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| Critics of MEMRI charge that its choice of articles is intended to portray ]s and ]s in a bad light, or to further the interests of ]. They note that of the six major staff members listed on MEMRI's original website (MEMRI's site no longer includes a list of staff members), four - ], ], cofounder ], and its president and other cofounder ] ] - are listed as having worked for Israeli intelligence in the past, and a fifth, ], had been National Coordinator for the Student Department of the World Zionist Organization. Only one, ] (at MEMRI 1998-2001), is not described as having done anything that would imply a strong previous commitment to Israel. MEMRI notes that it now has a much larger number of employees (17 in January 2002, over 30 in August 2002) but provides no information on their identities beyond mentioning that they are "of different nationalities". 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." (See links below.) | Critics of MEMRI charge that its choice of articles is intended to portray ]s and ]s in a bad light, or to further the interests of ]. They note that of the six major staff members listed on MEMRI's original website (MEMRI's site no longer includes a list of staff members), four - ], ], cofounder ], and its president and other cofounder ] ] - are listed as having worked for Israeli intelligence in the past, and a fifth, ], had been National Coordinator for the Student Department of the World Zionist Organization. Only one, ] (at MEMRI 1998-2001), is not described as having done anything that would imply a strong previous commitment to Israel. MEMRI notes that it now has a much larger number of employees (17 in January 2002, over 30 in August 2002) but provides no information on their identities beyond mentioning that they are "of different nationalities". 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." (See links below.) | ||
| However, MEMRI is one of the few sources of ] translations of material published in Arabic and Persian. 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. | However, MEMRI is one of the few sources of ] translations of material published in Arabic and Persian, and the technical accuracy of its translations generally appears not to be disputed. 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. | ||
| Translations from MEMRI have sometimes been used by the ]. | Translations from MEMRI have sometimes been used by the ]. | ||
Revision as of 01:10, 11 April 2004
The Middle East Media Research Institute is a organization headquartered in Washington, DC, with branch offices in Jerusalem, Berlin, and London, and a Media Center in Jerusalem. According to its literature, it was established in 1998 to 'inform the debate over U.S. policy in the Middle East'. Memri translates Arabic and Persian media. It describes itself as an 'independent, nonpartisan, nonprofit, 501 (c)3 organization'.
Critics of MEMRI charge that its choice of articles is intended to portray Arabs and Muslims in a bad light, or to further the interests of Israel. They note that of the six major staff members listed on MEMRI's original website (MEMRI's site no longer includes a list of staff members), four - Aluma Solnick, Yotam Feldner, cofounder Meyrav Wurmser, and its president and other cofounder Colonel Yigal Carmon - are listed as having worked for Israeli intelligence in the past, and a fifth, Stacey Lakind, had been National Coordinator for the Student Department of the World Zionist Organization. Only one, Aaron Mannes (at MEMRI 1998-2001), is not described as having done anything that would imply a strong previous commitment to Israel. MEMRI notes that it now has a much larger number of employees (17 in January 2002, over 30 in August 2002) but provides no information on their identities beyond mentioning that they are "of different nationalities". 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." (See links below.)
However, 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 generally appears not to be disputed. 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.
Translations from MEMRI have sometimes been used by the The New York Times.
Links
- MEMRI Official Site
- "http://web.archive.org/web/19981202233541/http://www.memri.org/index.html" - MEMRI original site (with a staff list under "About MEMRI"), from the Wayback Machine
- Selective Memri - a criticism of the organization
- Memri rebuttal of "Selective Memri"
- "Making a Memri"