Middle East Forum Podcast

After disappearing in April 2020, a Coptic Christian high school teacher of English, wife, and mother of three reappeared in a video, now dressed in all-black Islamic attire with her face nearly covered, announcing that she had willingly converted to Islam and rejecting any contact with her family. This incident symbolizes the plight of Copts, Egyptian Christians, which includes forced conversion,...

The recent U.S. unrest focused on police violence and racism jump-started anti-Israel campaigning by the BDS movement, Islamists, the far-Right, and the far-Left. Synagogues, cemeteries and Jewish businesses have been targeted from Los Angeles to Virginia, while social media have been saturated with accusations against Jews and Israel. What does this phenomenon amount to, how does it affect U.S.-I...

Textbooks are a powerful tool in shaping children’s minds. In the Middle East, however, they all too often promote Islamism and other extremist ideas. What tools are available to make positive change, what is the record of efforts so far, and how do the authorities respond to pressure?

Denmark, like many other Western countries, has a growing number of Islamists who reject freedom of speech, demanding that any criticism of Islam and related topics be silenced via hate speech laws. They are getting their way thanks to censorship on social media, legislation, an increase in antisemitic incidents, and a stifling culture of political correctness. What does this mean for Denmark, his...

Interview with Ambassador (ret.) Robert Pearson on Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean.

When the European Union in 2019 added a clause to grant contracts with NGOs that prohibits the transfer of its funds to designated terrorist organizations, this elicited howls of protest from the Palestinian NGO Network, an umbrella organization of 135 Palestinian NGOs (PNGO). On March 30, 2020, the EU sent a “clarification letter” to PNGO that appears to give into Palestinian pressure and effecti...

Greek-Turkish relations are going from bad to worse. The Erdoğan regime wages “no war–no peace" operations in the Aegean Sea by constantly violating Greek sovereignty. It encourages illegal migrants to cross into Greek territory. It just unilaterally annexed a large tract of the Eastern Mediterranean Sea as its exclusive economic zone to explore for natural gas. What are the dangers of a conflagra...

Israeli governments have always resisted the idea of defense treaty with the United States. But circumstances have changed and both sides would now benefit from a carefully crafted agreement. It would deter or mitigate a major Iran-led conflict, frontload the Obama MoU on defense assistance to Israel, replenish U.S. stockpiles of vital precision munitions in Israel, elevate Israel’s status as an o...

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has been called “an icon of the West's rapprochement with Islam,” but he’s actually an icon of the West’s submission to Islamism. Examples: Canada’s intelligence agency CSIS admits that dozens of known jihadis are walking free and authorities won’t charge them. A secret program that grants visas to war criminals, terrorists, and those who pose security threat...

How does one confront the anti-Israel teachings and other problems that are entrenched in Middle East studies? Sarah Stern has worked this issue in the halls of Congress and the Department of Education for almost two decades. She will discuss changes for the better and worse in the attempt to ensure that federal grants are used in accordance with their legislative intent – to give American student...

Honor killings, the cold-blooded murder of mostly girls and women by relatives for allegedly dishonoring their families, have arrived in the West. Some claim that anti-racism, pluralism, and multi-cultural relativism demand we tolerate such crimes, but that is a deeply mistaken belief. We’ll review the sources of this behavior and how to combat it.

Seventeen years after Saddam Hussein, Iraq has reached a critical juncture. A privileged, corrupt elite controls the government and parliament, while heavily armed and well-paid militias answer to Tehran. The infrastructure is in a state of deep neglect, the economy is in shambles, and the judiciary has lost its independence. In addition to Sunni-Shi’i tensions, internal Shi’i tensions are at an u...

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is arriving in Israel next week. What does this extraordinary visit mean? What does it mean for the Trump Peace Plan, annexation and Iran? Will it have an effect on the makeup of the new government?

In 1990, Jews of the collapsing Soviet Empire began to escape their antisemitic prison in large numbers. Over one million of them repatriated to Israel and made up the country’s biggest, most educated immigration wave ever. They dramatically changed nearly every aspect of Israel’s life, from science to sports. What is their net impact and how will this influence Israel going forward?

The Middle East is more closely connected to Latin America than generally understood. Iran’s links to the region and its establishment of jihadi networks go back to the 1990s (recall the bombings in Buenos Aires). They have grown especially with Maduro’s Venezuela. In addition to local aspirations, this effort also endangers domestic U.S. national security interests.

Expect a dramatic week ahead. The Supreme Court will decide if the new government is legal. The Prime Minister needs 61 MPs to stop Israel from plunging towards its fourth elections. Should we expect smooth sailing or further surprises?

Robert Nicholson, founder and president, Philos Project, joins Gregg Roman on MEF Radio.

In a just-published book co-written with Einat Wilf, the speaker argues for the centrality of the refugee issue in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict because it continues the rejection of Jewish sovereignty on any part of the land. Therefore, Western powers must send a clear message: no support for the return of Palestine refugees.

Steve Emerson, Founder and Executive Director, The Investigative Project on Terrorism.

The Syrian civil war has been replaced by a clash of regional and global rivals with their local clients. Various conflicts are currently being played out on Syrian soil: Israel vs. Iran, Turkey vs. PKK, Assad regime vs. Turkey, US-led coalition vs. ISIS, Russia vs. US, and (still) the Assad regime vs. Sunni Islamist insurgents. Will the current situation become semi-permanent or will Damascus rei...

With Winfield Myers and Clifford Smith on TItle VI of the Higher Education Opportunity Act.

A weekly presentation of everything Israeli by Ashley Perry and the Middle East Forum.

MEF weekly radio show for April 23, 2020.

Multiple times a week, the Middle East Forum makes different content offerings available to its readers and listeners. You can find all of our material here, uploaded on a daily basis.

Multiple times a week, the Middle East Forum makes different content offerings available to its readers and listeners. You can find all of our material here, uploaded on a daily basis.