Middle East Media Research Institute 351504 226010270 2008-07-16T12:46:30Z Tundrabuggy 7196092 /* Objectives and projects */ update on Urdu-Pashto re MEMRI site {{Infobox Non-profit | Non-profit_name = Middle East Media Research Institute | Non-profit_logo = [[Image:Memrilogo.jpg|334px|Middle East Media Research Institute Logo]] | Non-profit_type = [[501(c)(3)]] [[Non-profit organization|non-profit]] | founded_date = 1998 | founder = [[Yigal Carmon]] | location = {{flag|Washington, D.C.}} | origins = | key_people = Yigal Carmon <small>(President)</small> | area_served = | product = Translation and original analysis services. | focus = [[Arabic language|Arabic]] and [[Persian language|Persian]] [[Broadcasting|media]]. | method = [[Media monitoring service|Media monitoring]] | revenue = | endowment = | num_volunteers = | num_employees = | num_members = | subsib = | owner = | Non-profit_slogan = Bridging the language gap between the Middle East and the West | homepage = [http://www.memri.org/ MEMRI website] | dissolved = | footnotes = }} The '''Middle East Media Research Institute''', or '''MEMRI''' for short, is a [[Middle Eastern]] press monitoring organization located in [[Washington, D.C.]], with branch offices in [[Jerusalem]], [[Berlin]], [[London]], [[Rome]], [[Shanghai]] and [[Tokyo]]. It provides translations of Arabic and Persian media as well as "original analyses of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East." MEMRI was founded in 1998 by [[Yigal Carmon]] along with Dr. [[Meyrav Wurmser]]. The organization became more prominent after the [[September 11, 2001 attacks]], due to increased Western public interest in Arab and Iranian affairs. At that time, it expanded its staff considerably, setting up new branches outside the United States in early 2002. A free source of English language translations of material published in Arabic and Persian, MEMRI publishes its analyses and in-depth reports on its Web site. Regularly quoted by major international newspapers, the organization has attracted both criticism and support for its work. ==Objectives and projects== MEMRI's mission statement states the organization "explores the Middle East through the region's media. MEMRI bridges the language gap which exists between the [[Western world|West]] and the [[Middle East]], providing timely translations of [[Arabic language|Arabic]], [[Persian language|Persian]], [[Turkish language|Turkish]], and [[Urdu]]-[[Pasto|Pashtu]] media, as well as original analysis of political, ideological, intellectual, social, cultural, and religious trends in the Middle East."<ref name=AboutUs>[http://www.memri.org/aboutus.html MEMRI About Us], Memri.org, accessed July 23 2006</ref> MEMRI's translated articles and media analysis focus on the following areas: * ''Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project'' * ''U.S. And the Middle East'' * ''Reform in the Middle East and North Africa'' * ''Arab-Israeli Conflict'' * ''Inter-Arab Relations'' * ''Antisemitism Documentation Project'' Starting in October 2006, they added ''The Islamist Websites Monitor Project'' focusing on the translated news, videos, and analysis of "major jihadi websites".<ref>[http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=subjects&Area=iwmp&ID=SP130706 ''The Islamist Websites Monitor No. 1''], Memri.org, accessed January 28 2006</ref> ==Staff== When founded in 1998, MEMRI's staff of seven included three who had formerly served in Military Intelligence in the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] (IDF)<ref>[http://web.archive.org/web/19981202233541/http://www.memri.org/about.html Memri.org Mission Statement], at web.archive.org, accessed Dec 2 1998</ref><ref name=SelectiveMemri/>. MEMRI President and founder [[Yigal Carmon]] states that MEMRI's current staff includes "people of the Jewish, Christian and Muslim faiths [who] hold a range of political views"<ref name=Debate>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,884156,00.html Email debate: Yigal Carmon and Brian Whitaker] at ''Guardian Unlimited'', January 28 2003</ref> ==Prominent staff== *Yigal Carmon &mdash; MEMRI's founder and President. Carmon is fluent in Arabic. He served as Colonel in the [[Israeli Defense Forces]] (IDF) Intelligence Branch from 1968 to 1988. He was Acting Head of Civil Administration in the [[West Bank]] and the adviser on Arab Affairs to the Civil Administration from 1977 to 1982. He advised Prime Ministers [[Yitzhak Shamir|Shamir]] and [[Yitzhak Rabin|Rabin]] on Countering Terrorism from 1988 to 1993. In 1991 and 1992 Carmon was a senior member of the Israeli Delegation to peace negotiations with [[Syria]] in [[Madrid]] and [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]]. <ref name="jpint">[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1162378407552&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull One on One with Yigal Carmon: If MEMRI serves...] Jerusalem Post, Nov. 16, 2006</ref> *Dr. [[Nimrod Raphaeli]] received a Ph.D. in development planning from the University of Michigan. He spent most of his professional career at the World Bank, and has consulted for the International Monetary Fund. Dr. Raphaeli, an Iraqi-born Israeli, joined the Middle Media Research Institute (MEMRI)as a senior analyst in 2001. *Prof. [[Menahem Milson]] (Academic Advisor), is a professor at [[Hebrew University]] in [[Arabic literature]], and has served as head of the Department of Arabic Language and Literature and Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. He has published extensively on modern Egyptian writers. His book on Egypt's great humanist, [[Naguib Mahfouz|Najib Mahfuz]] - ''Najib Mahfuz: The Novelist-Philosopher of Cairo'' appeared in 1998. Between 1976 to 1978, then-Minister of Defense [[Shimon Peres]] appointed Milson as an adviser on Arab affairs to the Israeli military where he became the No. 2 adviser. In 1981, then-Defense Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] returned Milson as head of the Civil Administration of the West Bank and Gaza. Milson served in that position until he resigned in 1982.<ref>William B. Quandt, [http://books.google.com/books?id=pYzO8zmNEmcC&pg=PA308&lpg=PA308&dq=menahem+milson&source=web&ots=qw-EpF3nU5&sig=18vtEW9vihbaByR1WFUeC1fuvDU#PPA308,M1 ''The Middle East: Ten Years after Camp David''], Brookings Institution Press, 1988, ISBN 0815772939, page 308</ref><ref>Lesley Pearl, [http://www.jewishsf.com/content/2-0-/module/displaystory/story_id/2454/edition_id/41/format/html/displaystory.html ''Ex-West Bank `mayor' in Berkeley visit, says Jews must study Arab culture''], Jewish news weekly of Northern California, November 24, 1995</ref><ref>[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921215-1,00.html Growing Doubts at Home] Time Magazine, May 17, 1982</ref> *[[Meyrav Wurmser]] (founding Executive Director) left MEMRI in early 2002 to join the [[Hudson Institute]] and was replaced by [[Steven Stalinsky]]. Wurmser was one of the authors of the 1996 [[A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm| Clean Break]] document.<ref name="UnderFire"/> ==Financial support== MEMRI is registered in the US with the IRS as a [[501(c)(3)]] non-profit organization.<ref name=AboutUs/> They have a policy of not accepting money from governments, relying instead on around 250 private donors, including other organizations and foundations. <ref>[http://www.nationalreview.com/nordlinger/nordlinger200409132124.asp Thanks for the MEMRI (.org)] [[Jay Nordlinger]], [[National Review]], September 13 2004, accessed July 23 2006</ref> [[MediaTransparency]], an organization<ref>[http://www.cursor.org/about/default.php Cursor, Inc. About Us] cursor.org accessed Oct. 15 2007</ref> that monitors the financial ties of conservative think tanks to conservative foundations in the United States, reported that for the years 1999 to 2004, MEMRI received $100,000 from [[Bradley Foundation|The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc.]], $100,000 from [[Randolph Foundation|The Randolph Foundation]], and $5000 from the [[John M. Olin Foundation]]<ref>[http://www.mediatransparency.org/recipientgrants.php?recipientID=2085 MEMRI Media Transparency Profile], accessed Oct. 7 2007</ref>. MEMRI's U.S. income statement of June 2004 stated that its total U.S. revenue was US$2,571,899, its total U.S. functional expenses were $2,254,990, and that it possessed net assets of $700,784. [[Charity Navigator]], an organization<ref>[http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=426 Charity Navigator About Us] charitynavigator.org accessed Oct. 15 2007</ref> that evaluates the financial health of America's largest charities, has given MEMRI a four-star (exceptional) rating, meaning that it "... exceeds industry standards and outperforms most charities in its Cause" when rated on its financial health.<ref>[[Charity Navigator]], [http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/search.summary/orgid/8188.htm ''Charity Navigator Rating - The Middle East Media Research Institute'']</ref><ref>[[Charity Navigator]], [http://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm/bay/content.view/cpid/43.htm What Do Our Ratings Mean], accessed Oct. 8, 2007</ref> ==Controversy== {{Quotefarm|date=March 2008}} ===Criticism=== MEMRI's work has been attacked on three grounds: that their work is biased; that they choose articles to translate selectively so as to give an unrepresentative view of the media they are reporting on; and that their translations are sometimes inaccurate. ====Bias==== *[[Brian Whitaker]], the Middle East editor for ''[[the Guardian]]'' newspaper in the United Kingdom, has been one of the most outspoken critics of MEMRI, writing: "My problem with Memri is that it poses as a research institute when it's basically a propaganda operation,"<ref name=Debate>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,884156,00.html Email debate: Yigal Carmon and Brian Whitaker] at ''Guardian Unlimited'' </ref> and that "the stories selected by Memri for translation follow a familiar pattern: either they reflect badly on the character of Arabs or they in some way further the political agenda of Israel."<ref name=SelectiveMemri>Brian Whitaker, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,773258,00.html Selective Memri], ''Guardian Unlimited'', Monday August 12, 2002</ref> Whitaker has also complained that "MEMRI's website does not mention you [Carmon] or your work for Israeli intelligence. Nor does it mention MEMRI's co-founder, Meyrav Wurmser, and her extreme brand of Zionism.... Given your political background, it's legitimate to ask whether MEMRI is a trustworthy vehicle."<ref name=Debate/> *Leila Hudson writes in the journal [[Middle East Policy]], "MEMRI simultaneously highlights stories emphasizing the most extreme stereotypes of clashing Arab and Islamic civilization, which would not otherwise come to light. In effect, it amplifies the noise that most effectively distracts from the projects of engagement and negotiation. This is compounded by the interlinked series of websites, blogs and forums on the right wing of the think-tank periphery. Like the Israeli disinformation site [[Debka.com]], MEMRI produces and amplifies noise, while buttressing the weak 'clash of civilizations' theory with selective extremist writing."<ref>Leila Hudson, "The New Ivory Towers: Think Tanks, Strategic Studies and 'Counterrealism'," ''Middle East Policy'' 12:4 (Winter 2005) p. 130.</ref> *Messaoud Saidani of [[Coventry University]] says that although MEMRI presents itself as Middle East Research Institute it does hardly translate any controversial articles that appear in the Israeli audio-visual media. It concerns itself with Arabic, Persian and Turkish translations.... but not Hebrew translations although most of its members are in fact Jewish. Not only that, but MEMRI selects bad apples from the Muslim world and blows them out of proportion to give a distorted impression of the Muslim and Arab worlds. Also, it claims to be a non-political non-partisan organisation, BUT almost all its founders had served in the IDF and the intelligence services. ====Selectivity==== *According to [[Juan Cole]], Professor of Modern Middle East History at the University of Michigan, MEMRI has a tendency to "cleverly cherry-pick the vast Arabic press, which serves 300 million people, for the most extreme and objectionable articles and editorials"<ref name=Osama>[http://www.juancole.com/2004/11/bin-ladens-audio-threat-to-states.html Bin Laden's Audio: Threat to States?], Professor Juan Cole Informed Comment blog, November 2 2004</ref> Similarly, [[Ibrahim Hooper]], a director of the [[Council on American-Islamic Relations]], stated in the ''[[Washington Times]]'' that "MEMRI's intent is to find the worst possible quotes from the Muslim world and disseminate them as widely as possible."<ref name=SelectiveMemri/> *[[William Rugh]], former U.S. ambassador to the [[United Arab Emirates]] and [[Yemen]], describes MEMRI as a service which "does not present a balanced or complete picture of the Arab print media.... Quotes are selected to portray Arabs as preaching hatred against Jews and westerners, praising violence and refusing any peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue."<ref name=LanguageMatters>Brian Whitaker, [http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,1580217,00.html ''Language matters''], [[Guardian Unlimited]], September 28, 2005</ref> *[[Laila Lalami]] has written that, "There are three general observations that can be made about MEMRI's work. One is that it consistently picks the most violent, hateful rubbish it can find, translates it and distributes it in e-mail newsletters to media and members of Congress in Washington. The second is that MEMRI does not translate comparable articles published in Israel, although the country is not only a part of the Middle East but an active party to some of its most searing conflicts. For instance, when the right-wing Israeli politician Effi Eitam referred to Israel's Palestinian citizens as a "cancer," MEMRI did not pick up this story. The third is that this organization is now the main source of media articles on the region of Islam, a far greater and far more diverse whole than the individual countries it lists."<ref>Laila Lalami, [http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20060619&s=lalami "Missionary Position]," ''The Nation'' (19 June 2006) p. 32.</ref> *[[Ken Livingstone]], former British MP and former Mayor of London, has accused MEMRI of "outright distortion".<ref name=MondeDiplomatique> {{cite news | title=Propaganda that widens the Arab-West divide - Gained in translation | publisher=Le Monde Diplomatique | date=October 2005 | url=http://mondediplo.com/2005/10/15propaganda}} See in French (freely available) {{cite news | title=Traduction ou trahison? Désinformation à l’israélienne. | publisher=Le Monde Diplomatique | date=October 2005 | url=http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2005/09/EL_OIFI/12796#nb11}} (Persian translation also available for free [http://ir.mondediplo.com/article716.html here])</ref><ref name=LivingstonePress> [http://www.london.gov.uk/news/docs/qaradawi_dossier.pdf Mayor of London Press Release]</ref> Journalist Rima Barakat wrote of the January 2005 Greater London Authority report that: "A study was commissioned to investigate the 'Islamic conspiracy dossier.' This dossier was compiled to defame a renowned Muslim scholar and was presented to British officials in an attempt to prevent a renowned Muslim scholar, Sheikh [[Yusuf al-Qaradawi]], from entering Britain to participate in a London conference. The report found that "nearly all the distortions came from material produced by the MEMRI."<ref>Rima Barakat, "MEMRI's systematic distortions," ''Rocky Mountain News'' (27 March 2006) p. 35A.</ref> ====Translation Inaccuracy==== *The accuracy of MEMRI's translations is sometimes disputed.<ref name=MemriBinLaden>Yigal Carmon [http://memri.org/bin/articles.cgi?Page=archives&Area=sa&ID=SA1404 Osama Bin Laden Tape Threatens U.S. States] memri.org, 1 November 2004</ref><ref name=Philly>Ramona Smith, "Did Osama send election threat?," ''Philadelphia Daily News'' (2 November 2004).</ref><ref name=Debate/><ref name=LivingstonePress/><ref name= "nfinkelstein"> {{cite web| title=How MEMRI doctored Finkelstein's interview to portray him as a "Holocaust denier" | publisher=Official Norman Finkelstein Website | url=http://www.normanfinkelstein.com/article.php?pg=11&ar=605}}</ref>. For example, a controversy arose over MEMRI's translation of the Arabic words "ay wilayah" in the 2004 Osama bin Laden video. Osama bin Laden's statement was widely translated as: "Every state that does not toy with our security has automatically guaranteed its own security".<ref>[http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/79C6AF22-98FB-4A1C-B21F-2BC36E87F61F.htm Full transcript of bin Ladin's speech] at Al-Jazeera. 01 November 2004</ref> The US media in general translated "state" as nation-state, and viewed Bin Laden's statement as a warning to the US to stop intervening in the Middle East in order to guarantee US security<ref name=MemriBinLaden/>. But MEMRI interpreted "state" in the sense of a US state rather than a nation-state. MEMRI's translation was widely reported since it differed from most earlier translations and since MEMRI's "Special Alert" published along with Bin Laden's speech the weekend before the 2004 presidential election stated that: "Osama bin Laden ... included a specific threat to 'each U.S. state,' designed to influence the outcome of the upcoming election against George W. Bush."<ref name=MemriBinLaden/> The media watchdog site mediamatters.org noted that: "MEMRI's translation has been challenged by a number of scholars and experts," of whom they quote Juan Cole, professor of modern Middle East History at the University of Michigan; Omer Taspinar, a foreign policy studies research fellow at the Brookings Institution; and Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert and director of the RAND Corp's Washington, D.C. office. They include Juan Cole's statement that bin Laden: "cannot possibly mean that he thinks Rhode Island is in a position to [trifle with Muslims' security]"<ref name=Osama/><ref name=Philly/> Brian Whitaker went even further, commenting that it was "a clever bit of election propaganda on MEMRI's part, implying that Bin Laden wanted Americans to vote for Kerry"<ref>[http://www.tbsjournal.com/Archives/Spring05/whitaker.html TBS 13<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> *Professor Halim Barakat of [[Georgetown University]] cited MEMRI's translations of his own articles as an example of such distortion: "Every time I wrote Zionism, MEMRI replaced the word by Jew or Judaism. They want to give the impression that I'm not criticizing Israeli policy, but that what I'm saying is anti-Semitic."<ref>Richard H. Curtiss, "Meyrav Wurmser: the neocons' den mother," ''Washington Report on Middle East Affairs'' 26.3 (April 2007).</ref> *On his [[blog]] for ''[[The Guardian]]'', Brian Whitaker wrote that in a translation of a Hamas video showing [[Tomorrow's Pioneers|Farfur]], a Mickey-mouse figure, eliciting political comments from a young girl, the MEMRI transcript misrepresents the segment, by attributing a sentence said by the mouse figure ("I'll shoot") to the child, and ignoring the child's statement ("I'm going to draw a picture") <ref name="UnderFire"/> Also, where MEMRI translates the girl as saying "We will annihilate the Jews", Whitaker and others, including [[Arabic]] speakers used by CNN, insist that based on careful listening to the low quality [[video clip]], the girl is variously interpreted as saying, "The Jews will[are] shoot[ing at] us" or "The Jews are killing us."<ref name="CNNtranscript">[http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0705/08/pzn.01.html "Paula Zahn Now" TV show transcript], ''[[CNN]] transcripts'', aired [[2007-05-08]]</ref> Whitaker concluded: "The effect of this is to devalue everything Memri translates - good and bad alike. Responsible news organisations can't rely on anything it says without going back and checking its translations against the original Arabic." <ref name="UnderFire"> {{cite web | last =Whitaker | first =Brian | authorlink =Brian Whitaker | title =Arabic under fire | work = | publisher =The Guardian | date =15 May 2007 | url =http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/brian_whitaker/2007/05/arabic_under_fire.html | format = | doi = | accessdate =2007-05-16 }}</ref> *According to [[Le Monde Diplomatique]], MEMRI translations sometimes remove content, or even add Arabic terms not present in the original, with intent of making the statement seem more controversial. The author writes: ::« M. Hani Al-Sebai, an Islamist living in Great-Britain (...) has declared regarding the victims [of the [[7 July 2005 London bombings]] ]: "There is no term in Islamic jurisprudence for 'civilians'. Dr Karmi [another guest] is with us and he is proficient in Islamic jurisprudence. There are the categories of 'fighters' and 'non-fighters'. Islam is against the murder of innocents. According to Islam, an innocent cannot be killed." MEMRI's translation : "The term 'civilian' does not exist in Muslim religious law. Dr Karmi is with us and I am here and I know religious law. There is no 'civilian' in the modern Western sense. People belong to [[Dar al-Harb]] or not." Note the introduction of the controversial term "dar al harb" [...] Incidentally, MEMRI removed from its traduction Mr Al Sebai's condemnation of any killing of innocents...»<ref name="LeMonde">{{cite news | title=Propaganda that widens the Arab-West divide - Gained in translation | publisher=Le Monde Diplomatique | date=October 2005 | url=http://mondediplo.com/2005/10/15propaganda}} See in French (freely available) {{cite news | title=Traduction ou trahison ? Désinformation à l’israélienne. | publisher=Le Monde Diplomatique | date=October 2005 | url=http://www.monde-diplomatique.fr/2005/09/EL_OIFI/12796#nb11}} ([[Persian language|Persian]] translation also available for free [http://ir.mondediplo.com/article716.html here])</ref> ===Response to criticism=== MEMRI has responded to the attacks of critics, arguing that their work is not biased; that they in fact choose representative articles from the Arab media that accurately reflect the opinions expressed, and that their translations are highly accurate. ====On claims of bias==== *Yigal Carmon, MEMRI President, has responded: "You are right: we do have an agenda. As an institute of research, we want MEMRI to present translations to people who wish to be informed on the ideas circulating in the Middle East. We aim to reflect reality. If knowledge of this reality should benefit one side or another, then so be it."<ref name=Debate>[http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/comment/0,10551,884156,00.html Email debate: Yigal Carmon and Brian Whitaker] at ''Guardian Unlimited'' </ref> *"Whatever the agenda, the research has to be scientific. If it isn't - if we were trying to prove that some phenomenon existed when it didn't, or vice versa - it wouldn't be an agenda, it would be bias."<ref name=jpint/> *Addressing the issue of supposed bias, [[John Lloyd]] has noted in the ''[[New Statesmen]]'' that "One beneficial side effect of the focus on the Middle East is that we now have available much more information on the discourse of the Arab world... it is a sobering experience to read on the internet Memri's vast store of translations from many media, and to note how much of what is written is conspiratorial, vicious and unyieldingly hateful. Memri and Carmon have been accused of selecting the worst of a diverse media: however, the sheer range of what is available weakens that criticism, as does support for the initiative by Arab liberals. The Iraqi exile [[Kanan Makiya]], for example, wrote in the spring 2002 issue of [[Dissent (magazine)|Dissent]] that Arab intellectuals have allowed a mixture of victimhood and revenge to take hold of popular culture, with few if any dissenting voices.<ref>John Lloyd, [http://www.newstatesman.com/200302030016 "Pay any price, bear any burden?,"] ''New Statesman'' (3 February 2003).</ref> *Carmon replied to Whitaker's complaint that his and Wurmsyers backgrounds were not detailed on the MEMRI Web site by saying, "As for myself, I make no secret of my past. I appear regularly on various media outlets, including Al-Jazeera, and my background is always mentioned. [Whitaker] omitted the fact that I retired from service over 10 years ago." Carmon also noted that Meyrav Wurmser had left MEMRI many years before Whitaker made his complaint that her background was not outlined on the MEMRI Web site<ref name=Debate/>' In the same interview Carmon also stated "Memri is not a news agency or a press review service". ====On claims of selectivity==== *In response to the selection of material portraying the Arab/Muslim world in a negative light, Carmon stated, "In 1994-5, before MEMRI was formally established, I taped TV broadcasts of [ [[Palestinian Authority]] chairman] [[Yasser Arafat|Arafat]] calling for [[jihad]]. The reaction to that tape was: 'Kill the messenger'.... And I protested by saying, 'But it's not me [calling for jihad]; it's him [Arafat].'... I asked a very senior journalist, 'Why are you criticizing our work? We're merely revealing the truth.' [He replied] 'There is no such thing as truth.... Every news item must be judged by the question of whom it serves. And you are serving the enemies of peace.' Horrified, I retorted, "And you're the one who's considered the reliable journalist, while I'm seen as biased?' So he said, 'If you want to play naive, do it with someone else, not with me. You know I'm right.' 'No,' I said. 'I do not know that you're right. There is such a thing as truth, and it is impartial'"<ref name="jpint">[http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1162378407552&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull One on One with Yigal Carmon: If MEMRI serves....], [[Jerusalem Post]], Nov. 15, 2006</ref> *"We aim to reflect main trends of thought and when possible general public opinion. We feature the most topical issues on the Middle Eastern or international agenda.... We also translate discussions on social issues, such as the status of women in Egypt (Special Dispatches 392, 393, January 2002) and debates on Al-Jazeera TV which reach an estimated 60 million viewers. When controversial matters are aired before such a large audience, Memri does not need to fight shy of translating their contents. Are the examples chosen extreme? While some of the topics covered do seem extreme to the western reader, they are an accurate representation of what appears in the Arab media... if mainstream papers repeatedly publish the Jewish blood libel; accuse Jews and Americans of deliberately spreading Aids or the US of dropping genetically modified foods with the intention of harming people in Afghanistan (the latter allegation made by no less than the editor in chief of the most important government daily in Egypt) Memri is entitled to translate these articles... there are even more extreme views - like those expressed by most Islamist organisations - which we rarely translate." *"Memri has never claimed to 'represent the view of the Arabic media', but rather to reflect, through our translations, general trends which are widespread and topical. You [Brian Whitaker] accused us of distortion by omission but when asked to provide examples of trends and views we have missed, you have failed to answer."<ref name=Debate/> ====On claims of translation inaccuracy==== *According to New York Times reporter [[Steven Erlanger]], "No one disputes their translations." <ref> "In Gaza, Hamas’s Insults to Jews Complicate Peace; Sermons and Broadcasts Indoctrinate the Young," By STEVEN ERLANGER, April 1, 2008, New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/01/world/middleeast/01hamas.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin </ref>. *MEMRI asserted that: "the U.S. media in general mistranslated the word" [[wilayah]] and that the modern standard Arabic definition of "wilayah" as "province or administrative district" as in Arabic name of the United States of America, (الولايات الأمريكية المتح), was what bin Laden meant, rather than nation-states.<ref name=MemriBinLaden/> MEMRI cited a post on an [[Islamist]] website which made the threats to US states explicit. [[Robert Fisk]] said in an interview that "(bin Laden) always had this notion... this idea that the American people would shrug off the American government, and would -- their individual states of the union would become individual countries". <ref>[http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=04/11/01/1513254 Robert Fisk: "Bin Laden's Vote is For George Bush"], [[Democracy Now]], Monday, November 1st, 2004</ref> Conservative commentators asserted that this was bin Laden "voting" for [[John Kerry]], but the later consensus within the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] is that the video as a whole was most probably meant to assist [[George W Bush]]'s re-election. <ref>[[Robert Parry]], [http://www.consortiumnews.com/2006/070306.html ''CIA: Osama Helped Bush in '04''], [[Consortiumnews.com]], July 4, 2006</ref> ==Support== *[[Thomas L. Friedman]], a political opinion columnist for the ''[[New York Times]]'', credits MEMRI with helping to "shine a spotlight on hate speech wherever it appears" and "presenting the voices of the... courageous Arab or Muslim intellectual, cleric or columnist (who) publishes an essay in his or her media calling on fellow Muslims to deal with the cancer in their midst. The truth tellers' words also need to be disseminated globally." Friedman quotes [[Husain Haqqani]], author of the book 'Pakistan: Between Mosque and Military': "The rulers in these countries have no interest in amplifying the voices of moderates because the moderates often disagree with the rulers as much as they disagree with the extremists...You have to deal us moderates into the game by helping to amplify our voices and exposing the extremists and their amen corner."<ref>[http://service.spiegel.de/cache/international/0,1518,366285,00.html Giving the Hatemongers No Place to Hide] reprinted in Der Spiegel Online</ref></blockquote> *[[Brad Sherman]], a [[United States Congress|Congressman]] and ranking member of the [[United States House of Representatives]] International Relations Committee's Subcommittee on International Terrorism and Non-proliferation, wrote the introduction to a MEMRI report on Arab and Iranian reactions to 9/11: "Since MEMRI's inception eight years ago, Americans and others in the West have had at least one outstanding source of information on the media of the Arab world, Iran and Turkey. MEMRI provides timely translations of materials that you will find nowhere else. As a member of Congress on the House International Relations Committee, and the top Democratic member of its Terrorism Subcommittee, I have utilized MEMRI.org to better understand the Middle East and its political culture."<ref>[[Brad Sherman]],''Introduction to the MEMRI Compilation on the Arab and Iranian Reactions to 9/11'', MEMRI, 2006</ref> *[[Jay Nordlinger]], the managing editor of ''[[National Review]]'', wrote: "Wading or clicking through MEMRI's materials can be a depressing act, but it is also illusion-dispelling, and therefore constructive. This one institute is worth a hundred reality-twisting Middle Eastern Studies departments in the U.S. Furthermore, listening to Arabs — reading what they say in their newspapers, hearing what they say on television — is a way of taking them seriously: a way of not condescending to them, of admitting that they have useful things to tell us, one way or the other. Years ago, Solzhenitsyn exhorted, "Live not by lies." We might say, in these new circumstances, "Live not by ignorance about lies, either." Anyone still has the right to avert his eyes, of course. But no one can say that that is not a choice." <ref>[[Jay Nordlinger]], [http://www.nationalreview.com/nordlinger/nordlinger200409132124.asp ''Thanks for the MEMRI (.org)''] [[National Review]] May 6, 2002</ref> ==See also== *[[Palestinian Media Watch]] ==References== {{reflist|2}} ==External links== ===MEMRI websites=== * [http://www.memri.org/ MEMRI website] * [http://memri.org/german/ MEMRI German website] * [http://www.memri.org.il/ MEMRI Israeli website] * [http://www.memritv.org/ MEMRITV website] * [http://www.thememriblog.org/ The MEMRI Blog] * [http://www.memrieconomicblog.org/ The MEMRI Economic Blog] ===Other external links=== *[http://www.mideastwire.com/index.php Mideastwire] Translation organization based in Beirut *[http://www.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0207/29/i_qaa.01.html Debate on CNN] between [[Yigal Carmon]] and [[Ali Abunimah]] of the ''[[Electronic Intifada]]'' *[http://www.counterpunch.org/harris01152003.html A Note on MEMRI & Translations] by Leah Harris, ''[[CounterPunch]]'' [[Category:Arab world media]] [[Category:Iranian media]] [[Category:Turkish media]] [[Category:Antisemitism]] [[Category:Middle East]] [[Category:Terrorism]] [[Category:Women's rights in the Middle East]] [[Category:Human rights in Arab League member countries]] [[Category:American Middle Eastern studies]] [[Category:Non-profit organizations]] [[Category:Organizations established in 1998]] [[Category:Media analysis organizations]] [[ar:معهد الأبحاث الإعلامية للشرق الأوسط]] [[de:Middle East Media Research Institute]] [[fr:Institut de recherche des médias du Moyen-Orient]] [[it:Middle East Media Research Institute]] [[he:ממר"י]] [[nl:Middle East Media Research Institute]] [[ja:中東報道研究機関]] [[sv:Middle East Media Research Institute]]