Zayed Center coming back?
The Zayed Center in UAE - the same that famously donated $2.5 million to Harvard Divinity, only to be exposed as a hive of anti-Semitic programs and propaganda by then student Rachel Fish, who is now with The David Project. The Zayed Center may reopen, or experience clandestine rebirth.
From today's NYSun:
Campaign Under Way for Return of the Zayed Center?
The MEMRI Report
BY STEVEN STALINSKYSeptember 29, 2004.
http://www.nysun.com/article/2409 (subscription required)
On September 15 the State Department issued its annual International Religious Freedom Report, criticizingseveral of America's Arab allies. A paragraph of thesection devoted to the United Arab Emirates noted apositive development - the closing of the Zayed Center. Indeed, for an organization to be shut downfor incitement in the Arab world was an unprecedentedevent which should be applauded. However, immediately following the closure of the center last year,predictions arose that the center would not stayclosed permanently. The spirited defense of the center following the recent State Department report may be asign that a campaign is under way to reopen it. From its founding in 1999 until its closure in 2003,the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-Up hosted events and produced studies on a variety of issues that were often anti-American and anti-Semitic. The center also hosted and worked with Presidents Clinton and Carter, and the president of France, Jacques Chirac.
Following the closure of the center, a group of Arab reformists, including Saudi journalist Sa'd ibn SalihAl-Sirhan, noted that the center got what it deserved: "The center committed professional mistakes andallowed itself to be dragged into unscholarly allegations whose only purpose was to criticize America...It embraced a number of racist lecturers...and devoted itself to provocations -provoking the Jews...and provoking America."The controversy surrounding the center included claimsit made in its publications that Americans and Jewswere behind September 11. The center charged that America started the war in Iraq to coincide with the Jewish holiday Purim; the SARS virus was an American biological weapon unleashed against the world; America is ruled by Christian extremists; Jews exaggerate the number of deaths in the Holocaust; the "Protocols ofthe Elders of Zion" is true; the Mossad killed JFK; Zionists collaborated with the Nazis during the Holocaust, and many others.
After the facts about the Zayed Center became known, the American government pressured the namesake of the center, UAE leader Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to close it down. On August 27, 2003, Sheik Zayed announced that following international pressure and condemnation of its activities, the center would beclosing for engaging "in a discourse that starkly contradicted the principles of interfaith tolerance."Thousands of leading Arabs opposed the closure, calling for it to continue "being a minaret to defending Arab causes," and campaigned to keep it open.
The Arab press and many Islamists blamed MEMRI. Fahmy Howedy, a prominent Egyptian Islamist journalist, said, "There is no doubting the connection between the decision to close the center and thecampaign waged by the American-Zionist institute[MEMRI]..."Kuwaiti writer Ahmad Al Dayyen also wrote in Al-RaiAl-Aam on August 19, 2003, "The name seems innocuous, but MEMRI is in fact one of the most dangerous Zionist institutions, and has considerable influence overdecision-makers in the U.S. administration and in Congress. This institute is their main source of information about the situation in the Middle East...Among MEMRI's famous 'hits' in the last two years: The dismissal of Dr. Umayma Al-Jalahma, Saudi columnist for the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh, following the publication of an article which contained informationfrom Western heritage about the Jews [i.e. the accusation that Jews use human blood for religious purposes].
Another 'hit' was the attack on Dr. GhaziAl-Qusseibi, former Saudi ambassador to London, who published a poem in support of the Palestinian resistance [in fact, Mr. al-Qusseibi's poem supported suicide bombing] after which he was transferred from London. Recently, MEMRI scored a third 'hit,' against the Zayed Center...It launched a vicious and organized campaign against it, on the pretext that it advocates anti-American and anti-Semitic ideas. Now we are told, regretfully, that the Zayed Center will be closed. The question is, who is next on MEMRI's list of targets?"
On September 22, the Office of Information Affairs for the UAE deputy prime minister criticized the State Department report for including the closure of theZayed Center in its annual report. The Khaleej Times reported on a statement by the deputy premier's information office, rejecting accusations against the center: " 'We would like to state unequivocally that the Zayed Center never hosted any speaker who promoted anti-Semitic views of any kind at the centre, as claimed by the 2004 report. It is unfortunate that the authors of this official U.S. government report ignored this established fact and failed to substantiate their claims with names, dates, and other evidence...' It accused the authors of the report of choosing to mimic questionable and politically motivated charges made by MEMRI...'It is high time forthe U.S. administration to practice what itpreaches... Frankly, if American think tanks were to be held responsible according to the same standards that were applied to the Zayed Center by the American Embassy and by MEMRI, there wouldn't be one suchinstitution standing today on American soil.' "
This statement could mark the beginning of the re-establishment of the Zayed Center, or possibly a replacement think thank of the Arab League in its place. The London daily Al-Hayat reported on September 20, that "Egyptian academicians urged the United Arab Emirates to 'take a second look at their decision to close the Zayed Center.' The academicians, who all belong to a group they call 'The Centre for Arab Research after September 11th,' announced in the office of Hosni Mubarak that it is most necessary to reopen the centre." Within months after the Zayed Center's closure, the Arab press continued to express hopes that it would reopen. For example, the Web site Ikhwan Online published a report on December 10, 2003, about a conference of the Egyptian Journalists Union that criticized the closure of the Zayed Center. The conference was headed by Muhammad Faraj Abu Al-Nur, anauthor and political analyst, who criticized MEMRI for its research, which goes to "American officials and members of Congress," and led the call for the center to reopen its doors.
For a detailed list of anti-American and anti-Semitic activity of the Zayed Center, a three-part report canbe found at www.memri.org.
From today's NYSun:
Campaign Under Way for Return of the Zayed Center?
The MEMRI Report
BY STEVEN STALINSKYSeptember 29, 2004.
http://www.nysun.com/article/2409 (subscription required)
On September 15 the State Department issued its annual International Religious Freedom Report, criticizingseveral of America's Arab allies. A paragraph of thesection devoted to the United Arab Emirates noted apositive development - the closing of the Zayed Center. Indeed, for an organization to be shut downfor incitement in the Arab world was an unprecedentedevent which should be applauded. However, immediately following the closure of the center last year,predictions arose that the center would not stayclosed permanently. The spirited defense of the center following the recent State Department report may be asign that a campaign is under way to reopen it. From its founding in 1999 until its closure in 2003,the Zayed Center for Coordination and Follow-Up hosted events and produced studies on a variety of issues that were often anti-American and anti-Semitic. The center also hosted and worked with Presidents Clinton and Carter, and the president of France, Jacques Chirac.
Following the closure of the center, a group of Arab reformists, including Saudi journalist Sa'd ibn SalihAl-Sirhan, noted that the center got what it deserved: "The center committed professional mistakes andallowed itself to be dragged into unscholarly allegations whose only purpose was to criticize America...It embraced a number of racist lecturers...and devoted itself to provocations -provoking the Jews...and provoking America."The controversy surrounding the center included claimsit made in its publications that Americans and Jewswere behind September 11. The center charged that America started the war in Iraq to coincide with the Jewish holiday Purim; the SARS virus was an American biological weapon unleashed against the world; America is ruled by Christian extremists; Jews exaggerate the number of deaths in the Holocaust; the "Protocols ofthe Elders of Zion" is true; the Mossad killed JFK; Zionists collaborated with the Nazis during the Holocaust, and many others.
After the facts about the Zayed Center became known, the American government pressured the namesake of the center, UAE leader Sheik Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, to close it down. On August 27, 2003, Sheik Zayed announced that following international pressure and condemnation of its activities, the center would beclosing for engaging "in a discourse that starkly contradicted the principles of interfaith tolerance."Thousands of leading Arabs opposed the closure, calling for it to continue "being a minaret to defending Arab causes," and campaigned to keep it open.
The Arab press and many Islamists blamed MEMRI. Fahmy Howedy, a prominent Egyptian Islamist journalist, said, "There is no doubting the connection between the decision to close the center and thecampaign waged by the American-Zionist institute[MEMRI]..."Kuwaiti writer Ahmad Al Dayyen also wrote in Al-RaiAl-Aam on August 19, 2003, "The name seems innocuous, but MEMRI is in fact one of the most dangerous Zionist institutions, and has considerable influence overdecision-makers in the U.S. administration and in Congress. This institute is their main source of information about the situation in the Middle East...Among MEMRI's famous 'hits' in the last two years: The dismissal of Dr. Umayma Al-Jalahma, Saudi columnist for the Saudi daily Al-Riyadh, following the publication of an article which contained informationfrom Western heritage about the Jews [i.e. the accusation that Jews use human blood for religious purposes].
Another 'hit' was the attack on Dr. GhaziAl-Qusseibi, former Saudi ambassador to London, who published a poem in support of the Palestinian resistance [in fact, Mr. al-Qusseibi's poem supported suicide bombing] after which he was transferred from London. Recently, MEMRI scored a third 'hit,' against the Zayed Center...It launched a vicious and organized campaign against it, on the pretext that it advocates anti-American and anti-Semitic ideas. Now we are told, regretfully, that the Zayed Center will be closed. The question is, who is next on MEMRI's list of targets?"
On September 22, the Office of Information Affairs for the UAE deputy prime minister criticized the State Department report for including the closure of theZayed Center in its annual report. The Khaleej Times reported on a statement by the deputy premier's information office, rejecting accusations against the center: " 'We would like to state unequivocally that the Zayed Center never hosted any speaker who promoted anti-Semitic views of any kind at the centre, as claimed by the 2004 report. It is unfortunate that the authors of this official U.S. government report ignored this established fact and failed to substantiate their claims with names, dates, and other evidence...' It accused the authors of the report of choosing to mimic questionable and politically motivated charges made by MEMRI...'It is high time forthe U.S. administration to practice what itpreaches... Frankly, if American think tanks were to be held responsible according to the same standards that were applied to the Zayed Center by the American Embassy and by MEMRI, there wouldn't be one suchinstitution standing today on American soil.' "
This statement could mark the beginning of the re-establishment of the Zayed Center, or possibly a replacement think thank of the Arab League in its place. The London daily Al-Hayat reported on September 20, that "Egyptian academicians urged the United Arab Emirates to 'take a second look at their decision to close the Zayed Center.' The academicians, who all belong to a group they call 'The Centre for Arab Research after September 11th,' announced in the office of Hosni Mubarak that it is most necessary to reopen the centre." Within months after the Zayed Center's closure, the Arab press continued to express hopes that it would reopen. For example, the Web site Ikhwan Online published a report on December 10, 2003, about a conference of the Egyptian Journalists Union that criticized the closure of the Zayed Center. The conference was headed by Muhammad Faraj Abu Al-Nur, anauthor and political analyst, who criticized MEMRI for its research, which goes to "American officials and members of Congress," and led the call for the center to reopen its doors.
For a detailed list of anti-American and anti-Semitic activity of the Zayed Center, a three-part report canbe found at www.memri.org.
posted by JCH | 9:52 AM
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