State Department gives MEMRI $200,000
MEMRI has received a $200,000 grant from the US State Department. “The Department of State’s Office of International Religious Freedom in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor awarded a $200,000 grant to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) to conduct a project that documents anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and Holocaust glorification in the Middle East. This grant will enable MEMRI to expand its efforts to monitor the media, translate materials into ten languages, analyze trends in anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial and glorification, and increase distribution of materials through its website and other outlets.”As someone who has been critical of Rosenthal, I agree with Elliott Abrams (who posted this to his blog). Hats off to her indeed. This is great.
Hats off to the Department and especially to the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, Hannah Rosenthal. I must acknowledge a special interest here: I sit on MEMRI’s board, and am a member of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council. It is noteworthy that the grant, by referring to Holocaust denial, clarifies that this is a form of anti-Semitism. These topics are extremely sensitive, dealing as they do with Muslim anti-Semitism, and this helps explain why the U.S. Government has sometimes shied away from confronting the phenomenon.
For this reason as well, the new grant announced by Ms. Rosenthal deserves notice and commendation.
Labels: Hannah Rosenthal, MEMRI, US State Department
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 6:54 AM
4 Comments:
Indeed. Exposing Arab/Iranian bigotry and anti-Semitism will acquaint every one on what needs to be changed in the Arab World and Iran. MEMRI has done excellent work to expose the raw underbelly of fanaticism in both the Arab and Iranian mass media.
Its work deserves to be commended and more widely supported.
I think it is Orwellian to criticize MEMRI. ALL they do is provide video clips of actual words and statements. The clips are long enough to provide context.
Are the translations wrong? biased?
Is it bias to provide the actual words, statements?
I might also add many MEMRI clips are of courageous dissenting secular arabs with their own beefs against Islamist rule.
"Is it bias to provide the actual words, statements?"
That's it, biorabbi! Any quotes, videos, audio, even older books that don't fit the marxist caliphate narrative to the West are called out by those very people as BIAS. I spent months on a couple of threads with my university alumni association members. I posted links (including to MEMRI stuff and lots of others) and editorialized based on the links. I was called names, etc., and ultimately, the alumni association administration removed the threads with no comment except an e-mail to me... so don't be surprised by it happening to MEMRI. Just keep on linking, exposing, etc.
BTW, I hope that by accepting Dept of State $$, MEMRI doesn't have any duty or inclination to alter how they do things. I sure have seen that a lot of times in the U.S. Sponsors getting the organization to want, if not be dependent on, the $$ and the sponsors leaning on the organization for a say in things in exchange for the $$.
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