MONITORING AND COMBATING ISLAMOPHOBIA

A Project of the Council on American-Islamic Relations

ISLAMOPHOBIC ORGANIZATIONS: Middle East Media Research Institute

Middle East Media Research Institute

MEMRI was co-founded in 1998 by Yigal Carmon and Meyrav Wurmser. MEMRI has an established reputation for distributing highly selective, distorted, and inaccurate translations of Arabic and Persian media. Through these selections the organization attempts to portray Muslims and Arabs as being inherently irrational and violent. The Middle East Media Research Institute is part of the inner core of the U.S. Islamophobia network.

According to Vincent Cannistraro, former Chief of Operations and Analysis at the Central Intelligence Agency’s Counterterrorist Center, “MEMRI is selective and acts as a propagandist for a political point of view which follows the extreme right of the Likud.”

Similarly, Brian Whitaker, former Middle East editor (2000-2007) for The Guardian newspaper, MEMRI “poses as a research institute when it’s basically a propaganda operation,” and goes on to say that the items it translates are chosen largely suited to its political agenda, and “are unrepresentative and give an unfair picture of the Middle Eastern media as a whole.”

Whitaker’s 2007, Guardian article, “Arabic Under Fire: A child on Hamas TV talked of annihilating the Jews … or did she?” is a well-known example of MEMRI producing inaccurate translations of Arab media that purposefully misrepresents the reality of the situation.

According to Whitaker, in a Hamas video clip distributed by MEMRI, the host of a children’s television show, dressed as a costumed character, asks a young girl “What she will do for the sake of al-Aqsa?” to which the girl responds “I’m going to draw a picture.” Instead, MEMRI’s quotes the girl as stating “I’ll shoot.”  Next, the host asks, “What are we going to do?” to which the girl responds “We’re going [or want] to resist.” Instead, MEMRI quotes the girl as stating, “We want to fight.” The host continues and asks, “What then?” to which the girl responds, “The Jews will shoot us” or “The Jews are shooting at us.” However, MEMRI quotes the girl as stating, “We will annihilate the Jews.”

CNN’s Arabic department also found “massive problems” with MEMRI’s translation of the program.

In 2000, MEMRI produced an inaccurate translation of an interview provided by Sheikh Ekrima Sa’id Sabri, the former Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and Palestine (1994-2006), to depict him as providing anti-Semitic statements.

During an interview with Egyptian Weekly, discussing the Second Intifada, Sheikh Sabri was asked, “How do you deal with the Jews who are besieging al-Aqsa and are scattered around it?” Instead, MEMRI quotes the interviewer as asking, “How do you feel about the Jews?” According to Mr. Whitaker, MEMRI then, “cut out the first part of the mufti’s reply and combined what was left with part of his answer to another question” to provide an anti-Semitic sounding reply. In 2003, Mr. Carmon admitted to Mr. Whitaker that the translation was incorrect, and MEMRI has since posted a transcript of the interview that correctly states the interviewer’s question.

StopAntisemitism.org

Anti-Muslim and Anti-Palestinian Activity  StopAntisemitism.org is an Islamophobic, anti-Palestinian website founded by right-wing extremist Liora Rez. Although the website claims to focus on antisemitism, Rez primarily uses

Read More »

Anti-Defamation League (ADL)

Anti-Muslim and Anti-Palestinian Activity The ADL has a history of aggressively intimidating Arabs, Muslims, and others who speak out in favor of Palestinian human rights.

Read More »

American Freedom Alliance

Type of Organization: Politics, Grassroots, Education The American Freedom Alliance (AFA) is a non-profit organization which, according to its mission statement, “promotes, defends, and upholds

Read More »

American Civil Rights Union

Type of Organization: Media, Politics The American Civil Rights Union (ACRU) is an IRS accredited American legal organization founded by former Reagan Administration official Robert

Read More »

Gatestone Institute

Type of Organization: Media, Politics According to its website, the Gatestone Institute claims to be “a non-partisan, not-for-profit international policy council and think tank, dedicated

Read More »

Shoebat Foundation

The Shoebat Foundation is an organization linked to fake former terrorist Walid Shoebat. While Shoebat’s website announces the latest news from the Foundation, CAIR researchers

Read More »