organization, they advocate strong ties with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Israel" title="Israel" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Israel</a> and other democracies as they emerge; work for human rights throughout the region; seek a stable supply and a low price of oil; and promote the peaceful settlement of regional and international disputes.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-Pipes-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[3]</a>The Middle East Forum, a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/501(c)#501.28c.29.283.29" class="mw-redirect" title="501(c)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">501(c)3</a>, has established the Legal Project to protect researchers and analysts who work on the topics of Islam and related topics from lawsuits designed to silence their exercise of free speech and to discuss key issues of public concern.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[4]</a> The Legal Project aided <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geert_Wilders" title="Geert Wilders" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Geert Wilders</a>' legal defense when he faced a criminal indictment for his views in 2009.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[5]</a><div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 7px; display: table; zoom: 1; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; display: inline; line-height: 1.3; background: none;">Contents</h2>  [<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">hide</a>] </div><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#Mission_statement" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">1Mission statement</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#Publications_and_projects" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">2Publications and projects</a><ul style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#Middle_East_Quarterly" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">2.1Middle East Quarterly</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#Campus_Watch" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">2.2Campus Watch</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#Islamist_Watch" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">2.3Islamist Watch</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#The_Legal_Project" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">2.4The Legal Project</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#See_also" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">3See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">4References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#Further_reading" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">5Further reading</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">6External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none;">Mission statement[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Mission statement" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h2>The mission of the Middle East Forum is defined in "About the Middle East Forum" on the organization's website as follows:<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-About-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[6]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-Pipes-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[3]</a><blockquote style="overflow: hidden; margin: 1em 0px; padding: 0px 40px;">The Middle East Forum promotes American interests in the Middle East and protects Western values from Middle Eastern threats.
The Forum sees the region — with its profusion of dictatorships, radical ideologies, existential conflicts, border disagreements, corruption, political violence, and weapons of mass destruction — as a major source of problems for the United States. Accordingly, we urge bold measures to protect Americans and their allies.
In the Middle East, we focus on ways to defeat radical Islam; work for Palestinian acceptance of Israel; develop strategies to contain Iran; and deal with the great advances of anarchy.
At home, the Forum emphasizes the danger of lawful Islamism; protects the freedoms of anti-Islamist authors, activists, and publishers; and works to improve Middle East studies.</blockquote><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none;">Publications and projects[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Publications and projects" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none;">Middle East Quarterly<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;">[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: Middle East Quarterly" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Quarterly" title="Middle East Quarterly" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Middle East Quarterly</a> (MEQ) is a quarterly journal devoted to Middle Eastern affairs. It was founded in 1994 by <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Pipes" title="Daniel Pipes" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Daniel Pipes</a> and the current editor is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Efraim_Karsh" title="Efraim Karsh" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Efraim Karsh</a>, Research Professor and former Director of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King's College London. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[7]</a>According to Middle East Quarterly's website, "policy-makers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists" consult MEQ "for in-depth analysis of the rapidly-changing landscape of the world's most volatile region." The journal also seeks to publish "groundbreaking studies, exclusive interviews, insightful commentary, and hard-hitting reviews that tackle the entire range of contemporary concerns – from politics to economics to culture, across a region that stretches from Morocco to Afghanistan."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-MEQ-8" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[8]</a><div class="thumb tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 1.3em 1.4em; width: auto; background-color: transparent;"><div class="thumbinner" style="min-width: 100px; border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding: 3px; text-align: center; overflow: hidden; width: 222px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Middle_east_quarterly.jpg" class="image" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><img alt="" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4e/Middle_east_quarterly.jpg/220px-Middle_east_quarterly.jpg" width="220" height="71" class="thumbimage" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4e/Middle_east_quarterly.jpg/330px-Middle_east_quarterly.jpg 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4e/Middle_east_quarterly.jpg 2x" data-file-width="344" data-file-height="111" style="border: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); vertical-align: middle; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></a><div class="thumbcaption" style="border: none; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 3px; text-align: left;"><div class="magnify" style="float: right; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 0px;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Middle_east_quarterly.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); display: block; text-indent: 15px; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; width: 15px; height: 11px; -webkit-user-select: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data" /></div><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Middle_east_quarterly.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); display: block; text-indent: 15px; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; width: 15px; height: 11px; -webkit-user-select: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Logo of Middle East Quarterly</a></div></div></div><h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Middle_east_quarterly.jpg" class="internal" title="Enlarge" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); display: block; text-indent: 15px; white-space: nowrap; overflow: hidden; width: 15px; height: 11px; -webkit-user-select: none; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent), url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" viewbox="viewBox" width="width" height="height" cg="Cg" id="id" magnify-clip="magnify-clip" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" cpath="Cpath" bigbox="bigbox" m1.509="M1.509" h10.99v7.919h-10.99z="h10.99v7.919h-10.99z" smallbox="smallbox" m-1.499="M-1.499" h5.943v4.904h-5.943z="h5.943v4.904h-5.943z" fg="Fg" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Campus Watch<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;">[</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: Campus Watch" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>In 2002, the Middle East Forum initiated the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Campus_Watch" title="Campus Watch" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Campus Watch</a> program and identified what it finds to be the five major problems in the teaching of Middle Eastern studies at American universities: "analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apologetics" title="Apologetics" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">apologetics</a>, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abuse_of_power" title="Abuse of power" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">abuse of power</a> over students."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[9]</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winfield_Myers" title="Winfield Myers" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Winfield Myers</a> is the current director of Campus Watch (2007).<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[10]</a>Initially, Campus Watch published a list of problematic instructors, which led some professors to accuse Campus Watch of "McCarthyesque" intimidation; in protest, more than 100 other academics asked to be listed too.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-Schevitz-11" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[11]</a> Subsequently, Campus Watch removed the list from its website.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-Schevitz2-12" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[12]</a><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-Ayloush-13" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[13]</a><h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none;">Islamist Watch<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;">[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Islamist Watch" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>On April 21, 2006, the Middle East Forum launched <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.islamist-watch.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Islamist Watch</a>, a project that Islamist Watch states it "combat[s] the ideas and institutions of nonviolent, radical Islam in the United States and other Western countries. It exposes the far-reaching goals of Islamists, works to reduce their power, and seeks to strengthen moderate Muslims." Islamist Watch seeks to educate the government, media, religious institutions, the academy, and the business world about lawful Islamism. It focuses on the political, educational, cultural, and legal activities of Islamists in the United States and, to a lesser degree, in other historically non-Muslim countries, especially Western Europe, Canada, and Australia.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-mefIW-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[14]</a>According to the organization's website, Islamist Watch does not focus on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counter_terrorism" class="mw-redirect" title="Counter terrorism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">counter terrorism</a> and only indirectly concerns Islamism in Muslim-majority countries such as<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt" title="Egypt" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Egypt</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saudi_Arabia" title="Saudi Arabia" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Saudi Arabia</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan" title="Pakistan" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Pakistan</a>, and its three main "activities" include "research, advocacy, and activism."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-mefIW-14" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[14]</a>In 2012, Marc Fink became the director of Islamist Watch.<h3 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); margin: 0.3em 0px 0px; overflow: hidden; padding-top: 0.5em; padding-bottom: 0px; border-bottom-style: none; line-height: 1.6; background: none;">The Legal Project<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-weight: normal; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; unicode-bidi: isolate;">[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: The Legal Project" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h3>The Middle East Forum established the Legal Project in June, 2007, to protect researchers, analysts, and activists who work on radical Islam and related topics from<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_lawsuit_against_public_participation" title="Strategic lawsuit against public participation" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">predatory lawsuits</a> designed to silence their exercise of free speech.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-Legal-Project.org-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[15]</a>According to the Legal Project's website, it acts in four ways to counteract Islamist threats to free speech, "Fundraising for an Escrow account to supplement the court costs and litigation fees for victims of Islamist lawfare (all funds raised go directly to lawfare victims); Arranging for pro bono and reduced rate counsel for victims of Islamist lawfare; Maintaining an international network of attorneys dedicated to working pro bono in the defense of free speech; and, Raising awareness about the issue. Efforts include briefings by legal experts on how to avoid libelous statements, and consultations with libel lawyers before publishing on certain topics."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_note-Legal-Project.org-15" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">[15]</a><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none;">See also[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=7" title="Edit section: See also" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="noprint portal tright" style="clear: right; float: right; margin: 0.5em 0px 0.5em 1em; border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170);"><table style="line-height: 13.09px; max-width: 175px; background: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><tbody><tr style="vertical-align: middle;"><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MiddleEast_blacky.svg" class="image" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><img alt="Portal icon" src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/MiddleEast_blacky.svg/31px-MiddleEast_blacky.svg.png" width="31" height="28" class="noviewer" srcset="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/MiddleEast_blacky.svg/47px-MiddleEast_blacky.svg.png 1.5x, //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/MiddleEast_blacky.svg/62px-MiddleEast_blacky.svg.png 2x" data-file-width="1551" data-file-height="1402" style="border: none; vertical-align: middle;" /></a></td><td style="padding: 0px 0.2em; vertical-align: middle; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Middle_East" title="Portal:Middle East" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Middle East portal</a></td></tr></tbody></table></div><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bradley_Foundation" title="Bradley Foundation" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Bradley Foundation</a> - A financial sponsor of the Middle East Forum</li></ul><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none;">References[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><div class="reflist columns references-column-width" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-top: 0.3em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;"><ol class="references" style="margin: 0px 0px 0.5em 3.2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none; list-style-type: inherit;"><li id="cite_note-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/14/washington/14cair.html?r=2&pagewanted=all&oref=slogin&oref=slogin" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Scrutiny Increases for a Group Advocating for Muslims in U.S.</a></li><li id="cite_note-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-2" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.fpa.org/topics_info2414/topics_info_show.htm?doc_id=125024" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"Middle East Forum"</a> listed in "Search Results" and "Resource Library" on the website of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foreign_Policy_Association" title="Foreign Policy Association" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Foreign Policy Association</a>; cf. organization website for <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.meforum.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Meforum.org</a>, Middle East Forum, one of <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.danielpipes.org/sites.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">DanielPipes.org"</a>, "Daniel Pipes's websites" (incl. its "Mission" statement), all accessed February 24, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-Pipes-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;">^ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-Pipes_3-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:a</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-Pipes_3-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">b</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Pipes" title="Daniel Pipes" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Daniel Pipes</a>, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.danielpipes.org/mef.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"The MEF Mission"</a>, danielpipes.org (personal organization website of Daniel Pipes), n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.meforum.org/participation/legal-project/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Meforum.org</a></li><li id="cite_note-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/8976" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">CanadaFreePress.com</a></li><li id="cite_note-About-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-About_6-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.meforum.org/about.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"About the Middle East Forum"</a>, n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-7" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.meforum.org/staff/Efraim+Karsh" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Biography of Efraim Karsh</a>; Middle East Forum</li><li id="cite_note-MEQ-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-MEQ_8-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.mequarterly.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Middle East Quarterly</a>. Publication website hosted by its sponsoring organization, Middle East Forum, accessed February 19, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-9" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }Qtd. from "Mission Statement," in <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.campus-watch.org/about.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"About Campus Watch"</a>, Campus Watch(campus-watch.org), n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-10" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.meforum.org/staff.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"Who's Who at Campus Watch"</a>, Middle East Forum (meforum.org), n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-Schevitz-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-Schevitz_11-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }Tanya Schevitz, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2002/09/28/MN227890.DTL" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"Professors Want Own Names Put on Mideast Blacklist"</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Chronicle" title="San Francisco Chronicle" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">San Francisco Chronicle</a> September 28, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-Schevitz2-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-Schevitz2_12-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }Tanya Schevitz, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/209" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"'Dossiers' Dropped from Web Blacklist"</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Francisco_Chronicle" title="San Francisco Chronicle" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">San Francisco Chronicle</a> October 3, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-Ayloush-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-Ayloush_13-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up^{</a> }Hussam Ayloush, <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.campus-watch.org/article/id/416" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"Column a Slur on Muslim Community"</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_County_Register" title="Orange County Register" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Orange County Register</a> December 1, 2002, accessed February 17, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-mefIW-14" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;">^ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-mefIW_14-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:a</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-mefIW_14-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.meforum.org/islamist.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">"Islamist Watch"</a> (information page), Middle East Forum, n.d., accessed February 17, 2007.</li><li id="cite_note-Legal-Project.org-15" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em; break-inside: avoid-column;">^ <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-Legal-Project.org_15-0" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;"><span class="cite-accessibility-label" style="-webkit-user-select: none; top: -99999px; clip: rect(1px 1px 1px 1px); overflow: hidden; position: absolute !important; padding: 0px !important; border: 0px !important; height: 1px !important; width: 1px !important;">Jump up to:a</a> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East_Forum#cite_ref-Legal-Project.org_15-1" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">b</a> <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.legal-project.org/about.php" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Legal-Project.org</a></li></ol></div><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none;">Further reading[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Further reading" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_Rubin" title="Barry Rubin" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Rubin, Barry</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Judith_Colp&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Judith Colp (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">Judith Colp</a>. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hating_America:A_History&action=edit&redlink=1" class="new" title="Hating America: A History (page does not exist)" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(165, 88, 88); background: none;">Hating America: A History</a>. New York: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford_University_Press" title="Oxford University Press" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Oxford University Press</a>, 2004. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0195167732" class="internal mw-magiclink-isbn" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">ISBN 0-19-516773-2</a>.</li></ul><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); line-height: 1.3; background: none;">External links[<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_East_Forum&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: External links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">edit</a>]</h2><ul style="margin: 0.3em 0px 0px 1.6em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" f="F" e="E" a="A" csvg="Csvg" http="http" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" ccircle="Ccircle" cx="cx" cy="cy" r="r" fill="fill" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data"><li style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.meforum.org/" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(102, 51, 102); padding-right: 13px; background: linear-gradient(transparent, transparent) right center no-repeat, url(" data:image="data:image" svg="svg" xml="xml" c="C" fxml="Fxml" version="version" d="D" encoding="encoding" utf-8="UTF-8" standalone="standalone" no="no" f="F" e="E" csvg="Csvg" http="http" a="A" fwww.w3.org="Fwww.w3.org" f2000="F2000" fsvg="Fsvg" width="width" height="height" cpath="Cpath" fill="fill" fff="fff" stroke="stroke" m1.5="M1.5" h5.982v10.5h1.5z="h5.982V10.5H1.5z" m5.765="M5.765" h11v5.39l9.427="H11v5.39L9.427" l-1.31-1.31l5.393="l-1.31-1.31L5.393" l-2.69-2.688="l-2.69-2.688" l4.2="L4.2" z="z" m9.995="M9.995" l.022="l.022" l8.2="L8.2" l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z="l2.882-2.88-1.85-1.852z" xmlns="xmlns" xmlns:data="data">Middle East Forum</a></li></ul></div><div id="catlinks" class="catlinks" data-mw="interface" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 5px; margin-top: 1em; clear: both; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); line-height: 22.4px; background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249);"><div id="mw-normal-catlinks" class="mw-normal-catlinks"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Category" title="Help:Category" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Categories</a>: <ul style="list-style: none none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; display: inline;"><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-style: none; padding: 0px 0.5em 0px 0.25em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Middle_East_Forum" title="Category:Middle East Forum" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Middle East Forum</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Foreign_policy_and_strategy_think_tanks_in_the_United_States" title="Category:Foreign policy and strategy think tanks in the United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Foreign policy and strategy think tanks in the United States</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Political_and_economic_think_tanks_in_the_United_States" title="Category:Political and economic think tanks in the United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Political and economic think tanks in the United States</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Islam_and_politics" title="Category:Islam and politics" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Islam and politics</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Foreign_policy_political_advocacy_groups_in_the_United_States" title="Category:Foreign policy political advocacy groups in the United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Foreign policy political advocacy groups in the United States</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:501(c)(3)_nonprofit_organizations" title="Category:501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">501(c)(3) nonprofit organizations</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:1990_establishments_in_Pennsylvania" title="Category:1990 establishments in Pennsylvania" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">1990 establishments in Pennsylvania</a></li><li style="margin: 0.125em 0px; display: inline-block; line-height: 1.25em; border-left-width: 1px; border-left-style: solid; border-left-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); padding: 0px 0.5em; zoom: 1;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Arabic_studies" title="Category:Arabic studies" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background: none;">Arabic studies</a></li></ul></div></div></div><div></div></div><div>rww</div><div>
</div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.6em 0px; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); font-family: " source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb">Officers (as of 2015)<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); font-family: " source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Daniel Pipes: President</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Steven Levy: Chairman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Joshua Katzen: Vice Chairman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Lawrence Hollin: Treasurer</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Amy Shargel: Secretary</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.6em 0px; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); font-family: " source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"> Executive Committee (as of 2015)<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); font-family: " source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Steven Levy: Chairman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Lawrence Gould</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Irwin Hochberg</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Lawrence Hollin</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Joshua Katzen</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Andrew Lappin</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Harley Lippman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Daniel Pipes</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Scott Rosenblum</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">James H.M. Sprayregen</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">David P. Steinmann</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Judith Friedman Rosen</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.6em 0px; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); font-family: " source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"> National Board of Governors (as of 2015)<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); font-family: " source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Robert Abrams</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Wilma G. Aeder</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Yehuda Baskin</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Sam E. Beller</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Jack Bershad</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Howard Bleich</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Susan Gardos Bleich</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Marc Paul Blum</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Richard Calmas</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Howard M. Casper</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Patrick Clawson</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Brian T. Decker</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Janet Doerflinger</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">David E. Edman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Georgette Gelbard</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Roger A. Gerber</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Donald G. Ginsberg</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Stanley D. Ginsburg</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Edward Glickman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Benjamin H. Gordon</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Brian Grodman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Lawrence K. Grodman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Martin Gross</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Robert Guzzardi</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Robert Immerman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Ira M. Ingerman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Arthur Karafin</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Leon Korngold</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">David Kudish</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Joshua Landes</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Murray S. Levin</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Robert J. Levine</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">David N. Levinson</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Peter B. Levy</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Michael Mooreville</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Herbert Nevyas</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Irene Pipes</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">James Pollack</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Adrienne Price</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Pamela Rose</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Howard Rosenbloom</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Jeremy T. Rosenblum</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Henry Rosenfeld</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Josiah Rotenberg</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Mark H. Rubin</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Melvin Salberg</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Milton S. Schneider</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Ed Seave</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">William Seltzer</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Joseph Shafran</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">David Shifrin</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Orna Shulman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Murray H. Shusterman</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Lindy Snider</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Marilyn Stern</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Leonard A. Sylk</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Jonathan Torop</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Margot Marbut Train</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">George A. Violin</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">David V. Wachs</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Harry C. Wechsler</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Carroll A. Weinberg</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Michael Weiss</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Maxine Wolf</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Ele Wood</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Joseph S. Zuritsky</li></ul><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0.6em 0px; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; padding: 0px; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); font-family: " source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"> MEF 501c(3) Donors, 2000-2009<ul style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside; color: rgb(22, 22, 22); font-family: " source="Source" sans="Sans" pro="Pro" helvetica="Helvetica" arial="Arial" sans-serif="sans-serif" font-size="font-size" px="px" line-height="line-height"><li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Abraham Kamber Foundation: $108,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Abramowitz Family Foundation: $20,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Abstraction Fund: $94,500</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Aimee & Frank Batten, Jr. Foundation: $25,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Anchorage Charitable Fund:$252,230</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">American Philanthropic Foundation: $151,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Blum-Kovler Foundation: $85,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Bodman Foundation:$177,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Combined Jewish Philanthropies of Greater Boston:$21,500</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Dian & Morton Goldin Foundation: $25,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Dextra Baldwin McGonagle Foundation, Inc.:$30,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Donors Capital Fund: $2,300,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ed Snider Foundation:$15,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Edgerly Foundation:$75,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Eleanor, Adam, & Mel Dubin Foundation:$35,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Fairbrook Foundation: $135,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Fidelity Investments Charitable Gift Fund:$20,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">FIMF, Inc.: $40,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">GBRB, Inc.:$20,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Hochberg Family Foundation: $30,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Houston Jewish Community Foundation: $17,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Irving I. Moskowitz Foundation: $25,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jack N. & Lilyan Mandel Foundation:$25,800</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">James E. & Patricia D. Cayne Charitable Trust:$236,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jewish Communal Fund:$387,940</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jewish Community Federation of Cleveland: $26,500</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Jewish Community Foundation of Greater Los Angeles:$21,780</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">JJG Foundation, Inc.:$150,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">JLRJ, Inc.:$15,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Joseph & Florence Mandel Family Foundation:$50,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Legacy Heritage Fund Limited:$45,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Lewis B. & Dorothy Cullman Foundation:$25,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">LMCL, Inc.:$15,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important;">Lynde & Henry Bradley Foundation, Inc.: $240,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Kimmel Foundations:$170,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Klarman Family Foundation:$125,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Koret Foundation:$145,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Mandel Supporting Foundations (Joseph & Barbara Mandel Fund): $175,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Metropolitan Philanthropic Fund, Inc.:$50,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Meyer & Jean Steinberg Family Foundation, Inc.: $20,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Morton & Barbara Mandel Family Foundation: $25,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Newton & Rochelle Becker Charitable Trust: $200,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">PBHP, Inc.:$30,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Pechter Foundation: $45,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Price Family Foundation: $110,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Quadrangle Group Foundation, Inc.:$15,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Randolph Foundation:$70,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Russel Berrie Foundation:$325,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Samuel & Helene Soref Foundation:$15,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Schusterman-JD Support Foundation, Inc.:$21,700</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Scientific Research Foundation, Inc.:$22,500</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Sunrise Foundation Trust:$68,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Svetlana & Herbet M. Wachtell Foundation: $180,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Wechsler Family Foundation:$15,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">William Rosenwald Family Fund, Inc.:$2,020,000</li> <li style="box-sizing: border-box; font-size: 0.857143em; line-height: 1.4em; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; list-style: square inside !important; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">1185 Park Foundation, Inc.:$15,000</li></ul></div><div>==</div></div></div>