The Middle East Monitor (MEMO) is a

not-for-profit A not-for-profit or non-for-profit organization (NFPO) is a Legal Entity, legal entity that does not distribute surplus funds to its members and is formed to fulfill specific objectives. While not-for-profit organizations and Nonprofit organ ...

press monitoring organisation and lobbying group that emerged in mid 2009. MEMO is largely focused on the

Israeli–Palestinian conflict The Israeli–Palestinian conflict is an ongoing military and political conflict about Territory, land and self-determination within the territory of the former Mandatory Palestine. Key aspects of the conflict include the Israeli occupation ...

but writes about other issues in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

, as well. MEMO is pro-Palestinian in orientation, and has been labelled by some commentators as pro- Islamist, pro-

Muslim Brotherhood The Society of the Muslim Brothers ('' ''), better known as the Muslim Brotherhood ( ', is a transnational Sunni Islamist organization founded in Egypt by Islamic scholar, Imam and schoolteacher Hassan al-Banna in 1928. Al-Banna's teachings s ...

, and pro-

Hamas The Islamic Resistance Movement, abbreviated Hamas (the Arabic acronym from ), is a Palestinian nationalist Sunni Islam, Sunni Islamism, Islamist political organisation with a military wing, the Qassam Brigades. It has Gaza Strip under Hama ...

. MEMO is financed by the State of Qatar. Its director is Daud Abdullah, former Deputy Secretary General of the Muslim Council of Britain and the current director of the British Muslim Initiative.

Events

In June 2011, MEMO organized a speaking tour for

Raed Salah Sheikh Raed Salah Abu Shakra (; ; born 1958) is a Palestinian religious leader from Umm al-Fahm, Israel. He is the leader of the Northern Branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel. Salah was elected mayor of his town Umm al-Falm, an Israeli-Ara ...

, leader of the northern branch of the

Islamic Movement in Israel The Islamic Movement in Israel (; ) also known as the Islamic Movement in '48 Palestine () is an Islamist movement that advocates for Islam in Israel, particularly among Arab citizens of Israel, Arabs and Circassians in Israel, Circassians. The ...

. Salah, who was banned from entering the UK by the

home secretary The secretary of state for the Home Department, more commonly known as the home secretary, is a senior minister of the Crown in the Government of the United Kingdom and the head of the Home Office. The position is a Great Office of State, maki ...

, was held in custody pending deportation until April 2012, when an immigration tribunal ruled that the home secretary had been misled. In 2011, MEMO co-organized an event with

Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...

and Palestine Solidarity Campaign entitled "Complicity in oppression: Do the media aid Israel?" featuring Abdel Bari Atwan. On 22 August 2015, MEMO organized an event entitled "Palestine & Latin America: Building solidarity for national rights", featuring allegedly

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

cartoonist Carlos Latuff and British Palestinian activist Azzam Tamimi.

Jeremy Corbyn Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...

was scheduled to appear but pulled out. In November 2017, MEMO organized an event entitled "Crisis in Saudi Arabia: War, Succession and the Future", a discussion of future succession in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

monarchy A monarchy is a form of government in which a person, the monarch, reigns as head of state for the rest of their life, or until abdication. The extent of the authority of the monarch may vary from restricted and largely symbolic (constitutio ...

, regional rivalries with

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

, and war in Yemen.

Staff

The staff and contributors of MEMO include Daud Abdullah, Ibrahim Hewitt and Ben White.

Criticism

In 2011, John Ware of

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...

described MEMO as a pro-

publication. In 2015, Labour Party leadership candidate

Liz Kendall Elizabeth Louise Kendall (born 11 June 1971) is a British politician who has served as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions since July 2024. A member of the Labour Party, she has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicester West sinc ...

said: "It seems deeply unwise for Jeremy orbynto appear on at a conference organised by MEMO, an organisation that the Community Security Trust has said is infamous for repeated negative

conspiracy theories A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that asserts the existence of a conspiracy (generally by powerful sinister groups, often political in motivation), when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * ...

about Israel and

Jewish people Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...

in public life." The Trust describes MEMO as an anti-Israel organisation that promotes conspiracy theories and myths about Jews, Zionists, money and power. It said that MEMO had "questioned the suitability of Matthew Gould for the post of UK ambassador to Israel simply because he was Jewish". The same year, Andrew Gilligan, a reporter for ''

The Sunday Telegraph ''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, first published on 5 February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings. It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Tele ...

'', described it as "a news site which promotes a strongly pro- uslimBrotherhood and pro-Hamas view of the region," its director Daud Abdullah as "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.

Palestine Book Awards

Since 2012, MEMO sponsors and organizes the annual Palestine Book Awards. The award is intended for books in English on various Palestinian topics.

References

External links