PHILADELPHIA – September 10, 2026 – On the eve of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the September 11 attacks, the Middle East Forum today opened applications for research access to its Counter-Islamism Research Clearinghouse. Built by the Forum’s Islamist Watch project since 2006 and containing more than four million data points drawn from public records, the clearinghouse is the nation’s most comprehensive research archive on lawful Islamism, ideological extremism, and foreign influence networks in the United States.
For 25 years, American security policy has struggled with the distinction between violent jihadism and the lawful, non-violent movements that build parallel legal, financial, and educational institutions
Beginning today, academic scholars, counter-extremism researchers, national security practitioners, investigative journalists, and Muslim reformers may apply for access through the MEF Research Portal at https://research.meforum.org/. Eligibility does not depend on an applicant’s view of the Forum. Access begins September 10, 2026.
For 25 years, American security policy has struggled with the distinction between violent jihadism and the lawful, non-violent movements that build parallel legal, financial, and educational institutions. The clearinghouse maps those institutions from IRS Form 990 filings, corporate registrations, property records, public statements, and public event documentation, records which tradition, movement or network each organization belongs to, and records as well the reformist Muslim organizations that oppose Islamism, so that researchers and institutions can tell the two apart.
“Radical Islam remains the problem, and moderate Islam remains the solution,” said Gregg Roman, executive director of the Middle East Forum. “For 25 years since September 11, bad actors have exploited American charitable protections, while Muslim reformers have been sidelined by well-funded radical organizations. By opening our archive to the research community, we are equipping analysts and reformers with the documentation they need to demand transparency, protect taxpayer funds, and empower authentic moderates. Anyone with a serious research purpose may apply, including our critics.”
The Forum’s research from the archive has already produced results:
- Audits of federal grants identified nearly $80 million in Department of Health and Human Services awards and about $25 million in Department of Homeland Security awards to organizations tied to designated terrorist groups and foreign extremist movements. Thirteen members of Congress wrote to HHS, and in June 2026 the Secretary announced a debarment investigation of the largest recipient, the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
- Public-record research documented, in his own words, Georgetown fellow Badar Khan Suri’s praise for Hamas and family ties to a former senior Hamas adviser, before federal authorities acted.
- Reporting from corporate and property filings exposed the financing of CAIR’s Washington headquarters by a multilateral bank co-owned by Iran, Qatar, and Turkey, and the transfer of that property into a perpetual Islamic trust through a $10 deed and a shell entity.
Approved researchers will receive search access to organizational profiles, network cross-indexing, institutional funding links, and the public sources behind every classification. The research edition excludes the Forum’s working notes, unverified material, and personal data.
The Forum is also transmitting a summary of its findings on tax-exempt compliance to the House Committee on Ways and Means and the Senate Committee on Finance to support congressional oversight of the non-profit sector.
To apply for research access or review the methodology, visit https://research.meforum.org/
About the Middle East Forum
The Middle East Forum, founded in 1994, promotes American interests in the Middle East and protects Western values from Islamist threats through research, activism, and support for allies.
For immediate release
For more information, contact:
Gregg Roman
Roman@MEForum.org
+1 (215) 546 5406
