116-535: The Middle East Media Research Institute ( MEMRI ), officially the Middle East Media and Research Institute , is an American non-profit press monitoring organization co-founded by Israeli ex-intelligence officer Yigal Carmon and Israeli-American political scientist Meyrav Wurmser in 1997. Critics describe MEMRI as a strongly pro- Israel advocacy group that, in spite of describing itself as being "independent" and "non-partisan" in nature, aims to portray
232-954: A political scientist . It was incorporated in Washington, D.C. , as the Middle East Media and Research Institute Inc. on December 1, 1997. The organization indirectly gained public prominence as a source of news and analysis about the Muslim world , following the September 11 attacks and the subsequent war on terror by the Bush administration . According to MEMRI, its translations and reports are distributed to "congresspersons, congressional staff, policy makers, journalists, academics, and interested parties". According to Political Research Associates , MEMRI's translated articles and its commentary are routinely cited in national media outlets in
348-522: A " scientific-sounding term " for Judenhass ( lit. ' Jew-hatred ' ), and it has since been used to refer to anti-Jewish sentiment alone. The word "Semitic" was coined by German orientalist August Ludwig von Schlözer in 1781 to designate the Semitic group of languages — Aramaic , Arabic , Hebrew and others—allegedly spoken by the descendants of Biblical figure Sem , son of Noah . The origin of "antisemitic" terminologies
464-661: A Gallup poll. Responding to his charge of having an agenda, Carmon wrote "You are right: we do have an agenda. As an institute of research, we want MEMRI to present translations to people who wish to be informed on the ideas circulating in the Middle East. We aim to reflect reality. If knowledge of this reality should benefit one side or another, then so be it." Regarding Whitaker's criticism of Carmon's "political background", Carmon responded that: "You continually refer to my supposed "political background" as if I had something to hide, and I wonder if I am your real target here. As
580-500: A Jew upon baptism ." From the perspective of racial antisemitism, however, "the assimilated Jew was still a Jew, even after baptism.[...] From the Enlightenment onward, it is no longer possible to draw clear lines of distinction between religious and racial forms of hostility towards Jews[...] Once Jews have been emancipated and secular thinking makes its appearance, without leaving behind the old Christian hostility towards Jews,
696-554: A Semitic language. Though 'antisemitism' could be construed as prejudice against people who speak other Semitic languages, this is not how the term is commonly used. The term may be spelled with or without a hyphen (antisemitism or anti-Semitism). Many scholars and institutions favor the unhyphenated form. Shmuel Almog argued, "If you use the hyphenated form, you consider the words 'Semitism', 'Semite', 'Semitic' as meaningful ... [I]n antisemitic parlance, 'Semites' really stands for Jews, just that." Emil Fackenheim supported
812-548: A Specially Designated National by the US Treasury Department because of alleged support for al-Qaida . For one segment of the discussion in regard to the victims, MEMRI provided the following translation of al-Sebai's words: The term "civilians" does not exist in Islamic religious law . Dr Karmi is sitting here, and I am sitting here, and I'm familiar with religious law. There is no such term as "civilians" in
928-493: A civil servant and adviser on counter-terrorism to both Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin, prime ministers from opposing camps, my role was not a political appointment. If your complaint is that I am Israeli, then please say so." Carmon also questioned Whitaker's own biases, stating that: I note your website is "Al-Bab" ("The Gateway" in Arabic). Would I be justified in concluding that you are not, in fact, completely neutral about
1044-712: A collective manifested in individuals as attitudes, and in culture as myth, ideology, folklore and imagery, and in actions—social or legal discrimination, political mobilization against the Jews, and collective or state violence—which results in and/or is designed to distance, displace, or destroy Jews as Jews." Elaborating on Fein's definition, Dietz Bering of the University of Cologne writes that, to antisemites, "Jews are not only partially but totally bad by nature, that is, their bad traits are incorrigible. Because of this bad nature: (1) Jews have to be seen not as individuals but as
1160-442: A collective. (2) Jews remain essentially alien in the surrounding societies. (3) Jews bring disaster on their 'host societies' or on the whole world, they are doing it secretly, therefore the anti-Semites feel obliged to unmask the conspiratorial, bad Jewish character." For Swiss historian Sonja Weinberg , as distinct from economic and religious anti-Judaism , antisemitism in its specifically modern form shows conceptual innovation,
1276-430: A depressing act, but it is also illusion-dispelling, and therefore constructive. This one institute is worth a hundred reality-twisting Middle Eastern Studies departments in the U.S. Furthermore, listening to Arabs—reading what they say in their newspapers, hearing what they say on television—is a way of taking them seriously: a way of not condescending to them, of admitting that they have useful things to tell us, one way or
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#17327913795131392-617: A misnomer. The word Judeophobia first appeared in his pamphlet " Auto-Emancipation ", published anonymously in German in September 1882, where it was described as an irrational fear or hatred of Jews. According to Pinsker, this irrational fear was an inherited predisposition. Judeophobia is a form of demonopathy, with the distinction that the Jewish ghost has become known to the whole race of mankind, not merely to certain races... Judeophobia
1508-414: A non-religious perspective ) in which he used the word Semitismus interchangeably with the word Judentum to denote both "Jewry" (the Jews as a collective) and "Jewishness" (the quality of being Jewish, or the Jewish spirit). He accused the Jews of a worldwide conspiracy against non-Jews, called for resistance against "this foreign power", and claimed that "there will be absolutely no public office, even
1624-401: A professor of Modern Middle East History at the University of Michigan , argues MEMRI has a tendency to "cleverly cherry-pick the vast Arabic press, which serves 300 million people, for the most extreme and objectionable articles and editorials... On more than one occasion I have seen, say, a bigoted Arabic article translated by MEMRI and when I went to the source on the web, found that it was on
1740-438: A refuge. Most Zionists do not believe that antisemitism can be combatted with education or other means. The contextual approach treats antisemitism as a type of racism and focuses on the historical context in which hatred of Jews emerges. Some contextualists restrict the use of "antisemitism" to refer exclusively to the era of modern racism, treating anti-Judaism as a separate phenomenon. Historian David Engel has challenged
1856-481: A resort to "science" to defend itself, new functional forms, and organisational differences. It was anti-liberal, racialist and nationalist. It promoted the myth that Jews conspired to 'judaise' the world ; it served to consolidate social identity; it channeled dissatisfactions among victims of the capitalist system; and it was used as a conservative cultural code to fight emancipation and liberalism. In 2003, Israeli politician Natan Sharansky developed what he called
1972-410: A standard different from that applied to others, and they are accused of "cosmic evil". Thus, "it is perfectly possible to hate and even to persecute Jews without necessarily being anti-Semitic" unless this hatred or persecution displays one of the two features specific to antisemitism. There have been a number of efforts by international and governmental bodies to define antisemitism formally. In 2005,
2088-539: A state of Israel is a racist endeavor, can be a manifestation of antisemitism—as can applying double standards by requiring of Israel a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation, or holding Jews collectively responsible for the actions of the State of Israel. The EUMC working definition was adopted by the European Parliament Working Group on Antisemitism in 2010, by
2204-694: A suggestive manner" of a sermon by the Sheikh Sharif Hussein on an American website. According to the two-minute video, which was a heavily condensed version of the Sheikh's 36-minute speech delivered in Adelaide on 22 March, Hussein called Australian and American soldiers " Crusader pigs" and stated "O Allah , count the Buddhists and the Hindus one by one. O Allah, count them and kill them to
2320-560: A threat against those states that did vote for him; outside translators, and the original article that the MEMRI alert claimed to correct, indicated that Bin Laden was threatening nations , not individual US states. Following the 7 July 2005 London bombings , Al Jazeera invited Hani al-Sebai , an Islamist living in Britain , to take part in a discussion on the event. Al-Sibai is listed as
2436-465: Is a form of racism , and a person who harbours it is called an antisemite . Primarily, antisemitic tendencies may be motivated by negative sentiment towards Jews as a people or by negative sentiment towards Jews with regard to Judaism . In the former case, usually presented as racial antisemitism , a person's hostility is driven by the belief that Jews constitute a distinct race with inherent traits or characteristics that are repulsive or inferior to
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#17327913795132552-423: Is a psychic disorder. As a psychic disorder, it is hereditary, and as a disease transmitted for two thousand years it is incurable... Thus have Judaism and Jew-hatred passed through history for centuries as inseparable companions... Having analyzed Judeophobia as a hereditary form of demonopathy, peculiar to the human race, and represented Jew-hatred as based upon an inherited aberration of the human mind, we must draw
2668-481: Is a variation of antisemitism known as " new antisemitism " has emerged on several occasions. According to this view, since Israel is a Jewish state , expressions of anti-Zionist positions could harbour antisemitic sentiments. Natan Sharansky describes the "3D" test to determine the existence of such antisemitism: demonizing Israel, the double standard of criticizing Israel disproportionately to other countries, and delegitimizing Israel's right to exist . Due to
2784-529: Is as if we were quoting The New York Times . We know there are people questioning our work, probably those who have difficulties seeing the truth. But no one can show anything wrong about our translations." In August 2013, the Islamic Da'wah Centre of South Australia questioned the "reliability, independence and veracity" of MEMRI after it posted what the Islamic Da'wah Centre called a "sensational de-contextualised cut-and-paste video clip ... put together in
2900-483: Is available weakens that criticism, as does support for the initiative by Arab liberals. In a 2005 piece Thomas Friedman , a political opinion columnist for The New York Times , praised MEMRI, and credited MEMRI with helping to "shine a spotlight on hate speech wherever it appears". Friedman has written in The New York Times that "what I respect about Memri is that it translates not only the ugly stuff but
3016-464: Is biased in favor of Arabs – as his website on the Middle East is named "Al-Bab" ("The Gateway" in Arabic) – stating: "I wonder how you would judge an editor whose website was called "Ha-Sha-ar" ("The Gateway" in Hebrew )? In 2006, MEMRI released an interview with Norman Finkelstein on Lebanese Al Jadeed in which he discussed his book The Holocaust Industry which made it appear as if Finkelstein
3132-507: Is biased; that they choose articles to translate selectively so as to give an unrepresentative view of the media they are reporting on; and that some of their translations are inaccurate. MEMRI has responded to the criticism, stating that their work is not biased; that they in fact choose representative articles from the Arab media that accurately reflect the opinions expressed, and that their translations are highly accurate. Brian Whitaker , then
3248-418: Is found in the responses of orientalist Moritz Steinschneider to the views of orientalist Ernest Renan . Historian Alex Bein writes: "The compound anti-Semitism appears to have been used first by Steinschneider, who challenged Renan on account of his 'anti-Semitic prejudices' [i.e., his derogation of the " Semites " as a race ]." Psychologist Avner Falk similarly writes: "The German word antisemitisch
3364-516: Is sponsored by the U.S. State Department . Through its translations and research, the project aims to document anti-Semitic trends in the Middle East and South Asia. The project provides policymakers with translations and footage of anti-Semitic comments made by media personalities, academics, and government and religious leaders. MEMRI holds an annual Capitol Hill gathering through the project, and publishes an annual report on anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial . The archives were named for Tom Lantos ,
3480-562: The New Statesman : One beneficial side effect of the focus on the Middle East is that we now have available much more information on the discourse of the Arab world. The most powerful medium for this is (naturally) a Washington-based think-tank, the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), started in 1998 by the former Israeli intelligence officer and Arabist Yigal Carmon. MEMRI aimed to bring
3596-578: The Alliance Anti-semitique Universelle in Bucharest. In the period before World War II , when animosity towards Jews was far more commonplace, it was not uncommon for a person, an organization, or a political party to self-identify as an antisemite or antisemitic. The early Zionist pioneer Leon Pinsker , a professional physician, preferred the clinical-sounding term Judeophobia to antisemitism, which he regarded as
Middle East Media Research Institute - Misplaced Pages Continue
3712-481: The Arab world and the Muslim world in a negative light by producing and disseminating incomplete or inaccurate translations of the original versions of the media reports that it re-publishes. It has also been accused of selectively focusing on the views of Islamic extremists while de-emphasizing or ignoring mainstream opinions. The organization was co-founded by Yigal Carmon , an ex- Aman agent, and Meyrav Wurmser ,
3828-616: The Fundamental Rights Agency ), an agency of the European Union , developed a more detailed working definition , which stated: "Antisemitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities." It also adds that "such manifestations could also target
3944-919: The Israel Defense Forces deferred so he could study as part of the Atuda program. After earning a degree in Orientalism from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem , he joined the IDF in 1968 and served in the Intelligence Corps until 1988, reaching the rank of Colonel. From 1977 to 1981, he served as an adviser on Arab affairs to the Civil Administration in the West Bank and Gaza Strip . When Menachem Milson
4060-700: The Jerusalem Post , Carmon and MEMRI's translations of material appearing in the Arabic and Persian media, "have been received with a combination of angst and ambivalence on the part of the press and politicians who don't like what they're seeing." Carmon relates that his experience of portraying difficult realities in the Arab-Muslim world: "In 1994-5, before MEMRI was formally established, I taped TV broadcasts of [Palestinian Authority chairman] Arafat calling for jihad . The reaction to that tape was: 'Kill
4176-621: The Middle East editor for The Guardian , wrote in a public email debate with Carmon in 2003, that his problem with MEMRI was that it "poses as a research institute when it's basically a propaganda operation". Earlier, Whitaker had charged that MEMRI's role was to "further the political agenda of Israel." and that MEMRI's website does not mention Carmon's employment for Israeli intelligence, or Meyrav Wurmser's political stance, which he described as an "extreme brand of Zionism ". However, Whitaker also wrote that "nobody, so far as I know, disputes
4292-868: The United States Department of State in 2017, in the Operational Hate Crime Guidance of the UK College of Policing in 2014 and by the UK's Campaign Against Antisemitism . In 2016, the working definition was adopted by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance . IHRA's Working definition of antisemitism is among the most controversial documents related to opposition to antisemitism, and critics argue that it has been used to censor criticism of Israel. In response to
4408-542: The United States Department of State stated that "while there is no universally accepted definition, there is a generally clear understanding of what the term encompasses." For the purposes of its 2005 Report on Global Anti-Semitism, the term was considered to mean "hatred toward Jews—individually and as a group—that can be attributed to the Jewish religion and/or ethnicity." In 2005, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia (EUMC, now
4524-431: The "Anti-Kanzler-Liga" (Anti-Chancellor League). The league was the first German organization committed specifically to combating the alleged threat to Germany and German culture posed by the Jews and their influence and advocating their forced removal from the country. So far as can be ascertained, the word was first widely printed in 1881, when Marr published Zwanglose Antisemitische Hefte , and Wilhelm Scherer used
4640-467: The "origins of anti-Semitic prejudices are rooted in different historical periods." König asserts that differences in the chronology of different antisemitic prejudices and the irregular distribution of such prejudices over different segments of the population create "serious difficulties in the definition of the different kinds of anti-Semitism." These difficulties may contribute to the existence of different taxonomies that have been developed to categorize
4756-450: The "three D" test to distinguish antisemitism from criticism of Israel, giving delegitimization , demonization, and double standards as a litmus test for the former. Bernard Lewis , writing in 2006, defined antisemitism as a special case of prejudice, hatred, or persecution directed against people who are in some way different from the rest. According to Lewis, antisemitism is marked by two distinct features: Jews are judged according to
Middle East Media Research Institute - Misplaced Pages Continue
4872-493: The Arab and Muslim world. The project also aims to provide a platform for those sources to expand their reach. MEMRI has stated that this is the organization's flagship project. The MEMRI Lantos Archives on anti-Semitism and Holocaust Denial, a joint project with the Lantos Foundation for Human Rights and Justice launched in 2009, is a repository of translated Arabic and Farsi material on anti-Semitism. The project
4988-512: The Arabic version...into English, then they will be committing suicide. Because the whole world will see what role Al Jazeera is playing in making the Muslim world extreme....[On the other hand, if the two channels were to take different stances on global issues, the organization would be] 'speak[ing] from two sides of its mouth'." Journalist Brian Whitaker has accused Carmon of presenting false testimony to Congress when he allegedly misrepresented
5104-888: The Black Death , between 1348 and 1351; the massacre of Spanish Jews in 1391, the crackdown of the Spanish Inquisition , and the expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492; the Cossack massacres in Ukraine , between 1648 and 1657; various anti-Jewish pogroms in the Russian Empire , between 1821 and 1906; the Dreyfus affair , between 1894 and 1906; the Holocaust by Nazi Germany during World War II ; and various Soviet anti-Jewish policies . Historically, most of
5220-593: The CJL's goal is to inform and make recommendations to legislators and the business community about the threat of cyberterrorism. Initiatives have included encouraging social media companies to remove terrorist accounts and sought legislation to prevent terrorist entities from using their platforms. MEMRI's other projects include the Russian Media Studies Project, which translates Russian media and publishes reports analyzing Russian political ideology,
5336-470: The Christian foundation on which the modern antisemitic edifice rests and invoke political antisemitism, cultural antisemitism, racism or racial antisemitism, economic antisemitism, and the like." William Nicholls draws a distinction between religious antisemitism and modern antisemitism based on racial or ethnic grounds: "The dividing line was the possibility of effective conversion [...] a Jew ceased to be
5452-436: The Holocaust. Hannah Arendt criticized this approach, writing that it provoked "the uncomfortable question: 'Why the Jews of all people?' ... with the question begging reply: Eternal hostility." Zionist thinkers and antisemites draw different conclusions from what they perceive as the eternal hatred of Jews; according to antisemites, it proves the inferiority of Jews, while for Zionists it means that Jews need their own state as
5568-663: The Internet. Carmon was a colonel at Aman , the Israeli military intelligence service, and later counter-terrorism advisor to Israeli prime ministers Yitzhak Rabin and Yitzhak Shamir . Yigal Carmon was born in Romania in 1946 and immigrated to Israel with his family at age four. He grew up in Hadera . In high school, he began to study Arabic , and eventually achieved native-level fluency . At age 18, he had his conscription to
5684-631: The Iran Studies Project, the South Asia Studies Project, and the 9/11 Documentation Project. MEMRI is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Despite MEMRI claiming to have a policy of not accepting money from governments, it has accepted grants from the US government, though MEMRI primarily relies on around 250 private donors, including other organizations and foundations. MediaTransparency , an organization that monitors
5800-709: The Islamophobia Network in America" lists MEMRI as promoting Islamophobic propaganda in the USA through supplying selective translations that are relied upon by several organisations "to make the case that Islam is inherently violent and promotes extremism." MEMRI argues that they are quoting the government-controlled press and not obscure or extremist publications, a fact their critics acknowledge, according to Marc Perelman : "When we quote Al-Ahram in Egypt , it
5916-507: The Jewish race." After 1945 victory of the Allies over Nazi Germany , and particularly after the full extent of the Nazi genocide against the Jews became known, the term antisemitism acquired pejorative connotations. This marked a full circle shift in usage, from an era just decades earlier when "Jew" was used as a pejorative term. Yehuda Bauer wrote in 1984: "There are no anti-Semites in
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#17327913795136032-505: The Jews for an encyclopedia of sins . The Church blamed the Jews for killing Jesus ; Voltaire blamed the Jews for inventing Christianity . In the febrile minds of anti-Semites, Jews were usurers and well-poisoners and spreaders of disease . Jews were the creators of both communism and capitalism ; they were clannish but also cosmopolitan ; cowardly and warmongering; self-righteous moralists and defilers of culture. Ideologues and demagogues of many permutations have understood
6148-635: The Jews to be a singularly malevolent force standing between the world and its perfection. Jeffrey Goldberg , 2015. Louis Harap , writing in the 1980s, separated "economic antisemitism" and merges "political" and "nationalistic" antisemitism into "ideological antisemitism". Harap also adds a category of "social antisemitism". Religious antisemitism , also known as anti-Judaism, is antipathy towards Jews because of their perceived religious beliefs. In theory, antisemitism and attacks against individual Jews would stop if Jews stopped practicing Judaism or changed their public faith, especially by conversion to
6264-664: The Language Gap Between the Middle East and the West,' does not convey the institute's stridently pro-Israel and anti-Arab political bias." It further notes, that MEMRI's founders, Wurmser and Carmon, "are both hardline pro-Israel ideologues aligned with Israel's Likud party". Carmon, in a public letter to Juan Cole that included a threat with a lawsuit over his comments on MEMRI, stated that he has never been affiliated with Likud. Cole answered that he had not alleged that, but that MEMRI would campaign for Likud goals such as
6380-515: The Middle East, even though you are Middle East editor of a national newspaper? I wonder how you would judge an editor whose website was called "Ha-Sha-ar" ("The Gateway" in Hebrew)? Whilst not addressing this counterargument, Whitaker re-asserted his points about the misrepresentation of relevant Gallup poll. Antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against, Jews . This sentiment
6496-501: The Middle East. It has maintained longstanding relations with law enforcement agencies. Concerning this change in their 'mission statement,' Political Research Associates, which studies the US political right , notes that it occurred three weeks after the September 11 attacks, and considers MEMRI "was previously more forthcoming about its political orientation in its self-description and in staff profiles on its website". Political Research Associates considers that "MEMRI's slogan, 'Bridging
6612-571: The United States, including The New York Times , The Washington Post , and Los Angeles Times , while analyses by MEMRI staff and officers are frequently published by right-wing and neoconservative media outlets such as National Review , Fox News , Commentary , and the Weekly Standard . Political Research Associates writes that both critics and supporters of MEMRI note its increasing influence in shaping perceptions of
6728-400: The actions of an individual Jewish person or group; denying the Holocaust or accusing Jews or Israel of exaggerating it; and accusing Jews of dual loyalty or a greater allegiance to Israel than their own country. It also lists ways in which attacking Israel could be antisemitic, and states that denying the Jewish people their right to self-determination, e.g. by claiming that the existence of
6844-607: The bipolarity that is at the heart of the problem of antisemitism". The Associated Press and its accompanying AP Stylebook adopted the unhyphenated spelling in 2021. Style guides for other news organizations such as the New York Times and Wall Street Journal later adopted this spelling as well. It has also been adopted by many Holocaust museums , such as the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and Yad Vashem . Though
6960-686: The birth defects due to use of depleted uranium , and the Burmese Buddhist massacre . This, the Centre said, was omitted from the edited MEMRI video. MEMRI's translations are considered "usually accurate" though occasionally disputed and highly selective in what it chooses to translate and in which context it puts things, as in the case of MEMRI's translation of a 2004 Osama bin Laden video, which MEMRI defended, which it said indicated that any individual US state that did not vote for President George W. Bush "guarantees its own security," implying
7076-528: The caller actually says 'The Jews are killing us.' Naomi Sakr , a professor of Media Policy at the University of Westminster has charged that specific MEMRI mistranslations, occurring during times of international tension, have generated hostility towards Arab journalists. In an email debate with Carmon, Whitaker asked about MEMRI's November 2000 translation of an interview given by the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem to Al-Ahram al-Arabi. One question asked by
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#17327913795137192-400: The claim, which Roshwald had based on MEMRI's translation of Barakat's essay. In 2007, CNN correspondent Atika Shubert and Arabic translators accused MEMRI of mistranslating portions of a Palestinian children's television program: Media watchdog MEMRI translates one caller as saying – quote – 'We will annihilate the Jews'," said Shubert. "But, according to several Arabic speakers used by CNN,
7308-539: The condemnation of the "killing of innocents" entirely, Mohammed El Oifi , writing in Le Monde diplomatique , argued that this translation left the implication that civilians (the innocent) are considered a legitimate target. Several British newspapers subsequently used MEMRI's translation to run headlines such as "Islamic radical has praised the suicide bomb attacks on the capital" prompting al-Sebai to demand an apology and take legal action. In his view, MEMRI's translation
7424-438: The courageous liberal, reformist Arab commentators as well." In addition, he has cited MEMRI's translations in his op-eds. In 2002 Brit Hume of Fox News said, "These people tell you what's going on in pulpits and in the state-controlled TV. If you have indoctrination, it's important to know about it." Jay Nordlinger , the managing editor of National Review , wrote in 2002: Wading or clicking through MEMRI's materials can be
7540-527: The downfall of Judaism, a phenomenon that negates everything purely human and noble." This use of Semitismus was followed by a coining of " Antisemitismus " which was used to indicate opposition to the Jews as a people and opposition to the Jewish spirit, which Marr interpreted as infiltrating German culture. The pamphlet became very popular, and in the same year Marr founded the Antisemiten-Liga (League of Antisemites), apparently named to follow
7656-692: The fall of the Shamir government in 1992, he served for a year as Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin 's counterterrorism adviser before resigning in 1993 due to his opposition to the Oslo Accords . From 1991 to 1992 he was also a part of the Israeli delegation to peace negotiations with Syria in Washington. In 1998, Carmon founded MEMRI. Carmon has also testified before the US Congress and European parliaments. According to Ruthie Blum , writing in
7772-437: The financial canards: Abraham Foxman describes six facets of the financial canards: Gerald Krefetz summarizes the myth as "[Jews] control the banks, the money supply, the economy, and businesses—of the community, of the country, of the world". Krefetz gives, as illustrations, many slurs and proverbs (in several different languages) which suggest that Jews are stingy, or greedy, or miserly, or aggressive bargainers. During
7888-712: The financial health of America's largest charities, has given MEMRI three stars out of a possible four. In August 2011, the United States Department of State's Office of International Religious Freedom in the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor , awarded MEMRI a $ 200,000 grant. The organization's translations are regularly quoted by major international newspapers, and its work has generated strong criticism and praise. Critics have accused MEMRI of producing inaccurate, unreliable translations with undue emphasis and selectivity in translating and disseminating
8004-591: The financial ties of conservative think tanks to conservative foundations in the United States, reported that for the years 1999 to 2004, MEMRI received $ 100,000 from The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, Inc. , $ 100,000 from The Randolph Foundation , and $ 5,000 from the John M. Olin Foundation . MEMRI recognized US$ 6,292,683 of revenue and incurred US$ 6,247,476 of expenses during the twelve months ended June 30, 2018. Charity Navigator , an organization that evaluates
8120-509: The forms of antisemitism. The forms identified are substantially the same; it is primarily the number of forms and their definitions that differ. Bernard Lazare , writing in the 1890s, identified three forms of antisemitism: Christian antisemitism , economic antisemitism, and ethnologic antisemitism. William Brustein names four categories: religious, racial, economic, and political. The Roman Catholic historian Edward Flannery distinguished four varieties of antisemitism: Europe has blamed
8236-432: The full context and determine whether any crime has been committed." Hussein himself declined any comment on the contents of the video. However, the Da'wah Centre charged that by omitting the context of Hussein's statements, MEMRI had distorted the actual intent of the speech. While admitting that the Sheikh was emotional and used strong words, the Centre stated that the speech was delivered in relation to rape cases in Iraq ,
8352-403: The general accuracy of Memri's translations." Carmon responded to this by stating that his employment history is not a secret and was not political, as he served under opposing administrations of the Israeli government and that perhaps the issue was that he was Israeli: "If your complaint is that I am Israeli, then please say so." Carmon also questioned Whitaker's own biases, wondering if Whitaker
8468-420: The general definition of antisemitism is hostility or prejudice against Jews, and, according to Olaf Blaschke , has become an "umbrella term for negative stereotypes about Jews", a number of authorities have developed more formal definitions. Writing in 1987, Holocaust scholar and City University of New York professor Helen Fein defined it as "a persisting latent structure of hostile beliefs towards Jews as
8584-591: The highest one, which the Jews will not have usurped". This followed his 1862 book Die Judenspiegel ( A Mirror to the Jews ) in which he argued that "Judaism must cease to exist if humanity is to commence", demanding both that Judaism be dissolved as a "religious-denominational sect" but also subject to criticism "as a race, a civil and social entity". In the introductions to the first through fourth editions of Der Judenspiegel, Marr denied that he intended to preach Jew-hatred, but instead to help "the Jews reach their full human potential" which could happen only "through
8700-466: The important conclusion, that we must give up contending against these hostile impulses, just as we give up contending against every other inherited predisposition. In the aftermath of the Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938, German propaganda minister Goebbels announced: "The German people is anti-Semitic. It has no desire to have its rights restricted or to be provoked in the future by parasites of
8816-410: The interviewer was: "How do you deal with the Jews who are besieging al-Aqsa and are scattered around it?" which was translated as: "How do you feel about the Jews?" MEMRI cut out the first part of the reply and combined it with the answer to the next question, which, Whitaker claimed, made "Arabs look more anti-Semitic than they are". Carmon admitted this was an error in translation but defended combining
8932-681: The late 19th century. For example, Karl Lueger , the popular mayor of fin de siècle Vienna , skillfully exploited antisemitism as a way of channeling public discontent to his political advantage. In its 1910 obituary of Lueger, The New York Times notes that Lueger was "Chairman of the Christian Social Union of the Parliament and of the Anti-Semitic Union of the Diet of Lower Austria. In 1895, A. C. Cuza organized
9048-415: The media had a tendency to whitewash statements of Arab leaders, and regularly defends its translations as being representative of actual ME viewpoints, even when the translations themselves are disputed: "MEMRI has never claimed to 'represent the view of the Arabic media', but rather to reflect, through our translations, general trends which are widespread and topical." In 2003 John Lloyd defended MEMRI in
9164-406: The messenger'...And I protested by saying, 'But it's not me [calling for jihad]; it's him [Arafat].' To which they replied, 'That doesn't matter.'. Then one day, I asked a very senior journalist with whom I was friendly, 'Why are you criticizing our work? We're merely revealing the truth.' His reply is one I'll never forget: 'There is no such thing as truth,' he said. 'Every news item must be judged by
9280-483: The modern Western sense. People are either at war or not. Al-Sebai subsequently claimed that MEMRI had mistranslated his interview, and that among other errors, he had actually said: There is no term in Islamic jurisprudence called "civilians". Dr Karmi is here sitting with us, and he's very familiar with the jurisprudence. There are fighters and non-fighters. Islam is against the killing of innocents. The innocent man cannot be killed according to Islam. By leaving out
9396-579: The most extreme end, it consists of pogroms or genocide , which may or may not be state-sponsored. Although the term "antisemitism" did not come into common usage until the 19th century, it is also applied to previous and later anti-Jewish incidents. Notable instances of antisemitic persecution include the Rhineland massacres in 1096; the Edict of Expulsion in 1290; the European persecution of Jews during
9512-505: The most extreme views from Arabic and Persian media, which portray the Arab and Muslim world in a negative light, while ignoring moderate views that are often found in the same media outlets. Other critics charge that while MEMRI does sometimes translate pro- US or pro-democracy voices in the regional media, it systematically leaves out intelligent criticism of Western -style democracy, US and Israeli policy and secularism. MEMRI's work has been criticized on three grounds: that their work
9628-556: The most violent, hateful rubbish it can find, translates it and distributes it in email newsletters to media and members of Congress in Washington." As a result, critics such as UK Labour politician Ken Livingstone state that MEMRI's analyses are distortion. Assaf David of the Truman Institute wrote that MEMRI distorts the Arab world by publishing the writings of extremists while ignoring moderates. A report by Center for American Progress , titled "Fear, Inc.: The Roots of
9744-668: The most widely read Catholic writers in France during the Dreyfus Affair, likewise combined religious and racial antisemitism. Drumont founded the Antisemitic League of France . The underlying premise of economic antisemitism is that Jews perform harmful economic activities or that economic activities become harmful when they are performed by Jews. Linking Jews and money underpins the most damaging and lasting antisemitic canards . Antisemites claim that Jews control
9860-626: The new term antisemitism becomes almost unavoidable, even before explicitly racist doctrines appear." Some Christians such as the Catholic priest Ernest Jouin , who published the first French translation of the Protocols , combined religious and racial antisemitism, as in his statement that "From the triple viewpoint of race, of nationality, and of religion, the Jew has become the enemy of humanity." The virulent antisemitism of Édouard Drumont , one of
9976-601: The official or right religion. However, in some cases, discrimination continues after conversion, as in the case of Marranos (Christianized Jews in Spain and Portugal) in the late 15th century and 16th century, who were suspected of secretly practising Judaism or Jewish customs. Although the origins of antisemitism are rooted in the Judeo-Christian conflict, other forms of antisemitism have developed in modern times. Frederick Schweitzer asserts that "most scholars ignore
10092-830: The only Holocaust survivor to serve in United States Congress . Arab and Iranian television programming is monitored, translated, and analyzed through the MEMRI TV Monitoring Project. The project's translated video clips are available to the media and general public. Activity by terrorist and violent extremist organizations is tracked through the Jihad and Terrorism Threat Monitor (JTTM). The project disseminates jihadi-associated social media content and propaganda released by various Islamic State media companies. The organization's Cyber and Jihad Lab (CJL) tracks cyberterrorism . According to MEMRI,
10208-474: The other Abrahamic religions . The development of racial and religious antisemitism has historically been encouraged by the concept of anti-Judaism , which is distinct from antisemitism itself. There are various ways in which antisemitism is manifested, ranging in the level of severity of Jewish persecution . On the more subtle end, it consists of expressions of hatred or discrimination against individual Jews and may or may not be accompanied by violence. On
10324-678: The other. Years ago, Solzhenitsyn exhorted, "Live not by lies." We might say, in these new circumstances, "Live not by ignorance about lies, either." Anyone still has the right to avert his eyes, of course. But no one can say that that is not a choice. Yigal Carmon Yigal Carmon ( Hebrew : יגאל כרמון , born 1946) is the president and cofounder of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), an organization which monitors and translates Arabic and Persian publications; radio and TV broadcasts; and religious sermons into many languages and circulates them over
10440-475: The outset the term "anti-Semitism" bore special racial connotations and meant specifically prejudice against Jews . The term has been described as confusing, for in modern usage 'Semitic' designates a language group, not a race. In this sense, the term is a misnomer, since there are many speakers of Semitic languages (e.g., Arabs , Ethiopians , and Arameans ) who are not the objects of antisemitic prejudices, while there are many Jews who do not speak Hebrew ,
10556-748: The perceived lack of clarity in the IHRA definition, two new definitions of antisemitism were published in 2021, the Nexus Document in February 2021 and the Jerusalem Declaration on Antisemitism in March 2021. In 1879, Wilhelm Marr founded the Antisemiten-Liga (Anti-Semitic League). Identification with antisemitism and as an antisemite was politically advantageous in Europe during
10672-414: The preferred traits or characteristics within that person's society. In the latter case, known as religious antisemitism , a person's hostility is driven by their religion's perception of Jews and Judaism, typically encompassing doctrines of supersession that expect or demand Jews to turn away from Judaism and submit to the religion presenting itself as Judaism's successor faith—this is a common theme within
10788-402: The previously largely enclosed and unknown Arab talk about the west to western eyes and ears: it is a sobering experience to read on the internet MEMRI's vast store of translations from many media, and to note how much of what is written is conspiratorial, vicious and unyieldingly hateful. MEMRI and Carmon have been accused of selecting the worst of a diverse media: however, the sheer range of what
10904-591: The project to define antisemitism, arguing that it essentializes Jewish history as one of persecution and discrimination. Engel argues that the term "antisemitism" is not useful in historical analysis because it implies that there are links between anti-Jewish prejudices expressed in different contexts, without evidence of such a connection. Antisemitism manifests itself in a variety of ways. René König mentions social antisemitism, economic antisemitism, religious antisemitism, and political antisemitism as examples. König points out that these different forms demonstrate that
11020-404: The question of whom it serves. And you are serving the enemies of peace.' Horrified, I retorted, "And you're the one who's considered the reliable journalist, while I'm seen as biased?' So he said, 'If you want to play naive, do it with someone else, not with me. You know I'm right.' 'No,' I said. 'I do not know that you're right. There is such a thing as truth, and it is impartial' "If they copy
11136-535: The rejection of the Oslo peace process. In 2012, Haaretz reported that Israeli intelligence agencies have reduced their monitoring the Palestinian media with MEMRI and Palestinian Media Watch now providing the Israeli government with coverage of "anti-Israel incitement" in social media, blogs and other online sources. The Prime Minister's Bureau has stated that before the government cites information provided by
11252-458: The root word Semite , the term is prone to being invoked as a misnomer by those who incorrectly assert (in an etymological fallacy ) that it refers to racist hatred directed at " Semitic people " in spite of the fact that this grouping is an obsolete historical race concept . Likewise, such usage is erroneous; the compound word antisemitismus was first used in print in Germany in 1879 as
11368-543: The same op-ed page with other, moderate articles arguing for tolerance. These latter were not translated." Former head of the CIA 's counterintelligence unit, Vincent Cannistraro , said that MEMRI "are selective and act as propagandists for their political point of view, which is the extreme-right of Likud. They simply don't present the whole picture." Laila Lalami , writing in The Nation , states that MEMRI "consistently picks
11484-498: The second half of the 19th century, especially as Prussian nationalistic historian Heinrich von Treitschke did much to promote this form of racism. He coined the phrase "the Jews are our misfortune" which would later be widely used by Nazis . According to Falk, Treitschke uses the term "Semitic" almost synonymously with "Jewish", in contrast to Renan's use of it to refer to a whole range of peoples, based generally on linguistic criteria. According to philologist Jonathan M. Hess ,
11600-421: The state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity," but that "criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic." It provided contemporary examples of ways in which antisemitism may manifest itself, including promoting the harming of Jews in the name of an ideology or religion; promoting negative stereotypes of Jews; holding Jews collectively responsible for
11716-550: The term Antisemiten in the January issue of Neue Freie Presse . The Jewish Encyclopedia reports, "In February 1881, a correspondent of the Allgemeine Zeitung des Judentums speaks of 'Anti-Semitism' as a designation which recently came into use ("Allg. Zeit. d. Jud." 1881, p. 138). On 19 July 1882, the editor says, 'This quite recent Anti-Semitism is hardly three years old. ' " The word "antisemitism"
11832-542: The term was originally used by its authors to "stress the radical difference between their own 'antisemitism' and earlier forms of antagonism toward Jews and Judaism." In 1879, German journalist Wilhelm Marr published a pamphlet, Der Sieg des Judenthums über das Germanenthum. Vom nicht confessionellen Standpunkt aus betrachtet ( The Victory of the Jewish Spirit over the Germanic Spirit. Observed from
11948-569: The two replies, as both questions referred to the same subject. Carmon rejected other claims of distortion by Whitaker, saying: "it is perhaps reassuring that you had to go back so far to find a mistake ... You accused us of distortion by omission but when asked to provide examples of trends and views we have missed, you have failed to answer." Carmon also accused Whitaker of "using insults rather than evidence" in his criticism of MEMRI. In 2008, The New York Times wrote that "no one disputes their translations." MEMRI responds to criticism by saying that
12064-515: The two sources, the source of the material and its credibility is confirmed. MEMRI's work is organized into projects, each with a specific focus. The main subjects the organization addresses are jihad and terrorism ; relations between the U.S. and Middle East; pro-democracy and pro-civil rights views; inter-Arab relations; and anti-Semitism . The Reform Project, according to MEMRI, focuses on monitoring, translating, and amplifying media from Muslim figures and movements with progressive viewpoints in
12180-743: The unhyphenated spelling, in order to "[dispel] the notion that there is an entity 'Semitism' which 'anti-Semitism' opposes." Others endorsing an unhyphenated term for the same reason include the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance , historian Deborah Lipstadt , Padraic O'Hare, professor of Religious and Theological Studies and Director of the Center for the Study of Jewish-Christian-Muslim Relations at Merrimack College ; and historians Yehuda Bauer and James Carroll . According to Carroll, who first cites O'Hare and Bauer on "the existence of something called 'Semitism ' ", "the hyphenated word thus reflects
12296-594: The very last one." According to MEMRI's translation, he also described U.S. President Barack Obama as an "enemy of Allah, you who kiss the shoes and feet of the Jews " and predicted that "The day will come when you are trampled upon by the pure feet of the Muslims." MEMRI's rendition moved Liberal senator Cory Bernardi to write to the Police Commissioner charging that under Australian anti-terrorism laws ,
12412-506: The video clip was "hate speech", and requesting that action be taken against Hussein. The South Australian Islamic Society and the Australian Buddhist Councils Federation also condemned Hussein's speech. Widespread calls from the public for the deportation of Hussein and his family followed news reports of the video. A police spokeswoman stated "Police will examine the entire content of the sermon to gain
12528-468: The word by 'Jew' or ' Judaism '. They want to give the impression that I'm not criticizing Israeli policy, but that what I'm saying is anti-Semitic." According to Barakat, he was subject to widespread condemnation from faculty and his office was "flooded with hatemail". Fellow Georgetown faculty member Aviel Roshwald accused Barakat in an article he published of promoting a "demonization of Israel and of Jews". Supported by Georgetown colleagues, Barakat denied
12644-508: The world finances, a theory promoted in the fraudulent The Protocols of the Elders of Zion and later repeated by Henry Ford and his The Dearborn Independent . In the modern era, such myths continue to be spread in books such as The Secret Relationship Between Blacks and Jews published by the Nation of Islam and on the internet. Derek Penslar writes that there are two components to
12760-581: The world ... Nobody says, 'I am anti-Semitic.' You cannot, after Hitler. The word has gone out of fashion." The study of antisemitism has become politically controversial because of differing interpretations of the Holocaust and the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. There are two competing views of antisemitism, eternalism, and contextualism. The eternalist view sees antisemitism as separate from other forms of racism and prejudice and an exceptionalist, transhistorical force teleologically culminating in
12876-473: The world's violent antisemitic events have taken place in Christian Europe . However, since the early 20th century, there has been a sharp rise in antisemitic incidents across the Arab world , largely due to the surge in Arab antisemitic conspiracy theories , which have been cultivated to an extent under the aegis of European antisemitic conspiracy theories . In recent times, the idea that there
12992-599: Was also "an incitement to have me arrested by the British authorities". Halim Barakat described MEMRI as "a propaganda organization dedicated to representing Arabs and Muslims as anti-Semites ". Barakat claims an essay he wrote for the Al-Hayat Daily of London titled "The Wild Beast that Zionism Created: Self-Destruction", was mistranslated by MEMRI and retitled as "Jews Have Lost Their Humanity". Barakat further stated "Every time I wrote 'Zionism', MEMRI replaced
13108-476: Was appointed to serve as head of the Civil Administration, Carmon was appointed his deputy. Carmon was appointed acting head of the Civil Administration 26 September 1982 after Milson's 22 September resignation. He served in that position until Shlomo Ilya became the Administration's head 29 November. In 1988, Carmon was appointed adviser on counterterrorism for Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir . Following
13224-477: Was borrowed into English from German in 1881. Oxford English Dictionary editor James Murray wrote that it was not included in the first edition because "Anti-Semite and its family were then probably very new in English use, and not thought likely to be more than passing nonce-words... Would that anti-Semitism had had no more than a fleeting interest!" The related term " philosemitism " was used by 1881. From
13340-556: Was first used in 1860 by the Austrian Jewish scholar Moritz Steinschneider (1816–1907) in the phrase antisemitische Vorurteile (antisemitic prejudices). Steinschneider used this phrase to characterise the French philosopher Ernest Renan's false ideas about how ' Semitic races ' were inferior to ' Aryan races ' ". Pseudoscientific theories concerning race , civilization, and "progress" had become quite widespread in Europe in
13456-683: Was questioning the death toll of the Holocaust . Finkelstein said in response that MEMRI edited the television interview he gave in order to falsely impute that he was a Holocaust denier . In an interview with the Muslim-American newspaper In Focus in 2007, he said MEMRI uses "the same sort of propaganda techniques as the Nazis " and "take[s] things out of context in order to do personal and political harm to people they don't like". Several critics have accused MEMRI of selectivity. Juan Cole ,
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