Middle East Forum Radio

From Al Jazeera to Al Aqsa TV, state- or organization-run media outlets dominate Middle Eastern news, with the effect of promoting extremism, denying press freedoms, compromising journalistic objectivity, and covering up human rights abuses. More, they have expanded their operations beyond the region, finding receptivity to their messages around the world. What is the trend of these media conglomerates? What are their outstanding successes and failures? What can be done to counter them?

Congress has long required universities to disclose foreign-funded gifts and contracts to the Department of Education and the American public. Universities have mostly ignored the law as regulators turned a blind eye to an ever-increasing flow of foreign money. Why did the federal government refuse to enforce the law? Where is the money coming from? How deep is foreign influence on U.S. college campuses today? What is the role of Middle Eastern actors in this?

Collin May was director of the Alberta Human Rights Commission (AHRC) in Alberta, Canada until his positive review of a book by MEF's Efraim Karsh caused him to be ousted in September 2022 on the grounds of “Islamophobia.” He is now suing the province of Alberta, charging that his ouster had nothing to do with the book review but with his intent to investigate “a culture of pervasive sexual harassment and bullying” at the AHRC under its previous leadership. How has “Islamophobia” become a tool of political warfare available to all? What impact does May’s ouster have on free speech in Canada? What can be done?

After several weeks off, the Knesset is back. Will the government push through legislation on judicial reform or will it compromise with the opposition?

With 9/11 over two decades behind us, many Americans have concluded that Islamism is no longer a pressing issue of concern. Newspapers and television networks rarely cover the topic. Legislators on both sides of the aisle work with Islamist groups previously deemed beyond the pale. In Europe, by contrast, major media outlets still regularly publish investigations into Islamist networks and government inquires issue warnings about radical Muslim communities in their midst. What explains this difference? What are its implications? How can the counter-Islamist movement re-focus American public attention on the challenge posed by radical Islam?

Today marks Israel's 75th Independence Day. The country remains as politically divided as ever, but it is a domestic issue, not foreign policy, that has become the central issue of contention. What does this signify? Is a compromise in sight? How would that look?

The Islamic Republic has promoted Islamism in the West for decades. Of late, two counter developments are underway. First, the Iranian diaspora has organized against regime efforts. Second, it works to strengthen and encourage the regime’s internal opposition. What has changed in the diaspora? What are its leading figures and institutions? How effective might they be?

Close to the Middle East, with many connections to the region, Greece faces complex geo-political challenges, dominated by an increasingly threatening Türkiye. What are Athens’ best responses to Erdoğan’s multiple provocations? What are the other problems? What are the opportunities?

In the Arabic-speaking countries, the Jewish Holocaust in World War II is not taught in schools and is widely considered a taboo subject. This is in keeping with the Palestinian norm of rejecting any expression of concern regarding Jewish persecution. Given recent peace agreements between Israel and a number of Arab states, are Arabs relating to the Holocaust differently? If so, how? If not, why not?

Despite less international press coverage, Iranians continue to challenge the Islamist regime via demonstrations, economic strikes, and other acts of civil disobedience, organized and led by local neighborhood groups and supported by Iranians abroad. What direction is the uprising taking? What are its major challenges? What role do Iranians outside the country play?

Former Iranian diplomat and senior regime official Mohammad Jaffar Mahallati, now a professor of religion at Oberlin College, stands accused of helping to cover up a mass murder of Iranian dissidents in the late 1980s. Despite his continuing ties to the regime and Hezbollah, he remains securely employed at the college, which maintains radio silence. Is Mahallati unique? What should be done? How to spur Washington to take a closer look at Iranian operatives?

The Palestinians - both the Palestinian Authority and Hamas - have built a strategy based on the hope and belief that they will eventually destroy Israel. What is the nature of this victory campaign? How can Israel learn from it and turn it on its head?

According to Ha'aretz, "Israeli Apartheid Week started in 2005 in Toronto, and since then has become an annual headache for pro-Israeli organizations, a growing concern for Israeli diplomats, and probably the worst time on campus for Israeli students." As the 2023 version ends at dozens of North American universities, we ask: What impact does this event have? Is it growing or declining?

Prime Minister Netanyahu has called for a compromise on the searing issue of judicial reform. While this move may appease reform's opponents, might it cause the government to fall?

What is the proper role of the Holocaust in Israeli life? Some say that peace with the Palestinians requires Jewish Israelis to set aside this memory. Is that right or, rather, should they better understand that traumatic experience?

Abdulrahman Bindamnan spent his childhood studying in Yemen’s Islamic schools. He memorized the Qur'an, a book of 77,000 words, and spent countless hours perfecting his Qur’anic pronunciation. Reflecting on this experience from the vantage point as a graduate student in the United States, he argues that too large a proportion of Muslim children fail to receive a secular education, and instead advance the primacy of revelation over reason. What is the current role of education in the Islamist agenda? What effects do such dogmas have in the West?

Israel's President Herzog offered a compromise on the heated issue of judicial reform. Will it help bridge the gap?

America is currently facing a historic crisis of mass illegal migration at its southern border. Government data reveals an alarming number of migrants on the FBI's terror-watch list caught at that border since Joe Biden became president. A "Muslim-only migrant shelter" has even opened in Tijuana, Mexico. What impact does this migration have on U.S. national security? What needs to change? What are the prospects of that change?

Following years of uncontrolled mass immigration and failed integration of immigrants, Sweden has become a segregated social welfare state. Gang violence, crime, and Islamization are rapidly replacing Sweden’s traditional culture. Following its election success in 2022, the Sweden Democrat party supports a right-wing governing bloc promising to reverse immigration and multicultural policies. After five months, what is the new government’s record on these issues? More broadly, can Sweden even be saved?

The prospect of judicial reform has prompted unprecedented internal opposition in Israel. Why has a compromise not yet emerged? What needs to happen for that to happen?