Middle East Monitor

Not-for-profit press monitoring organisation

Middle East Monitor

Founded| 1 July 2009
Location|

* London, United Kingdom

Product| Translation and original analysis services
Method| Media monitoring
Website| middleeastmonitor.com

The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) is a not-for-profit press monitoring organisation[1] and lobbying group[2][3] that emerged in mid 2009.[4] MEMO is largely focused on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, but writes about other issues in the Middle East as well. MEMO is pro-Palestinian in orientation,[5][6][7] and has been labelled by some commentators as pro-Islamist,[8][9] pro-Muslim Brotherhood,[10][11] and pro-Hamas.[12][13]

MEMO is financed by the State of Qatar.[14][15] It is led by Daud Abdullah, former assistant secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain and the current director of British Muslim Initiative.[16][17]

## Events

[edit]

In June 2011, MEMO organized a speaking tour for Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Salah, who was banned from entering the UK by the home secretary, was held in custody pending deportation until April 2012 when an immigration tribunal ruled that the home secretary had been misled.[18][19]

In 2011, MEMO co-organized an event with Amnesty International and Palestine Solidarity Campaign titled "Complicity in oppression: Do the media aid Israel?" featuring Abdel Bari Atwan.[20][21]

On 22 August 2015, MEMO organized an event titled "Palestine & Latin America: Building solidarity for national rights", featuring alleged antisemitic cartoonist Carlos Latuff and British Palestinian activist Azzam Tamimi. Jeremy Corbyn was scheduled to appear as well, but pulled out.[22][23]

In November 2017, MEMO organized an event titled "Crisis in Saudi Arabia: War, Succession and the Future" discussion Saudi Arabia's future monarchy succession and regional rivalries with Iran and war in Yemen.[24]

## Staff

[edit]

The staff and contributors of MEMO include Daud Abdullah, Ibrahim Hewitt and Ben White.[citation needed]

## Criticism

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In 2011, John Ware of BBC News described MEMO as a pro-Hamas publication.[18]

In 2015, Labour Party leadership candidate Liz Kendall said "It seems deeply unwise for Jeremy [Corbyn] to appear on at a conference organised by MEMO, an organisation that the Community Security Trust has said is infamous for repeated negative conspiracy theories about Israel and Jewish people in public life."[25] The Trust describes MEMO as an anti-Israel organisation and as promoting conspiracy theories and myths about Jews, Zionists, money and power.[26][27][25][undue weight? - discuss] It said that MEMO had "questioned the suitability of Matthew Gould for the post of UK ambassador to Israel simply because he was Jewish".[27][undue weight? - discuss]

The same year, the Sunday Telegraph's Andrew Gilligan described it as "a news site which promotes a strongly pro-[Muslim] Brotherhood and pro-Hamas view of the region", its director Daud Abdullah as "also a leader of the Brotherhood-linked British Muslim Initiative, set up and run by the Brotherhood activist Anas al-Tikriti and two senior figures in Hamas", and its senior editor, Ibrahim Hewitt, as chairman of Interpal, which he said was also linked to Hamas and the Brotherhood. Gilligan noted its location at Crown House, which he described as a "hub" of the Muslim Brotherhood's European activities.[28][29][30]

## Palestine Book Awards

[edit]

Since 2012, MEMO sponsors and organizes the annual Palestine Book Awards.[31][32][33] The award is intended for books in English on various Palestinian topics.[34][35]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Vorhies, Zach; Heckenlively, Kent (3 August 2021). Google Leaks: A Whistleblower's Exposé of Big Tech Censorship. Skyhorse Publishing. p. 90\. ISBN 978-1-5107-6736-2.
2. ^ Zeffman, Henry Zeffman (21 August 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn referred to watchdog over 2010 Hamas visit". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
3. ^ "Corbyn met terror leaders, but not Jews, on trip to Israel in 2010 — report". Times of Israel. 21 August 2018. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
4. ^ Ehud Rosen (2010). Mapping the Organizational Sources of the Global Delegitimization Campaign against Israel in the UK (PDF). Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. pp. 33–35. ISBN 978-965-218-094-0.
5. ^ Smyrnaios, Nikos; Ratinaud, Pierre (January 2017). "The Charlie Hebdo Attacks on Twitter: A Comparative Analysis of a Political Controversy in English and French" (PDF). Social Media + Society. 3 (1). SAGE Publishing: 7. doi:10.1177/2056305117693647. ISSN 2056-3051. S2CID 151668905.
6. ^ Rosenfeld, Arno (7 October 2021). "Nike isn't boycotting Israel — despite reports to the contrary". The Forward. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
7. ^ Altikriti, Anas (27 April 2010). "Muslim voters come of age". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
8. ^ Black, Ian (29 June 2011). "Sheikh Raed Salah: Islamic Movement leader loathed by the Israeli right". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
9. ^ Levy, Eylon (20 August 2018). "EXCLUSIVE: Jeremy Corbyn's secret trip to Israel to meet Hamas". i24news. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
10. ^ Cook, Steven A. (16 October 2013). "Egypt: Reductio Ad Absurdum". Council on Foreign Relations. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
11. ^ Knipp, Kersten (30 September 2016). "The flight out of Egypt". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 20 September 2022.
12. ^ Yorke, Harry; Tominey, Camilla (21 September 2018). "Jeremy Corbyn's allies drawing up emergency plans amid fears he may be suspended over 'undeclared trips'". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
13. ^ "Qatari media incites boycott of Bahrain's Palestinian workshop, but ignores leaks about own regime attendance". Arab News. 26 May 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
14. ^ Willi, Victor J. (4 February 2021). The Fourth Ordeal: A History of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, 1968-2018. Cambridge University Press. p. 373\. ISBN 978-1-108-83064-5.
15. ^ Cherkaoui, Tarek (December 2018). "Qatar's public diplomacy, international broadcasting, and the Gulf Crisis". Rising Powers Quarterly. 3 (3): 127–149.
16. ^ Perry, Damon L. (17 July 2018). The Global Muslim Brotherhood in Britain: Non-Violent Islamist Extremism and the Battle of Ideas. Routledge. p. 130\. ISBN 978-1-351-34790-7.
17. ^ Andrew Gilligan How the Muslim Brotherhood fits into a network of extremism, The Telegraph, 8 February 2015.
18. ^ a b Ware, John (29 June 2011). "Questions over Sheikh Raed Salah's UK ban". BBC News. Retrieved 30 November 2020.
19. ^ Palestinian activist wins appeal against deportation, Guardian, 9 April 2012
20. ^ Amnesty approves controversial anti-Israel event, JPost, 24 May 2011
21. ^ Amnesty to host anti-Israel Atwan talk, the JC, 28 April 2011
22. ^ Jeremy Corbyn pulls out of conference at which antisemitic cartoonist is due to appear, the JC, 13 August 2015
23. ^ Corbyn withdraws from controversial pro-Palestine conference, Jewish News, 13 August 2015
24. ^ UK: Leaders, academics raise alarm over Saudi 'crisis', Al Jazeera, 18 November 2017
25. ^ a b Walters, Louisa (13 August 2015). "Corbyn withdraws from controversial pro-Palestine conference". Jewish News. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
26. ^ Pfeffer, Anshel (20 July 2015). "Loony-left Front-runner for Britain's Labour Leader Gives anti-Zionism a Bad Name". Retrieved 19 August 2015.
27. ^ a b "UK Jews wary over Labour candidate's support for Hamas, Hezbollah". The Times of Israel. 13 July 2015. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
28. ^ "How the Muslim Brotherhood fits into a network of extremism". The Telegraph. 8 February 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
29. ^ "Jeremy Corbyn, friend to Hamas, Iran and extremists". The Telegraph. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
30. ^ Perry, D.L., 2020. The Islamic Movement in Britain. International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence. London: King’s College.
31. ^ Gadoua, Renée K. (2 May 2023). "'My Poetry Is a Record of What Happened' Says Palestinian MFA Student Mosab Abu Toha G'23". Syracuse University. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
32. ^ "Contact Us". Palestine Book Awards. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
33. ^ "About the Palestine Book Awards". Palestine Book Awards. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
34. ^ "Academic books a place at an awards ceremony for Palestine book". University of Wolverhampton. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
35. ^ "Professor Sonia Nimer wins Translation Award at 2021 Palestine Book Awards". Birzeit University. 30 November 2021. Retrieved 7 November 2023.

## External links

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* Official website
* Spanish edition
* Palestine Book Awards, sponsored by MEMO

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States