A Global Influence Operations Report (GIOR) investigation has revealed that UK academic David Miller, the author of an EU-funded report accusing the European media of structural islamophobia, is listed as an author on the website of Al-Mayadeen, a pro-Hezbollah media operation. According to media reports, Al-Mayadeen was launched in 2012 by Ghassan bin Jiddo, a well-known Tunisian journalist who quit Al-Jazeera to protest what he saw as bias against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. As one report describes:
The Beirut-based station Al-Mayadeen, Arabic for The Squares, says it aims to counter the influence of the popular Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya networks, both funded by oil-rich Sunni Gulf Arab countries that have backed the uprising in Lebanon’s neighbor Syria. It promises to support the Palestinian cause and all forms of “resistance” — a term in Mideast parlance usually used to describe the powerful Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and other groups that fight Israel.
At the time of launch, Saudi international media reported that Al-Mayadeen’s General Manager was to be Nayef Krayem, previously Director of the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Manar TV. AP reported at the same time Al-Mayadeen head Bin Jiddo was the only journalist who was granted an interview by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah during the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah. Israeli media describes Al-Mayadeen as “Hezbollah-sympathetic” and has called it “a television channel affiliated with Hezbollah.” According to the Jewish Chronicle, Al-Mayadeen is known for its anti-Semitic content:
Launched in 2012, the news outlet has frequently employed antisemitic rhetoric in its opinion and analysis content, as well as in its reporting, according to CAMERA Arabic, a media watchdog organisation that monitors Arabic language news. An article published on Al-Mayadeen’s website refers to “Zionist lies about the Nazi Holocaust”, asking: “Why did Zionism spread the story of the ‘Holocaust’? And what did accomplish by this?” Among other articles on its website is one entitled in Arabic “The Holocaust — that great deception”. Others are headlined: “Why do the Jews rejoice at the burning of Notre Dame in Paris?”, “Jews and Freemasons in the Arabs’ revolutions”, and “The Jews of ‘Israel’ — this is why their end is certain”.
Miller himself published an article on October 6 titled “Pressing the “riot” button in Iran: The US and Zionist role.” According to the article, the CIA and the US government are “one key actor” in the recent unrest in Iran sparked by the death of a young woman while in police custody. Miller adds:
Unsurprisingly both the National Endowment for Democracy — known as the “CIA-sidekick” — and the Open Society Foundations of George Soros advertise that they are active in relation to Iran.
George Soros, a wealthy Jewish philanthropist, is often the subject of various anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, and Miller writes later in the article that “the most important actor involved, apart from the US, is the Zionist regime.” As has happened before, Iranian state media picked up Miller’s claims on the unrest, reporting:
David Miller told IRNA on Monday that some foreign elements who pursue their own geopolitical agendas fanned the flame of the recent protests in Iran to pursue a regime change policy.
Other articles authored by Miller for Al-Mayadeen have included titles such as “Which Zionists are racist?” and “The Mapping Project: How to make Zionists pay for their crimes.”
GIOR reported earlier this week on the 56-page EU-funded report authored by Miller titled “Islamophobia and European media. As described in our report, David Miller is a former professor of political sociology at the University of Bristol who, in 2021, was dismissed after making comments such as saying Israel wanted to “impose [its] will all over the world.” Miller, known for his harsh criticism of Zionism and the “Israel lobby,” claimed that he was “entirely cleared of complaints of anti-Semitism” but was not allowed to mention it because of the report’s confidentiality. However, the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group Against Anti-Semitism accused Miller of “inciting hatred against Jewish students.” Miller produces Palestine Declassified, a show carried for Press TV, an Iranian state-funded broadcaster and influence operation aimed at Western audiences. Jewish media reported last month that Jewish schools were given urgent security advice following claims by Miller on the show that Jewish schools in the UK were “indoctrinating: students to promote Zionism.” Twitter has officially labeled Miller’s Twitter feed “Iran state-affiliated media.”
GIOR also reported that Miller’s organization Spinwatch has a history of anti-Israeli activism. In 2014, the Global Muslim Brotherhood Daily Watch, our predecessor publication, said Spinwatch had received funding from the Cordoba Foundation, an organization headed by British GMB leader Anas Altkriti. According to its website, Spinwatch also received financing from additional GMB and Hamas support organizations, including:
- Muslim Engagement and Development, a UK Islamic NGO close to the GMB in Britain
- Interpal, a London-based Islamic charity that the US and Israel have designated as a terrorist entity in relation to fundraising for Hamas
- Friends of Al-Aqsa, a Leicester-based ‘human rights’ NGO tied to the GMB and Hamas.
- Middle East Monitor, a UK-based Islamist news portal close to the GMB and Hamas
Many of these groups and their leaders are listed as signatories to a petition subtitled “Muslims sign open letter in support of Professor David Miller’s teaching about Islamophobia and Zionist ideology.”
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