Ultimately, Sinwar Can Aim Even Higher. Why Not Seek the Presidency of an American University?
Iran Has Destabilized and Transformed Iraq With Its Own Brand of Shi’ism
With Assistance From the West, Women’s Movements Can Become a Cornerstone of a More Democratic and Prosperous Iran

Regional Conflict Favors Extremists in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
The United Nations Cannot Plead Ignorance to Its Relief Agency’s Close Ties to Hamas
Columbia, Not Just a Campus Anymore, Has Turned into a Caliphate; Sinwar Could Make the Dean’s List
Picking Ideological Fights Abroad May Not Bolster the Iranian Regime’s Standing at Home
Analysts Say They Doubt a New Leader of Hezbollah Will Be Appointed Anytime Soon
Spotlight: Iran
Iran’s proxy war against Israel is escalating. They launched Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis and now each of them have suffered major damage at the hands of Israeli forces. Iran launched hundreds of missiles and drones at Israel and the world is waiting to see what the response will be.

Is now the time for Israel to take out Iran’s nuclear sites? Is it an opportunity to strike at the leaders of the Islamic Republic? MEF is watching closely and providing expert analysis of the possible actions and outcomes.
Iran’s decision to launch 181 ballistic missiles at Israel on Tuesday night followed a similar pattern to the attacks of 14 April. Israeli and allied air defences appear to have performed extremely effectively. The damage to the military and civilian sites targeted is minor to non-existent. One Palestinian Arab man was killed in a village near Jericho, not from the Iranian missiles, it appears, but from interceptor debris.

The question now is what comes next. This time, the response is unlikely to be merely symbolic.
Middle East Quarterly - Current Issue
Founded in 1994 by Daniel Pipes, MEQ is the Middle East Forum’s journal intended for both scholars and the educated public. Policymakers, opinion-makers, academics, and journalists write for and read the Quarterly, which is known for exclusive interviews, in-depth historical articles, and book reviews on subjects ranging from archaeology to politics and on countries from Morocco to Iran.

Fall 2024 Volume 31: Number 4
  1. MEF Chief Editor Jim Hanson tells FOX News he thinks sentiment in the region is moving against the Islamic Republic of Iran.
  2. The Palestinian mentality is genocidal rejectionism, while on the Israeli side, the mentality is conciliation. Both are unique, and both have failed.
  3. MEF Chief Editor Jim Hanson spoke with FOX and Friends about a terror attack planned for concert in Vienna that was foiled by police.


  1. PHILADELPHIA – August 20, 2024 – A member of Maryland’s “Commission on Hate Crimes Response and Prevention” is out of a job. Ayman Nassar, the second Islamist commissioner to get tossed from the hate crimes board within three months, resigned on August 19 amid public outrage over his role in terror-linked organizations and his history of anti-American, antisemitic, and homophobic hate speech.

    Nassar has accused Israel of harvesting the organs of living Palestinians and shared posts referring to Gaza as a “Holocaust.” He is chairman of the Aafia Foundation, a “terrorist support group” that seeks to free “Lady Al Qaeda” Aafia Siddiqui and other convicted terrorists from prison.
  2. PHILADELPHIA – July 31, 2024 – Hours after Israel assassinated two leading figures of designated terrorist organizations, Middle East Forum (MEF) experts took to major media outlets to explain what the killings mean for Israel and the region.

    Israeli forces killed Hezbollah leader Fouad Shukur in Beirut on Tuesday, while Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh died Wednesday from an Israeli strike in Tehran. Both men caused the deaths of innocent civilians as well as Israeli and American soldiers.

    Writing today for the Wall Street Journal, MEF president Daniel Pipes argued that since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks, Israel has unfortunately followed “two opposite policies” simultaneously: “destroy the organization and make a deal with it.”
  3. JERUSALEM, July 25, 2024 – In an event sponsored by the Middle East Forum-organized Israel Victory Caucus (IVC) of Israel’s parliament (the Knesset), multiple speakers argued that Israel’s security requires turning the tables on Iran by creating proxies to undermine the Islamic Republic (video).


    Participants included Israeli cabinet ministers, members of Knesset (MKs) from both coalition and opposition, senior military figures, family members of the fallen and kidnapped, and other prominent decision makers and opinion shapers.
  1. As a professor of art history wrote, ‘if history is a battleground, then art is a weapon.’
  2. Ben-Gurion Was the Father of the Jewish Army and ‘Founding Father of His Country,’ the Jewish State
Middle East Forum Observer
Founded in 2024, it provides rapid analysis on leading Middle East developments, from Marrakech to Mashhad and the Bab el-Mandeb to the Black Sea.
Launched in 2006, Islamist Watch is a project of the Middle East Forum. We work to combat the ideas and institutions of lawful Islamism in the United States and throughout the West. Arguing that “radical Islam is the problem, moderate Islam is the solution,” we seek to expose the Islamist organizations that currently dominate the debate, while identifying and promoting the work of moderate Muslims.
CAMPUS WATCH, a project of the Middle East Forum, reviews and critiques Middle East studies in North America with an aim to improving them. The project mainly addresses five problems: analytical failures, the mixing of politics with scholarship, intolerance of alternative views, apologetics, and the abuse of power over students. Campus Watch fully respects the freedom of speech of those it debates while insisting on its own freedom to comment on their words and deeds.
Antisemitism
  1. The Expressed Anti-american, Anti-Israel, and Antisemitic Sentiment Is Nothing New Among Middle East Studies Professors.
  2. Events unfolding in Denver serve as a cautionary tale, illustrating a movement rooted not in a sincere quest for justice, but in a troubling mix of ignorance and radicalism.
  3. A Colombian Immigrant’s Journey Through Cultural Identity, Zionism, and the Backlash Post-October 7
  4. Attempts to Portray the Fight Against Campus Antisemitism as a Form of Political Subterfuge Are Profoundly Dangerous
Gaza
  1. Iran’s mobilisation of assets in support of Hamas in Gaza has now, through a ladder of escalation, brought the region within visible distance of war between Israel and Iran.
  2. October 7 Changed Everything in Israel, They Said. But Did It?
  3. Roey’s Story Transcends the Tragedy of This Death; It Is Also a Testament to Bravery and Commitment
  4. What Mechanisms Can Be Implemented to Stop Qatari Money from Being Poured Into Hamas’s Arsenal?
Islam
  1. After Expelling Every Last Crusader from the Holy Land, Saladin’s ‘Retirement Dream’ Was to Invade and Wage Jihad on Christian Europe
  2. While It Doesn’t Mention ‘Hezbollah,’ the Editorial Highlights the Conflict Between ‘the Jews’ and the Shia-Led ‘Axis of Resistance’
Muslims in the US
  1. Progressives Have Done a Better Job Advocating for Hamas than Many Islamist Organizations in the United States
  2. If Some Two Million ‘Got-Aways’ Crossed Since 2021, Suspected Terrorists on the FBI Watch List Are Almost Certainly Among Them
  3. I recently witnessed something I haven’t seen in a long time. On Friday, August 16, 2024, a group of pro-Hamas activists packed up their signs and went home in the face of spirited and non-violent opposition from a coalition of pro-American Iranians and American Jews. The last time I saw anything like that happen was in 2006 or 2007, when I led a crowd of Israel supporters in chants in order to silence a heckler standing on the sidewalk near the town common in Amherst, Massachusetts. The ridicule was enough to prompt him and his fellow anti-Israel activists to walk away, as we cheered their departure. It was glorious.