Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who serves as its president. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal, the Middle East Quarterly.
According to the organization's website, they promote "American interests and works to protect Western civilization from the threat of Islamism", advocate strong ties with Israel 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.
The Middle East Forum, a 5013, 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.
The Legal Project aided Geert Wilders' legal defense when he faced a criminal indictment for his views in 2009.
Publications and projects
''Middle East Quarterly''
The Middle East Quarterly is a quarterly journal devoted to Middle Eastern affairs. It was founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes and the current editor is Efraim Karsh, Research Professor and former Director of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies at King's College London.''Campus Watch
In 2002, the Middle East Forum initiated the Campus Watch 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, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students." Winfield Myers is the current director of Campus Watch.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. Subsequently, Campus Watch removed the list from its website, but replaced it with a list titled Professors to Avoid.
Islamist Watch
On April 21, 2006, the Middle East Forum launched Islamist Watch, a project that it states "combat 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."According to the organization's website, 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. Islamist Watch does not focus on counter terrorism and only indirectly concerns Islamism in Muslim-majority countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan, and its three main "activities" include "research, advocacy, and activism."
In 2012, Marc Fink became the director of Islamist Watch.
The Legal Project
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 predatory lawsuits designed to silence their exercise of free speech.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 ; 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."
''Middle East Intelligence Bulletin''
The Middle East Intelligence Bulletin was jointly published by the and the Middle East Forum. It was, from 1999-2004, a free monthly publication, that provided analysis of political and strategic developments in Lebanon, Syria & the Middle East.The staff included: Gary C. Gambill as editor, Daniel Pipes and Ziad K. Abdelnour as publishers. The Editorial Board includes Thomas Patrick Carroll, Michael Rubin and Youssef Haddad. Mahan Abedin serves as London correspondent.
Israel Victory Project
The Israel Victory Project, launched in 2017, is an initiative aimed at securing an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict by putting pressure on Palestinians to end anti-Israel terrorism and acknowledge Israel's legitimacy as a Jewish state, rather than through bilateral negotiations. Daniel Pipes has stated that "Peace is not made with enemies; peace is made with former enemies."Contributors
According to a report by the Center for American Progress published in 2011 the two main contributors to the Middle East Forum were Donors Capital Fund and Rosenwald Fund.Support for Tommy Robinson
In 2018, the MEF boasted that it had been "heavily involved" in the release from prison of British anti-Islam activist and far-right political operative Tommy Robinson, who is best known as a co-founder, former spokesman and former leader of the English Defence League organisation, and for his recent service as a political adviser to the leader of the UK Independence Party, Gerard Batten. They revealed that "the full resources of the Middle East Forum were activated to free Mr. Robinson", which included:conferring with Robinson's legal team and providing necessary funds; funding, organizing and staffing the "Free Tommy" London rallies on June 9 and July 14, which was, they claim, reported by The Times, The Guardian, and The Independent; funding travel of the US congressman, Rep. Paul Gosar, Republican from Arizona, to London to address the rallies; and lobbied Sam Brownback, the State Department's ambassador-at-large for International Religious Freedom, to raise the issue with the UK's ambassador, which he did.