Al Maghrib Institute in Houston Takes Public Relations Hit for Response
Kurds Remain an Important Presence Culturally and Politically That Regional Powers Ignore at Their Peril
The ISIS Fixer Has Established a Car Rental Business in Istanbul to Support the Organization’s Cross-Border Operations
Sparsely attended festival fostered alienation between U.K. Muslims and wider British society.
Too Often, the United States Self-Deters in the Face of Paper Tigers in a Way That Empowers Them
Companies That Mass Produce Devices to Incarcerate Iranian Protestors Instead Could Assist Them
Prof: Gaza’s Muslim Arabs, Not Israel’s Jews and Other Citizens, Are the Real Victims on the Defense Against Israeli Aggression
The Competition for Influence Between Ankara and the Syrian Kurds Stems from the Flux in the Geopolitical Situation in the Region
Despite Its Territorial Defeat in 2019, ISIS Has Been Carrying out Attacks Through Sleeper Cells Across Iraq and Syria
Spotlight: Iran & Israel Trade Strikes
Iran’s October 1, 2024, missile and drone strike against Israel, joined by its proxies, did little beyond obligating Israel to expend missiles to take out incoming threats. Israel’s response, after three weeks of planning and multiple consultations with the United States and other allies, was more notable for what it avoided than for what it struck.

Israel skipped the most obvious—and most controversial—targets such as oil terminals and nuclear facilities. It did, however, do considerable damage to Iranian anti-aircraft defense capabilities, including its vaunted Russian S-300 systems. Israel’s measured response, therefore, both warned Iran against additional attacks and prepared the battlefield for follow-on strikes should (when) they become necessary.

Iran’s decision to launch 181 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night followed a similar pattern to the attacks of 14 April. Israeli and allied air defences appear to have performed extremely effectively. The damage to the military and civilian sites targeted is minor to non-existent. One Palestinian Arab man was killed in a village near Jericho, not from the Iranian missiles, it appears, but from interceptor debris.

The question now is what comes next. This time, the response is unlikely to be merely symbolic.
Middle East Quarterly - Current Issue
Founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, MEQ is the Middle East Forum’s journal intended for both scholars and the educated public. Policymakers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists write for and read the Quarterly, which is known for exclusive interviews, in-depth historical articles, and book reviews on subjects ranging from archaeology to politics and on countries from Morocco to Iran.

Fall 2024 Volume 31: Number 4
  1. MEF Chief Editor Jim Hanson discusses the implications with FOX News
  2. MEF Chief Editor Jim Hanson Says Yes
  3. MEF Chief Editor Jim Hanson tells FOX News he thinks sentiment in the region is moving against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
  1. PHILADELPHIA – August 20, 2024 – A member of Maryland’s “Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention” is out of a job. Ayman Nassar, the second Islamist commissioner to get tossed from the hate crimes board within three months, resigned on August 19 amid public outrage over his role in terror-linked organizations and his history of anti-American, antisemitic, and homophobic hate speech.

    Nassar has accused Israel of harvesting the organs of living Palestinians and shared posts referring to Gaza as a “Holocaust.” He is chairman of the Aafia Foundation, a “terrorist support group” that seeks to free “Lady Al Qaeda” Aafia Siddiqui and other convicted terrorists from prison.
  2. PHILADELPHIA – July 31, 2024 – Hours after Israel assassinated two leading figures of designated terrorist organizations, Middle East Forum (MEF) experts took to major media outlets to explain what the killings mean for Israel and the region.

    Israeli forces killed Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukur in Beirut on Tuesday, while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh died Wednesday from an Israeli strike in Tehran. Both men caused the deaths of innocent civilians as well as Israeli and American soldiers.

    Writing today for the Wall Street Journal, MEF president Daniel Pipes argued that since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, Israel has unfortunately followed “two opposite policies” simultaneously: “destroy the organization and make a deal with it.”
  3. JERUSALEM, July 25, 2024 – In an event sponsored by the Middle East Forum-organized Israel Victory Caucus (IVC) of Israel’s parliament (the Knesset), multiple speakers argued that Israel’s security requires turning the tables on Iran by creating proxies to undermine the Islamic Republic (video).


    Participants included Israeli cabinet ministers, members of Knesset (MKs) from both coalition and opposition, senior military figures, family members of the fallen and kidnapped, and other prominent decision makers and opinion shapers.
  1. A Joint Podcast Series by the Middle East Forum and the American Jewish University
  2. A Joint Podcast Series by the Middle East Forum and the American Jewish University on the Middle East’s Influence on Contemporary America
  3. A Joint Podcast Series by the Middle East Forum and the American Jewish University
  4. A Joint Podcast Series by the Middle East Forum and the American Jewish University
Middle East Forum Observer
Founded in 2024, it provides rapid analysis on leading Middle East developments, from Marrakech to Mashhad and the Bab el-Mandeb to the Black Sea.
Launched in 2006, Islamist Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum. We work to combat the ideas and institutions of lawful Islamism in the United States and throughout the West. Arguing that “radical Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution,” we seek to expose the Islamist organizations that currently dominate the debate, while identifying and promoting the work of moderate Muslims.
CAMPUS WATCH, a project of the Middle East Forum, reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds.
Antisemitism
  1. The Slow Bleeding to Death of the Jewish State Is Part of Iran’s Ambition to Lead an Alliance of Islamic Governance
  2. The Expressed Anti-american, Anti-Israel, and Antisemitic Sentiment Is Nothing New Among Middle East Studies Professors.
  3. Events unfolding in Denver serve as a cautionary tale, illustrating a movement rooted not in a sincere quest for justice, but in a troubling mix of ignorance and radicalism.
  4. A Colombian Immigrant’s Journey Through Cultural Identity, Zionism, and the Backlash Post-October 7
Gaza
  1. Sometimes, External Forces Must Push People Toward the Difficult Choice of Replacing Their Leaders
  2. Although Most of the World Has Abandoned the Yazidi Victims of ISIS, Some Courageous Individuals Are Still Trying to Help
  3. The Elimination of Hamas’s Most Dominant Figure Could Open a Small Window of Opportunity to Achieve Israel’s Elusive War Aims
  4. The Details of the Killing Show the Extent to Which Hamas No Longer Has Any Depth of Control over Any Part of Gaza
Islam
  1. After Expelling Every Last Crusader from the Holy Land, Saladin’s ‘Retirement Dream’ Was to Invade and Wage Jihad on Christian Europe
  2. While It Doesn’t Mention ‘Hezbollah,’ the Editorial Highlights the Conflict Between ‘the Jews’ and the Shia-Led ‘Axis of Resistance’
Muslims in the US
  1. The Muslim Justice League Took a Page Out of the KKK’s Playbook and Deployed Masked Thugs to Harass a Reporter at Its Rally in Downtown Boston
  2. Columbia, Not Just a Campus Anymore, Has Turned into a Caliphate; Sinwar Could Make the Dean’s List
  3. Progressives Have Done a Better Job Advocating for Hamas than Many Islamist Organizations in the United States
  4. A Joint Podcast Series by the Middle East Forum and the American Jewish University