The MEMRI Institute - who's behind it?

[mogster]

Top news in Norway just now:
Saudi-Arabian soccer players prefers to go jihad in Iraq instead of playing soccer (=going extremist).

The source referred are the MEMRI Institute, and I just wondered who's behind it?

The About-page tells nothing about the actual org, just cites a lot of quotes, of which most are known rw propaganda-sources like FOX, WS, NRO et al.

http://www.memri.org/aboutus.html

[maddezmom]

1. interesting article from the Guardian: Selective Memri

from August '02

~snip~
Its work is subsidised by US taxpayers because as an "independent, non-partisan, non-profit" organisation, it has tax-deductible status under American law.

Memri's purpose, according to its website, is to bridge the language gap between the west - where few speak Arabic - and the Middle East, by "providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew media".

Despite these high-minded statements, several things make me uneasy whenever I'm asked to look at a story circulated by Memri. First of all, it's a rather mysterious organisation. Its website does not give the names of any people to contact, not even an office address.

The reason for this secrecy, according to a former employee, is that "they don't want suicide bombers walking through the door on Monday morning" (Washington Times, June 20).

more:http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,773258,00.html

[mogster]

2. Thank you

I found something more:

Overview

The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) states that it “explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the West and the Middle East, providing timely translations of Arabic, Farsi, and Hebrew media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East.” MEMRI, founded in 1998 as a 501 (c)3 organization, says that its purpose is “to inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East.” With branch offices in Berlin, London, and Jerusalem, where MEMRI also maintains its Media Center, MEMRI’s research is translated to English, German, Hebrew, Italian, French, Spanish, Turkish, and Russian. (1)

The main subjects of its research and translations are the following: jihad and terrorism, U.S. and Middle East, reform in the Arab and Muslim world, Arab-Israeli conflict, inter-Arab relations, economic studies, and Arab anti-Semitism.(2) MEMRI’s slogan, “Bridging the Language Gap Between the Middle East and the West,” does not convey the center’s stridently Zionist and anti-Arab political bias. Until recently MEMRI was more forthcoming about its political orientation in its self-description and staff profiles on its website. Currently it has no information about its staff, board of directors, or funding on its website. Three weeks after September 11, 2001, MEMRI also deleted the following sentence from its “mission statement” on its “About Us” page: “In its research, the institute puts emphasis on the continuing relevance of Zionism to the Jewish people and to the state of Israel.” (3) (4)

The two founders, Meyrav Wurmser and Yigal Carmon, are right-wing Zionists. Carmon is the longtime president, while Wurmer left her position as executive director at MEMRI in early 2002 to direct the Center of Middle East Studies at the Hudson Institute. (2) Steven Stalinsky has been MEMRI’s executive director since Wurmser’s departure. Oliver Revell serves without compensation as a member of MEMRI’s board of directors, together with Carmon and Stalinsky. In 2001 MEMRI operated on a budget approaching $1.8 million. (5) Its staff has increased dramatically since its founding in February 1998, from six to more than thirty. (6)

As an indirect result of the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the subsequent “war on terrorism” by the Bush administration, MEMRI has gained public prominence as a source of news and analysis about the Muslim world. Its translated articles and commentary by its own staff are routinely cited in national media in the United States, including the New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times. Analysis by MEMRI staff and officers is frequently published by right-wing and neoconservative media outlets such as National Review, Fox News, Commentary, and the Weekly Standard. It is also a media outlet of choice for such right-wing and Zionist organizations the Center for Security Policy, Middle East Forum, and Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Both critics and supporters of MEMRI note its increasing influence in shaping perceptions of the Middle East. Its translations and reports are distributed without charge, according to MEMRI, to “congresspersons, congressional staff, policy makers, journalists, academics, and interested parties.” (6)

http://rightweb.irc-online.org/org/memri.php

[annabanana]

3. PERLE! Perle and the Hudson Institute....

I hope our lawmakers take this into account when THEY get "translations" from this non-profit organization....

That is a very good article. (There are no Journalists in America anymore).

[annabanana]

4. An odd paragraph in the "rebuttal":

http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,778373,00.html

To start with, Memri is not a "mysterious organisation". Our telephone number, fax and email appear on every dispatch. True, the office address is no longer posted on our website. Whitaker may scoff, but we have received threats from rightwing radicals in America.

(emphasis mine)

[Bernardo de La Paz]

5. Selective translations, no doubt. When convenient, no doubt.