| |  | | | Defunding Terror, Exposing Qatar, Confronting Iran: MEF's 2025 Victories By MEF Staff ● Aug 19, 2025 Smart Brevity® count: 4.5 mins...1189 words In the first half of 2025, the Middle East Forum (MEF) achieved transformative victories that reshaped U.S. foreign policy and counterterrorism efforts. MEF's congressional testimony exposed $122 million in USAID funding to terror-linked organizations, catalyzing the elimination of $3 billion in problematic federal grants while generating 125 million views worldwide. Our investigative work revealed Qatar's $40 billion influence operation across American institutions. We unveiled extremism on university campuses, Capitol Hill, and overseas resulting in canceled contracts, ambassador expulsions, and dismantled networks. During the Iran-Israel crisis, MEF provided real-time intelligence analysis while advancing strategies for Hamas's defeat in Gaza through our Israel Victory Project. The Forum published eleven comprehensive reports, 322 analytical articles, and 36 policy podcasts that directly influenced decision-makers from the National Security Council to the Department of Justice. When MEF publishes, policymakers act. Our digital reach expanded twenty-fold, forging coalitions from the Israeli Knesset to the Swedish Parliament and establishing operational partnerships with Iranian opposition groups confronting the regime. These accomplishments demonstrate how rigorous research drives strategic action, yet sustaining this momentum requires your support. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help MEF continue exposing terror financing, countering authoritarian influence, and safeguarding Western interests. You can support MEF by clicking here. To read the Middle East Forum's 2025 mid-year report download the attachment or click here. | | MEF Eliminates $3 Billion in Terror-Linked Federal Grants Victory #1: MEF Executive Director Gregg Roman delivered landmark testimony on February 26, 2025, before the House Oversight Committee's DOGE Subcommittee. This testimony culminates nearly a decade of MEF research, revealing $122 million of U.S. foreign aid funding terrorist-linked organizations and helping to eliminate $3 billion in problematic government funding. -
Mr. Roman's February 2025 congressional testimony, driven by research by Sam Westrop and his Islamist Watch team, exposed USAID funneling millions to terror-linked groups like Al-Qaeda affiliates. -
The testimony quickly went viral, garnering over 125 million views after being shared by a number of prominent news outlets and individuals, including Elon Musk. Before long, USAID began reviewing grants leading to a significant overhaul and reduction of the size of the organization. | | MEF Exposes Qatar's $40 Billion Global Influence Machine Victory #2: MEF's landmark report, "America for Sale," exposed Qatar's infiltration of U.S. institutions via $4.7 billion in unreported university donations and lobbying, influencing curriculum, faculty hiring, and research priorities. Other successes included shutting down Hamas charities like a U.K.-based operation run by convicted terrorists, preventing extremist preachers like Imam Husham Al-Husainy's from speaking at President Trump's inauguration by exposing his Hezbollah ties, and revealing $13 million in Texas state grants to Islamist mosques. | | MEF Makes Waves Across the Globe Victory #3: Between January and June 2025, MEF coordinated with various national security bodies on Iranian threats and built relationships with Iranian opposition groups while expanding our media presence with English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Farsi podcasts and op-eds. In Sweden, MEF forced the resignation of regime apologist Rouzbeh Parsi from a think tank after an exposé on Iranian influence and initiated a European Iran Freedom Caucus with MP Nima Gholam Ali Pour as a model for trans-European coordination. Parliamentary networks were built across Israel, Sweden, and emerging U.S. and EU caucuses, including Eastern Mediterranean alliances with Greece and Cyprus for intelligence sharing and minority protection. This expansion fosters international coalitions to counter threats like Iran and Qatar beyond U.S. borders, leveraging parliamentary diplomacy for sustained global impact. | | MEF: A Publishing Powerhouse Victory #4: In the first half of 2025, the Middle East Forum released seven major reports, including a dossier on Syria's chemical arsenal based and an analysis of the economic costs of anti-Israel protests estimating $1.51 billion in damages with RICO legal options. Issues of the Middle East Quarterly on artificial intelligence in diplomacy, examining surveillance and military impacts, and on Iranian propaganda, documenting harassment operations, helped to shape major scholarly and political debates. The Iran War Monitor was launched for real-time crisis analysis during the Israel-Iran conflict, while Middle East Forum Online published 322 articles from 35 fellows and produced 36 podcasts with breakout episodes like the demographics analysis, reaching 32,000 views. This output provides evidence-based ammunition for policymakers, filling gaps in mainstream coverage with timely, rigorous content that influences both elite and public discourse. | | Achievements in Statecraft  Victory #5: The Middle East Forum has made significant breakthroughs in the first six months of 2025, with initiatives spanning from Tehran to the Red Sea. -
The Iran Freedom Initiative built networks with opposition groups in Kurdish, Baluchi, Azeri, and Ahwazi, launched information operations with daily Persian content, and partnered with opposition leaders like Vahid Beheshti and Masih Alinejad. -
The Israel Victory Project commissioned a strategy paper from ex-Israeli National Security Council head Meir Ben Shabbat on defeating Palestinian resistance, published a Hebrew edition of Daniel Pipes's book, and advanced Knesset caucuses. -
The Red Sea Security Initiative influenced the Houthi terror designation by framing them as Iranian proxies, proposed unmanned vessels like the MANTAS T12 for surveillance and maritime exclusion zones, and rejected Yemen partition for decentralized governance. This work moves beyond talk to operations, supporting regime change in Iran, victory over Palestinian rejectionism, and securing shipping lanes from violent threats. | | Victory #6: The Middle East Forum advised Congress and executive agencies on terror financing, proxies, and information operations. -
The organization helped shape the Department of Justice's Antisemitism Task Force with a framework treating antisemitic activities as civil rights violations. -
Investigations with the Department of Government Efficiency and Department of Homeland Security examined waste and fraud. This enabled grant reviews and evolved the Middle East Forum from advisor to operational partner in policy execution. -
This integration has given the Middle East Forum the opportunity to influence policy all across Washington, from the White House to the halls of Congress. | |  Victory #7: MEF's digital and social media presence has skyrocketed in the first six months of 2025, with our reach and interaction rates increasing ten- and twenty-fold across our various platforms. -
MEF's YouTube viewership doubled to 207,501 views, watch time tripled to 26,000 hours, and subscriber growth reached 168 percent to nearly 10,000, driven by in-depth policy videos competing for deep engagement. -
Twitter interactions grew six-fold to 963,300, LinkedIn impressions increased ten-fold to 195,700, Instagram reach expanded twenty-fold to 103,200, and Facebook maintained 128,000 followers with broad content distribution. -
The organization produced 36 podcasts, 58 newsletters, and 18 press announcements, while crisis live-streams during the Israel-Iran conflict reached more than 100,000 viewers and integrated multimedia like maps and charts for enhanced accessibility. This growth amplifies the Middle East Forum's voice to millions, shaping public opinion and policy in real-time through viral moments and community-building strategies. | | Thank you for reading this special edition of the Dispatch and celebrating the Forum's transformative victories in the first half of 2025, from dismantling terror-linked funding and exposing Qatar's insidious influence to forging global coalitions, advancing statecraft initiatives, influencing U.S. policy, and amplifying digital outreach—collectively strengthening the fight against extremism and paving the way for even greater impact in the months ahead. Please feel free to share this edition or our full mid-year report with your networks.
Sincerely, The Middle East Forum Staff
info@meforum.org
| | | | Was this edition useful?  
Your email will be recorded and shared with the sender |        MEF, an activist think tank, deals with the Middle East, Islamism, U.S. foreign policy, and related topics, urging bold measures to protect Americans and their allies. Pursuing its goals via intellectual and operational means, the Forum recurrently has policy ideas adopted by the U.S. government.
Copyright © 2024 Middle East Forum, All rights reserved.
Our mailing address is:
Middle East Forum
1650 Market Street, Suite 3600
Philadelphia, PA 19103 | | | | | Powered by 
| | This email was sent by Middle East Forum via Axios HQ | | | |
0 коммент.:
Отправить комментарий