MEF Action is the advocacy arm for Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank that promotes American interests in the Middle East. MEF Action lobbies Congress, as well as international bodies, state legislatures, and local governments. ¹

MEF Action says it persuaded major hotel chains to cancel events hosted by terror-connected Islamist organizations, and convinced members of Congress to withdraw from events hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). ¹

Benjamin Baird is the director of MEF Action. ¹

Background

MEF Action is the advocacy arm for Middle East Forum, a foreign policy think tank that promotes American interests in the Middle East. MEF Action uses legislative outreach to promote U.S. interests in the Middle East, and says it promotes Western values in the United States. ¹

The organization has a Capitol Hill team that tries to build political support for the Middle East Forum’s policy recommendations. MEF Action says it mobilizes constituencies, coordinates public campaigns, and influences policymaking. ¹

Beyond Congress, MEF Action has worked with local school boards and state legislatures as well as foreign parliaments and intergovernmental organizations. The group further launches petitions and letter-writing campaigns and uses social media marketing. ¹

Ahead of the Middle East Forum’s 30^th anniversary in 2024, the group’s founder Daniel Pipes listed the establishment of MEF Action as one of the 10 biggest accomplishments because it fulfilled the need to translate MEF’s public policy research into government action. ²

Campaigns

MEF Action launches campaigns for corporate board rooms, law enforcement agencies, university professors, politicians, and policymakers. The group says it begins the campaigns with private, behind-the-scenes outreach, and says it escalates to involve more public pressure. It says it works with communities most impacted by a policy. ¹

MEF Action says it persuaded major hotel chains to cancel events hosted by terror-connected Islamist organizations. ¹

The group also says it convinced members of Congress to withdraw from events hosted by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). ¹

MEF Action said it helped blacklist two Hamas-linked nonprofits from receiving money through Fidelity Charitable, a major donor-advised fund. ¹

MEF Action pressured Oberlin College to suspend Iran-linked former diplomat Mohammad Jafar Mahallati. ¹

MEF Action orchestrated a #DivestFromQatar campaign to divest public funds from Qatar. This resulted in about 27,000 emails and social media posts sent to the CEOs of a dozen U.S. investment firms and hedge funds that do business with Qatar, according to MEF Action. The goal was to convince the CEOs to stop receiving investments from the Qatar Investment Authority. ^{1 3}

MEF Action coordinated with Sweden’s parliament to enact European Union sanctions against the sale of surveillance technologies to the government of Iran. ¹

The group led a campaign against the Newark Liberty International Airport Marriott Hotel from holding a Council on American-Islamic Relations gala that featured as speakers both Alaa El Saadawi, who had worked with an anti-Israel charity, and Sami Hamdi, who said he “felt the euphoria” about the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas terrorist attack on Israel. ⁴

MEF Action launched a letter-writing campaign urging Congress to fund Israel and sanction Iran’s oil trade with China. ¹

MEF Action led a public pressure campaign to get California’s state assembly to delete praise for three radical organizations from a resolution recognizing August as American Muslim Appreciation and Awareness Month. ⁵

MEF Action facilitated hundreds of emails so lawmakers could “stand against any legislation that encourages extremism and undermines moderate and minority faith communities.” ⁶

Leadership

Benjamin Baird is the director MEF Action. Baird is a U.S. Army infantry veteran. He has a B.A. from American Military University. He has written for National Review, the New York Post, and the Jerusalem Post. ¹ Baird was previously the director of the counter-Islamist grid at the Middle East Forum. ⁷

1.  “MEF Action.” Middle East Forum. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/mef-action
2. Pipes, Daniel. “The Middle East Forum at 30 Years: Reflections.” Middle East Forum. May 14, 2024. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.danielpipes.org/22257/middle-east-forum-reflections
3. “Accomplishments.” Middle East Forum. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/activities/accomplishments
4. “Tell Marriott Hotel in New Jersey to Cancel CAIR Gala Featuring Speaker Who Celebrated Oct. 7 Massacre.” Middle East Forum. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://middle-east-forum.quorum.us/campaign/NJ-Marriott/
5. “The Middle East  Forum.” Public Now. August 31, 2023. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.publicnow.com/view/38DC608A614D9FC7DF2E1FC7A75E93B9F109830E
6. “Islamist Organizations Stripped from California Resolution – MEF Responsible.” Middle East Forum. August 31, 2023. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://www.meforum.org/islamist-organizations-stripped-from-california
7. “Benjamin Baird.” Mucrack. Accessed November 1, 2024. https://muckrack.com/benjibaird