MEMRI
The Middle East Media Research Institute (German name identical, Hebrew name המכון לחקר התקשורת המזרח התיכון, abbreviated ממר") is a organization headquartered in Washington, DC, with branch offices in Jerusalem, Berlin, and London, and a Media Center in Jerusalem. It was established in February 1998 to 'inform the debate over U.S policy in the Middle East' (according to its current site), or 'to study and analyze Middle East intellectual developments and politics and the Arab-Israeli conflict, with particular emphasis on its Israeli-Palestinian dimension' (according to its 1998 site.) It describes itself as an 'independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501 (c)3 organization'. It was cofounded by two Israelis, Yigal Carmon(יגאל כרמון) (Retired IDF Colonel), its president, and Dr. Meyrav Wurmser.MEMRI is one of the few sources of English language translations of material published in Arabic and Persian, and the technical accuracy of its translations is only rarely disputed - although the extent to which its selection is contextual or representative of Arab/Iranian media often is (see MEMRI ties with Israel below.) It thus provides a view into the intra-Arab and intra-Muslim dialog that is often otherwise unavailable to English speakers that are not literate in Arabic or Persian. It 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 abroad in early 2002, and became regularly quoted by major American newspapers, including The New York Times, The New Yorker (magazine), the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and British ones including The Guardian.
In its original website of 1998, MEMRI listed 6 staff members: its President and cofounder Yigal Carmon, cofounder Dr. Meyrav Wurmser (Executive Director), Aaron Mannes (Director of Research), Yotam Feldner (Director of Media Analysis), Stacey Lakind (Research Associate), and Aluma Solnick (Research Associate). Stacey Lakind left in late 1998, and Aaron Mannes in early 2001; the others were still MEMRI staff as of October 5, 2001, when MEMRI stopped listing its employees on its website. Dr. Meyrav Wurmser left in early 2002 to join the Hudson Institute; she was replaced as Executive Director by Steven Stalinsky ([1]). Aluma Solnick appears to have married and hence changed her name to Aluma Dankowitz, in which case she is now Director of MEMRI's Reform Project [1]. It now has a much larger number of employees (17 in January 2002[1], "over 30" in August 2002, current number unknown); citing bomb threats, it provides no information on their identities beyond stating that they are "of different nationalities" and different religions. These include or have included: B. Chernitsky/Tchernitzky (Research Fellow, 2003[1]), Allan Polak (Director of Communications, 2002[1]), Jan Cleaver (2002[1]), Dr. Nimrod Raphaeli (Chief Analyst, joined 2001[1], Iraqi-born Israeli, former World Bank employee), Ayelet Savyon (Director of Iranian Media Project, 2001[1]), Ronen Sebag (Research Associate, 2001[1]), Eli Carmeli (Research Associate, 2000[1]). Miriam Posner was Associate Director of Communications and Special Projects until recently[1], having since moved on to PANIM, "the Institute for Jewish Leadership and Values". Jess Sadick claims to have helped found the organization[1], but to have left in 1998. Adam Pashut (supposedly Research Fellow, 2004[1]) has a name meaning "simple person" in Hebrew, and is presumably a pseudonym).
The Berlin branch's Director is Dr. Jochen MÃÂüller (2004, [1]); other members or ex-members include Goetz Nordbruch (Research Fellow, 2001[1]; Director, 2002[1]; German domain name contact) and Mirjam GlÃÂäser (2003[1])
The Jerusalem branch includes Yael Yehoshua (Research Fellow, 2003[1]), Ezra Dalumi (2004[1]), Angi Jacobs (2002[1]), and Menahem Milson (Academic Advisor[1], also a Professor at Hebrew University.) Yotam Feldner and Aluma Solnick are also now based there[1]. The domain names contacts for its site are Shmuel Segev and Noga Feldner of Amutat Yesodot Shalom (Organization for the Foundations of Peace); the former may be the author and Maariv journalist.
Five of the six staff members listed on MEMRI's original 1998 website had demonstrated a strong previous commitment to Israel, a fact taken by some critics of MEMRI to suggest that their choice of articles may be intended to further Israel's interests. Of the list given, Yigal Carmon (its president), Aluma Solnick, Yotam Feldner had worked for Israeli intelligence, Stacey Lakind had been National Coordinator for the Student Department of the World Zionist Organization, and co-founder Dr. Meyrav Wurmser is also a "Contributing Expert" for Ariel Center for Policy Research (an organization dedicated, according to its website[1], to "stimulating and informing the national and international debates concerning all aspects of security policy - notably those policies which are an outcome of the political process started in Oslo and subsequently called the Peace Process" and "help(ing) crystallize a strategic design for the State of Israel", and according to which "A peace which will force Israel to its pre-1967 borders... will not be but a recipe for war."). Furthermore, its original self-description on its site included the sentence "In its research, the institute puts emphasizes (sic) the continuing relevance of Zionism to the Jewish people and to the state of Israel", removed from its site on November 5, 2001. (See links below, Wayback Machine.)
MEMRI claims to be funded exclusively by private money from some 250 donors, including various foundations[1]. Notable among these is the Lynde & Harry Bradley Foundation, which has donated at least $100,000 dollars[1].
MEMRI runs several press monitoring projects on specific topics. Its currently ongoing projects are called: "Arab Anti-Semitism Documentation Project", "Jihad and Terrorism Studies Project", "US and the Middle East", "Reform in the Arab and Muslim World", "Arab-Israeli Conflict" (all since 1998), "Inter-Arab Relations" (since 1999), "Economic Studies" (since 2001).
In addition to press translations, it regularly publishes media analyses and "in-depth studies" relating to Middle Eastern affairs. It "distributes them, free of charge, by fax and email" (current site) to (according to its 1998 website) "Congresspersons, congressional staffers, policy makers, journalists, academics, and interested parties."
MEMRI also refers to the Michigan Electronic Medical Record Initiative ([1]).MEMRI Staff
MEMRI ties with Israel
MEMRI Funders
MEMRI Projects
Links