MEF Action: Disrupting the Policymaking Arena in 2023

MEF Action 2023 Review

By Gregg Roman ● Dec 29, 2023

Smart Brevity® count: 5.5 mins...1484 words

In January 2023, the Middle East Forum (MEF) established its latest project, MEF Action, and it is already having a significant impact. From state legislatures to European parliaments, from Wall Street to college classrooms, MEF Action’s innovative approach to advocacy and organizing generates results.

As a think tank, MEF recommends cutting-edge strategies that advance American interests and safeguard against Middle Eastern threats. MEF Action promotes these strategies and mobilizes public support for their implementation. To support MEF’s activism projects, please visit our contributions page.

Here are some highlights from this year:

#DivestFromQatar

Background: Private equity firms and hedge funds have raked in billions of dollars in investments from the Qatar Investment Authority. Qatar is a state sponsor of Hamas and other jihadist groups.

MEF's campaign: MEF Action launched the “#DivestFromQatar” campaign, sending formal letters to the CEOs of 13 major investment firms, including Bill Ackman of Pershing Square Capital, Marc Rowan of Apollo Global Management, and Ted Leonsis of Monumental Sports. Next, MEF Action orchestrated a grassroots campaign that resulted in more than 11,000 letters urging divestment from concerned citizens to the same billionaire investors. The campaign went viral and was talked about in the Washington Post and The Spectator.

Join the Movement: To sign up for MEF Action’s “#DivestFromQatar” campaign, visit the following link.

US Campaign to #DefeatHamas

Immediately following Oct. 7, MEF Action initiated a “U.S. Campaign to #DefeatHamas,” placing hundreds of constituents in touch with their elected officials to ask them to implement legislation to support Israel in its effort to completely eradicate Hamas.

MEF Action's advocacy efforts: MEF advocates sent nearly 1,600 emails to their officials and 4000 targeted tweets using the #DefeatHamas hashtag. Campaign participants asked their legislators to introduce or vote for legislation that would support Israel’s military and strategic objectives to defeat Hamas, as well as punish Hamas’s international support network.

Legislation to support Israel: The constituent letters specifically called for lawmakers to support Rep. Brian Mast’s (R-FL) “Hamas and Other Palestinian Terrorist Groups International Financing Prevention Act,” which was passed by the House on Nov. 1, 2023.

‘Butcher of Oberlin’ Ousted!

MEF Action played a decisive role working in securing the indefinite ouster of Professor Mohammad Jafar Mahallati as the Nancy Schrom Dye Chair of Middle East and North African Studies at Oberlin College in Ohio.

Examining the allegations: Mahallati was accused of covering up the Iran regime’s 1988 massacre of thousands of political prisoners. Additionally, MEF Action was instrumental in publicizing a Department of Education Office of Civil Rights investigation into allegations that Mahallati demonized Israel and taught his students “support for Hamas.”

A Day of Action: In April, MEF Action sponsored a Day of Action at the Ohio Statehouse, where former Iranian political prisoners and surviving family members met with their elected officials. The delegation convinced Ohio State Rep. Dick Stein (R-Oberlin) to call for a fresh investigation into Mahallati’s cover up of the 1988 killings.

The final blow: In a fatal blow to Mahallati’s reputation, MEF Action unearthed documents from a 1997 court case alleging that the professor was involved in a “sex-for-grades” scandal with a student while teaching courses at Columbia University. Oberlin College placed Mahallati on indefinite emergency leave shortly after the accusations were brought to light.

Support MEF Action in 2024

MEF Action is already disrupting the policymaking arena, employing bold and creative strategies that defy conventions and promote change.

We need your help to continue making a difference. Click the “Donate Now” button below to support MEF Action and keep the momentum alive into 2024.

The stakes couldn’t be higher. With the war in Gaza, attacks from Iran and its terrorist proxies, and Islamist encroachment into Western societies, effective policy advocacy is needed to shape the public debate and influence decision-makers.

Fighting Islamism in California

MEF Action pressured the California General Assembly into removing references to extreme Islamist organizations in a resolution praising the state’s Muslim community.

Background of the resolution: An initial draft of House Resolution 52, which honored the achievements of Muslim Americans, included praise for the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA), the Muslim American Society (MAS), and the Institute of Knowledge (IOK).

Concerns about the Islamist organizations:

ICNA is a front for Jamaat-e-Islami, a violent Pakistani political party responsible for mass murder in Bangladesh.

MAS is the “overt arm of the Muslim Brotherhood in America,” according to federal prosecutors.

IOK is an extreme Islamic seminary whose instructors have justified slavery and called for the destruction of Israel.

Impact of MEF Action's efforts: After building a coalition to oppose the resolution, and submitting testimony about the Islamist groups into the state’s records, the bill’s sponsor agreed to strike the problematic organizations from the resolution.

Defunding Unconstitutional American Muslim Commission

MEF Action lobbied members of the Massachusetts Legislature to remove an unconstitutional portion of a bill to establish an American Muslim Commission.

Issues with the bill: S.1994/H.3052 would require the commission to recommend Muslims to appointed positions in local, state, and federal government, favoring one religious group over others.

MEF Action targeted the bill’s sponsors with emails and a social media campaign. These messages pointed out the blatant attempt at discrimination.

Impact of MEF Action's campaign: During a May 10 committee hearing, State Sen. Jamie Eldridge (D-Middlesex and Worcester) announced that “there would be no state funding involved,” with the commission, blaming visits to his office and “social media attacks” from MEF Action and its partners.

Working with Sweden’s Riksdag to Sanction Iran

MEF Action worked with members of Sweden’s parliament (Riksdag) to push the European Union (EU) to implement strict export controls against the sale of repressive surveillance technologies to Iran, including CCTV cameras, facial recognition software, and AI-driven “intelligent tracking” devices.

Background: The push for sanctions followed MEF Fellow Benjamin Weinthal’s investigative reporting, which found that the German manufacturing giant Bosch and other European countries have sold surveillance equipment to Iran’s regime.

Implications: European-manufactured surveillance devices were used by Iran’s regime to break up demonstrations before they gain momentum, and to identify women who refuse to wear the hijab using biometrics software.

Future developments: MEF Action assisted Member of Parliament Nima Gholam Ali Pour in developing a letter signed by 5 Swedish parliamentarians that called on the EU to implement sanctions against video surveillance and biometrics software sold to Iran. MEF Action is currently working with Members of European Parliament to adopt those sanctions.

House Committee Cites MEF Action Research

An MEF Action article, “US Still Welcomes Hamas Lobby on Capitol Hill,” appeared to form the basis for expert testimony regarding rising antisemitism during a Nov. 15 hearing of the influential House Ways & Means Committee.

Expert testimony based on MEF Action article: Two expert witnesses, Israeli actress and activist Noa Tishby and Jonathan Schanzer, senior vice president of research at Foundation for Defense of Democracies, referred to American Muslim for Palestine’s (AMP) Oct. 23-24 “Palestine Advocacy Days.” Their testimony regarding AMP’s lobby relied upon research first unveiled in an MEF Action article published at the Jerusalem Post, including a list of lawmakers identified in the report as having met with AMP lobbyists.

Calling out the Congressman: Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ), who sat on the committee, was one of a handful of Congress members identified in MEF Action’s report for meeting with AMP. In an exchange documented by the New York Post, Mr. Schanzer criticized Pascrell “by name” for hosting AMP, eliciting a fiery response from the Congressman, who claimed Schanzer “impugned the integrity and loyalty of my constituents,” with accusations that were “total rubbish.”

Impact of MEF Action’s reporting: The House committee pledged to initiate a federal probe of AMP by exploring its alleged links to Hamas and accusations of terror finance.

No Jets For Turkey Constituency Letter Campaign

MEF Action organized a letter-writing campaign urging members of Congress to continue blocking the sale of F-16 aircraft to Turkey, unless it stops territorial overflights of Greece.

Background on the issue: Turkey is seeking to upgrade its air power by purchasing 40 F-16 fighter jets and 79 modernizations kits. However, MEF has pushed Congress to attach strict conditions to the arms deals, including demands that Turkey cease its unauthorized overflights of Greek land and airspace.

MEF Action's impact: In total, 559 participants sent 2,028 letters to senators and representatives, asking them to “exercise every available option to ensure that American-made weaponry is not used to threaten or attack U.S. allies.”

Team effort: MEF Action coordinated these grassroots activities with the Forum’s Washington Project, which held legislative meetings on the subject. MEF’s continued opposition to the arms deal has helped stall negotiations for two years, with key Congress members informally vetoing the sale.

Thank you for supporting MEF Action and making 2023 a landmark year of successes. We thank you for your donations and encourage you to visit the MEF Action Center to view and participate in our latest advocacy campaigns.

Sincerely,

Gregg Roman
Director
Middle East Forum