One of the by-products of the September 11 terror attacks is America's crash course in Middle Eastern studies.
As journalists try to decipher a culture of terrorists and nuances of their political, religious and social derivations, and policymakers face up to new priorities, a tiny think tank based in Washington, DC, and Jerusalem has proven to be a source of vital information.
The Middle East Media Research Institute, or MEMRI, was founded in 1998 to monitor and translate the media of the region, focusing on the Palestinian, Egyptian, Syrian, Iranian, Saudi Arabian and Iraqi press. MEMRI distributes its translations of regional content by fax and e-mail to over 10,000 journalists, diplomats, politicians and activists worldwide. No other organization does this work.
MEMRI provides an essential window into the Arab world, one that previously didn't exist, according to Yigal Carmon, founder and president of the non-partisan, non-profit organization. Carmon, former advisor on counter-terrorism to Israeli Prime Ministers Yitzhak Shamir and Yitzhak Rabin, said that these Middle Eastern countries "are very closed societies. It's very hard to get newspapers out, especially Syria."
Western journalists, pressured for accuracy, reliability of sources and even-handedness, are often stunned by the discrepancy between what is released as official statements of the Arab leaders, and what they say internally to their own people. Journalists are often ill prepared to discern the lies and fabrications of representatives of dictatorships, in which the media is merely a tool of the government.
"There is hope. It's not a lost battle. Journalists and policymakers just need to listen to what the primary sources are saying," Carmon said.
MEMRI exposes real sentiments of the Arab regimes
MEMRI exposes the West to the real sentiments of the Arab regimes as expressed in their respective government controlled press. Carmon said it was an "uphill battle" to get the press of democratic nations to report on the "vile ideology" uncovered by his organization. Even the Jerusalem Post practiced self-censorship and refused to report on the contemptible propaganda against Jews revealed in the Egyptian press, Carmon said."It contradicts the idea we are going toward peace. The western mind does not believe there's such a thing as undeserved hatred… Americans keep asking 'why do they hate us?'"
Carmon said that for MEMRI, "there is a role… to expose as much as we can."
Some of the more recent gems discovered by MEMRI have been reports in the Iraqi press of Saddam Hussein meeting with members of the "Iraqi nuclear industry," and the head cleric for the Palestinian Authority stating on local television, "We're going to win because just as much as you [Israel] love life, we love death."
In November 2001, the leading Egyptian science magazine, published by the government-sponsored daily Al-Gumhuriya, accused the United States and Israel of using biological warfare, and alleged germ warfare was being implemented in Afghanistan. The article also stated that Jews were intentionally spreading AIDS to Asia and Africa.
In 1993, audiences dismissed warnings of Islamic fundamentalism
Carmon, a modest, scholarly man, was in a unique position to offer a prophetic message to the United States on February 26, 1993. As a senior IDF adviser on counterterrorism working with foreign governments, he delivered a briefing to the Pentagon in which he quoted the Arab sentiment popular at the time - "Capitalism is a crime.""Islamic fundamentalism is an imminent threat to the United States today," he warned his audience. Carmon's remarks were greeted with skepticism. One official told him he was "overly sensitive, as an Israeli."
Carmon then flew to New York in time to witness the first bombing of the World Trade Center by Islamic fundamentalists.
"People tend to explain these terrorist attacks in terms familiar to them - suicide, kamikaze…" Carmon said. "It's really acts of faith. To them it's martyrdom; suicide is not the case. They are not desperate - some are well to do, some are students. They are martyrs. They are in self-control and cold blooded."
Carmon called these acts of extreme "fanatic faith," and said that for totalitarian societies to indoctrinate this behavior it takes three things; education, religion and media.
"The power of religion is huge"
"The power of religion is huge." Carmon said that the basic tenet of fundamentalist Islam is "this world is nothing, only what comes after matters."Carmon contrasted the Islam of the 11th century and of the Ottoman Empire under Suleiman the Magnificent, which was "quite tolerant," to the Islam of the 7th century which was not. "Our enemies want to go back to the Islam of the 7th century," he said.
The key to understanding hatred is exposure and knowledge of your adversaries and their objectives, Carmon emphasized. He lamented that as a recent visitor to the Museum for the Oklahoma Federal Building bombing, he saw "all kinds of photos of the victims, children's toys and teddy bears, but no mention of the militia and the ideology which produced this kind of hatred."
Carmon is optimistic that once a group is exposed for that kind of hatred, "they may change."
MEMRI translations regularly appear in international media
When MEMRI began just four years ago, there were only a handful of people interested in its work, initially translating only Palestinian material. MEMRI now has offices in Washington, DC, Jerusalem and London.At MEMRI's Media Center in Jerusalem, foreign journalists are provided with balanced and comprehensive information regarding the Arab and Islamic world, news verification, technical facilities, and special seminars for visiting dignitaries and journalists. The Jerusalem office employs 17 translators, mainly former IDF people with backgrounds in language and dialects. "We need 170," Carmon said.
MEMRI materials now regularly appear in the Washington Post, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Guardian, Sunday Times, The New Yorker, The New Republic, Commentary, The Jerusalem Report and the Associated Press, and countless other outlets, including broadcast media.
U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman (Dem. - Cal.), recently stated, "MEMRI does an outstanding job of reviewing the Arab language press. Knowing what is being said about America and Israel is critical to understanding the Middle East. Holding Arab leaders accountable for failure to refute outrageous lies about America and Israel is an important part of our public diplomacy efforts and ultimately our Middle East policy."