This coming year, 2013, MEMRI will mark the 15th anniversary of its founding. MEMRI relies solely on the generosity of our donors, to continue our daily operations and to expand our research. During this crucial time, we are working around the clock monitoring, translating, and analyzing primary source material from the Middle East, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, "Bridging the Language Gap" between these regions and the West. Our global staff translates from hundreds of Arabic, Farsi, Dari, Hindi, and Urdu/Pashtu newspapers, magazines, television shows and websites. Producing and distributing our research and maintaining our numerous websites are costly undertakings.
MEMRI has a direct impact in the Middle East and beyond. For instance, in October, a columnist in Egypt's major government daily Al-Ahram discussed a recent MEMRI TV clip of Egyptian President Muhammad Morsi attending Friday prayers and nodding his head and responding "amen" as the preacher cursed "the Jews." The columnist stated that the clip is an embarrassment for Morsi, and that "MEMRI controls the material read by large sectors of the European and American elite regarding what is published in the Middle East press and broadcast in the media of the region's countries."
Now is the time to support MEMRI – as the crises in Syria and Gaza become increasingly acute, as protests spread across Jordan, as the events behind the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and the killing of four U.S. diplomats become clear, and as U.S. troops prepare to withdraw from Afghanistan. Events are unfolding and circumstances are changing very rapidly in the Middle East, Iran, South Asia, and North Africa – making MEMRI research as critical and vital as ever.
You already know that your generous support to MEMRI enables us to continue to assist the U.S. government and military in the day-to-day fight against extremism – including monitoring terrorists, supporting reformists, and documenting antisemitic and other forms of hatred in the media of these regions. Our work benefits our soldiers abroad and our policymakers at home, and is all the more essential in light of the ongoing grave shortage of translators that is impacting the U.S. government and military. And, as a MEMRI reader, you are familiar with our continuing efforts to monitor more media sources in more countries, and research more subjects.
During this year, MEMRI continued to release tremendous amounts of research, translations, and analyses. Thousands of new items were added to our websites. MEMRI TV clips were viewed over 10 million times on memritv.org and YouTube. In 2012, MEMRI welcomed millions of visitors to all its websites.
But it is right now, as 2012 draws to a close, that we need your help more than ever, to meet our budgetary commitments for this year. Your renewed donation is of critical importance to MEMRI at this time. We are extremely grateful and thankful for your past contribution to MEMRI, and at this time need to ask whether you could possibly renew your support, or even consider increasing it. If you donate by December 31, your donation will of course be tax deductible for 2012.
The Following Projects Still Need Funding This Year
- MEMRI TV Project – MEMRI TV monitors and translates nearly 100 Arab and Iranian channels around the clock. This project is a major resource for researchers from government, academia, legislatures, and the media, providing them with a much deeper understanding of complex situations than they can obtain from other sources.
- The Tom Lantos Archives on Anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial – The Archives focus on the continuous and ubiquitous expressions of antisemitism and Holocaust denial across the Arab and Muslim world. The Archives host an annual event on Capitol Hill to release a report on the past year's antisemitic activity. Marking this event, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Speaker of the House John Boehner said about the Archives:
"These archives are an ongoing source of documentation of the high levels of antisemitism and Holocaust denial that persist in writing, broadcasting, teaching, and preaching in various parts of the world. Through the work of the Lantos Archives, policy makers, the media, academics, opinion leaders, and civil society can become aware of these human rights violations… The Lantos Archives plays a crucial role in exposing the age-old evils of antisemitism, and thereby helping us to combat it in all of its forms. I commend the Lantos Archives for its valiant work. The valiant work it does to promote human rights and exposing truth." -Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, July 18, 2012
"We commemorate the critical work done by the Anti-Semitism and Documentation Project, as they continue to ensure that the past will never be forgotten. That the brutal injustices unleashed by the Nazis during the Holocaust will no longer be questioned, nor ever repeated. And today's world will face these injustices with a path towards truth and peace." -Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner, July 18, 2012
- South Asia Studies Project – U.S. soldiers continue to fight and U.S. strategic interests are constantly being challenged by terrorism and by political events in the region.
- Iran Studies Project – Focusing on Iran's ongoing nuclear and aerospace efforts. As Iran's capabilities grow, so does the need for this project.
- The Global Struggle Against Al-Qaeda – The fight continues, especially in light of the attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi.
- The Reform Project – Tracking the competition for power taking place between reformists and various other interests throughout the region, including the "Arab Spring" uprisings, with Syria in particular.
- Palestinian Media Studies Project – Focusing on developments on the domestic Palestinian scene and in Palestinian Authority-Israel relations.
Your support for MEMRI allows us to directly support the following groups on a day-to-day basis
- The U.S. Armed Forces: Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force.
- The U.S. Congress: MEMRI briefs both sides of the political aisle in Congress. This includes Majority and Minority staff of numerous influential committees, including Armed Services, Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee, Intelligence, and Foreign Relations in the Senate and Armed Services, Homeland Security, Foreign Affairs, and Intelligence in the House of Representatives.
- Federal agencies such as the DOD; DHS; FBI; Department of State; DOJ; TSA; and others.
- State and local authorities in all 50 states, on matters related to homeland security and counterterrorism.
- Universities and colleges – over 500 universities and colleges worldwide.
- Leading media outlets, both print and television, including The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Times, NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, CNN, and others – all requesting MEMRI research every day.
Please consider making your donation online, as it keeps our administrative costs down. You can also mail a check to MEMRI at P.O. Box 27837; Washington, D.C. 20038-7837.
Sincerely yours,
Yigal Carmon Steven Stalinsky
President Executive Director
