Institute for Middle East Understanding
| Formation | Tax-exempt since November 2005 |
|---|---|
| Type | 501(c)(3) |
| 202389388 | |
| Headquarters | Tustin |
| Revenue | 3,074,585 USD (2023) |
| Expenses | 2,475,493 USD (2023) |
| Website | imeu |
| [1] | |
The Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) is a 501(c)(3) pro-Palestinian[2] non-profit advocacy organization. It "works to increase and enhance the public’s understanding about Palestine, Palestinians, and Palestinian Americans through media."[3] Our Beliefs states IMEU: "believes in a world where all people live with freedom and safety, a world where all people are treated equally, regardless of gender, faith or national origin — whether they reside in the United States, Palestine, Israel or anywhere else in the world. Yet for too long, Palestinians have been denied their freedom."[3]
Founded in 2005, it received a grant from the Washington-based Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development in 2006 for Education and Community Development, which was used to undertake the first compilation of profiles of Palestinian-Americans in the fields of the arts, literature, academia, business and community service, which were then disseminated to news media and on the Internet.[4] As an example, the IMEU sent a letter to news outlets in November 2007 that provided the names and profiles of Palestinian-Americans who could be contacted to discuss the upcoming Annapolis Conference. The names included Samar Assad, Executive Director of The Jerusalem Fund,[5] Diana Buttu, a Ramallah-based attorney and former advisor to Palestinian negotiators, Omar Dajani, a San Francisco-based law professor and former legal advisor to United Nations Special Envoy Terje Rød-Larsen, and Nadia Hijab, a Senior Fellow at the Washington-based Institute for Palestine Studies.[6]
One of the organization's co-founders is Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, who is also a member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) Seattle chapter. As Secretary and Treasurer of the IMEU, she and the organization were featured in the Non-Profit Spotlight of the e-magazine The Mideast Connect.[7] Its Board of Directors consists of chairman Khaldoun Baghdadi, treasurer Zahira Dahdul, secretary Nadia Tommalieh, Jeanmarie Condon and Isam Salah.[3]
Since 2006, the IMEU has also published Letters from Palestine,[8] a collection of first-hand testimonies from Palestinians about their daily lives.[9]
References
- ^ "Institute for Middle East Understanding". Internal Revenue Service filings. ProPublica Nonprofit Explorer.
- ^ Richter, Paul (28 April 2014). "Kerry draws fire for reported comment about 'apartheid' and Israel". Los Angeles Times.
- ^ a b c "About". Institute for Middle East Understanding. 2005–2025. Archived from the original on September 20, 2025. Retrieved 19 October 2025.
- ^ "Past Humanitarian Grant Recipients: 2006 Grantees". The Jerusalem Fund. Archived from the original on December 3, 2008. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ "Samar Assad". C-SPAN. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ "Unmasking Israel's Intentions at Annapolis". Booman Tribune. 13 November 2007. Archived from the original on November 15, 2007. Retrieved 2008-03-10.
- ^ Zakarian, Ani; Shahid, Kaiser (2006-07-10). "The Non-Profit Spotlight". The Cultural Connect. Retrieved 2008-03-16.
- ^ "Letters from Palestine". Encompass. 2021-10-08. Archived from the original on 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
- ^ Pike, Deborah (2006). "Sharon's Wall and the Dialectics of Inside/Outside". Borderlands. 5 (3).
