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{{Short description|News outlet covering the Middle East}}

{{Infobox newspaper
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| logo = File:Middle East Eye logo.jpg
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| image = File:MEE Logo (cropped).jpg
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| type = [[Online newspaper|Online]]
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| owner = Jamal Awn Jamal Bessasso, M.E.E Ltd.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/08803692 |title=M.E.E LIMITED |last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher=[[Companies House]] |access-date=26 April 2021 |quote=}}</ref>
| founder = David Hearst "co-founder"{{With whom|date=November 2021}}
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| chiefeditor = David Hearst<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/david-hearst |title=David Hearst |last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher=Middle East Eye |access-date=26 April 2021 |quote=}}</ref>
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| foundation = {{start date and age|April 2014}}
| political =
| language = [[English language|English]], [[French language|French]]
| headquarters = 1 Sussex Place, [[London]], [[England]], [[United Kingdom]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/about-middle-east-eye |title=About – Coverage |last= |first= |date= |website= |publisher=Middle Easy Eye |access-date=26 April 2021 |quote=}}</ref>
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| eISSN = 2634-2456
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| website = {{url|https://www.middleeasteye.net/|middleeasteye.net}}
| free =
}}
'''Middle East Eye''' ('''MEE''') is a [[London]]-based online news outlet covering events in the [[Middle East]] and [[North Africa]]. MEE describes itself as an "independently funded online news organization that was founded in April 2014." MEE seeks to be the primary portal of Middle East news, and describes its target audience as "all those communities of readers living in and around the region that care deeply for its fate".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/about-middle-east-eye|title=About Middle East Eye|website=Middle East Eye}}</ref>

The governments of [[Saudi Arabia]], [[UAE]], [[Egypt]] and [[Bahrain]] accuse MEE of pro-Muslim Brotherhood bias and receiving [[Qatar]]i funding. As a consequence, they demanded MEE to be shut down following the Saudi-led blockade of [[Qatar]]. MEE’s response to the accusation is that it is independent of any government or movement and is not funded by Qatar.<ref>{{cite web |title='An attack on free thought': Middle East Eye responds to Saudi demands |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/attack-free-thought-middle-east-eye-responds-saudi-demands |publisher=Middle East Eye |date=June 23, 2017}}</ref> Middle East Eye has been described as being backed by Qatar.<ref>{{cite book | last=Berman | first=I. | title=Digital Dictators: Media, Authoritarianism, and America's New Challenge | publisher=Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | series=American Foreign Policy Council | year=2018 | isbn=978-1-5381-1991-4 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IVJtDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA90 | access-date=2021-12-23|page=90}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Dorsey | first=James M. | title=The Gulf Crisis: Small States Battle it Out | journal=SSRN Electronic Journal | publisher=Elsevier BV | year=2017 | issn=1556-5068 | doi=10.2139/ssrn.3003598}}</ref>

==Organisation==
MEE is edited by David Hearst, a former foreign leader writer for the British daily, ''[[The Guardian]]''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/profile/davidhearst|title=David Hearst | The Guardian|website=the Guardian}}</ref> MEE is owned by Middle East Eye Ltd, a UK company incorporated in 2013 under the sole name of Jamal Awn Jamal Bessasso. It employs about 20 full-time staff in its [[London]] office.

==Coverage==
Middle East Eye covers a range of topics across the [[Middle East]]. According to its website, it reports on events in 22 different countries. Content is separated into different categories on its website including news, opinion and essays.<ref>{{cite web |title=News page |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>

Since the foundation of the media outlet, it has provided exclusives on a number of major events in the [[Middle East]], which have often been picked up by other media outlets globally. In early June 2017, an anonymous hacker group began distributing emails to multiple news outlets that they had hacked from the inbox of [[Yousef Otaiba]], the UAE's ambassador in [[Washington D.C.]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/otaiba-ambassador-uae-leaked-emails_n_5932bf04e4b02478cb9bec1c|title=Someone Is Using These Leaked Emails To Embarrass Washington's Most Powerful Ambassador|date=June 3, 2017|website=HuffPost}}</ref> This included providing details from leaked emails of [[Mohammed bin Salman]] and US officials.<ref>{{cite web |title=Saudi crown prince wants out of Yemen war, email leak reveals |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-saudi-crown-prince-wants-out-yemen-war-email-leak-reveals |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref> This revelation on 14 August 2017, led to other media outlets to print other material from the leaked emails.<ref>{{cite news |title=UAE ambassador says 'whole of Saudi Arabia is cuckoo' in leaked email |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/united-arab-emirates-globalleaks-hackers-yousef-otaiba-saudi-arabia-mohammed-bin-salman-pentagon-a7902281.html |newspaper=[[The Independent]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Yousef al-Otaiba berates Saudi in leaked emails |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/08/yousef-al-otaiba-berates-saudi-leaked-emails-170819140533961.html |publisher=[[Al Jazeera]] |date=August 19, 2017}}</ref> According to [[The New York Times]], the hacked emails appeared to benefit [[Qatar]] and be the work of hackers working for Qatar, a common subject of the distributed emails.<ref name="NYT: Leaked Emails Benefit Qatar">{{cite news |last1=Kirkpatrick |first1=David D. |title=Journalist Joins His Jailer's Side in a Bizarre Persian Gulf Feud (Published 2017) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/01/world/middleeast/qatar-egypt-united-arab-emirates-mohamed-fahmy.html |access-date=28 October 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=1 July 2017}}</ref>

On July 29, 2016, MEE published a story alleging that the government of the [[United Arab Emirates]], aided by Palestinian exile [[Mohammed Dahlan]], had funnelled significant sums of money to conspirators of the [[2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt]] two weeks earlier.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/exclusive-uae-funnelled-money-turkish-coup-plotters|title=EXCLUSIVE: UAE 'funnelled money to Turkish coup plotters'|website=Middle East Eye}}</ref> In 2017, Dahlan brought a lawsuit of libel against the MEE in a London court seeking damages of up to £250,000. However, Dahlan abandoned the suit shortly before the case was to begin. In a statement, Dahlan maintained that the story was “fully fabricated” but claimed that he has “achieved his goals in the English courts," and was now planning to sue [[Facebook]] in [[Dublin]] where the article was “widely published”. However, according to MEE and their lawyers, by dropping the claim, Dahlan will be forced to pay all the legal costs, of both parties, estimated to be in excess of £500,000.<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Tobitt |first1=Charlotte |title=Middle East Eye journalism 'vindicated' after Palestinian politician drops libel case |url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/middle-east-eye-journalism-vindicated-after-palestinian-politician-mohammed-dahlan-drops-libel-case/ |magazine=Press Gazette |date=September 12, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/09/dahlan-drops-libel-case-mee-article-turkey-coup-190912070055559.html |title=Dahlan drops libel case against MEE over article on Turkey coup |newspaper=[[Al Jazeera English]] |date=September 12, 2019}}</ref>

In November 2019, the Turkish government officially accused Dahlan of involvement in the [[2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt]] and is offering $700,000 for information leading to his capture.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/turkey-to-offer-700000-bounty-for-exiled-palestinian-strongman-dahlan/ |title=Turkey to offer $700,000 bounty for exiled Palestinian strongman Dahlan |newspaper=[[The Times of Israel]] |date=November 22, 2019}}</ref>

==Criticism of coverage==
Saudi Arabia accused MEE of being a news outlet funded by Qatar (both directly and indirectly).<ref name="Wintour">{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jun/23/close-al-jazeera-saudi-arabia-issues-qatar-with-13-demands-to-end-blockade |title=Qatar given 10 days to meet 13 sweeping demands by Saudi Arabia |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=14 November 2017 |access-date=20 December 2018 |first=Patrick |last=Wintour |author-link=Patrick Wintour |publisher=[[Guardian News and Media Limited]]}}</ref> The Emirati newspaper ''[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]],'' claimed Middle East Eye coverage to have an anti-Emirati bias and noted several members employed by MEE to be originally part of Al Jazeera.<ref name=N1/><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.thenational.ae/uae/al-jazeera-executive-helped-to-launch-controversial-uk-website |title=Al Jazeera executive helped to launch controversial UK website |last=Langton |first=James |date=June 26, 2014 |newspaper=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]] |access-date=20 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141220002107/http://www.thenational.ae:80/uae/al-jazeera-executive-helped-to-launch-controversial-uk-website |archive-date=20 December 2014}}</ref> ''The National'' also accused MEE of being associated with multiple members of the Muslim Brotherhood.<ref name=N1>{{cite news |url=http://www.thenational.ae/uae/government/muslim-brotherhood-its-uk-connections-and-media-attacks-on-the-uae#full |title=Muslim Brotherhood, its UK connections and media attacks on the UAE |date=June 19, 2014 |newspaper=[[The National (Abu Dhabi)|The National]] |access-date=20 December 2018}}</ref>

On 22 June 2017, during the [[Qatar diplomatic crisis]], Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, and Bahrain, as part of a list of 13 demands, demanded that Qatar close Middle East Eye, which they saw as sympathetic to the Muslim Brotherhood and a Qatari-funded and aligned outlet. Middle East Eye denied it has ever received Qatari funds.<ref name="Carlstorm">{{cite news |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/06/al-jazeera-qatar-saudi-arabia-muslim-brotherhood/531471/ |title=What's the Problem With Al Jazeera? |newspaper=[[The Atlantic]] |date=24 June 2017 |access-date=20 December 2018 |first=Gregg |last=Carlstorm}}</ref><ref name="Mandhai">{{cite news |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/07/al-jazeera-business-normal-gulf-crisis-170718015140408.html |title=Al Jazeera: 'Business as normal' despite Gulf Crisis |newspaper=[[Al-Jazeera]] |date=18 July 2017 |access-date=20 December 2018 |first=Shafik |last=Mandhai |publisher=[[Al Jazeera Media Network]]}}</ref>

==Notable contributors==
* [[Alistair Burt]] – British MP<ref>{{cite web |title=Britain is right to welcome Saudi crown prince and support his reforms |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/britain-right-welcome-saudi-crown-prince-and-support-his-reforms |publisher=Middle East Eye |date=March 6, 2018}}</ref>
* [[Ian Cobain]] – Senior Reporter for MEE<ref>{{cite web |title=Ian Cobain bio |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/ian-cobain |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>
* [[Jonathan Cook]] – Journalist, [[Nazareth]]<ref>[https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/jonathan-cook Jonathan Cook, bio], Middle East Eye</ref>
* [[Ahmet Davutoglu]] – Former Prime Minister of [[Turkey]]<ref>{{cite web |title=From Obama to Trump: The lessons, the challenges |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/big-story/obama-trump-lessons-challenges |publisher=Middle East Eye |date=February 2, 2017}}</ref>
* [[Richard A. Falk]] – Professor Emeritus of International Law at [[Princeton University]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Richard Falk bio |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/richard-falk |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>
* [[Daniel Kawczynski]] – British MP<ref>{{cite web |title=Turkey: Why the West should show more support |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/turkey-why-west-should-show-more-support |publisher=Middle East Eye |date=January 26, 2017}}</ref>
* [[Faisal Kutty]] – Canadian lawyer, law professor at [[Barry University]] and [[Osgoode Hall Law School]] and human rights activist<ref>{{cite web |title=Faisal Kutty bio |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/faisal-kutty|publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>
* [[Ali Lmrabet]] – Moroccan journalist, [[El Mundo (Spain)|El Mundo]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Ali Lmrabet bio |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/ali-lmrabet |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>
* [[Gideon Levy]] – [[Haaretz|''Haaretz'' columnist]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Gideon Levy bio |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/gideon-levy |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>
* [[Moncef Marzouki]] – former president of [[Tunisia]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Political Islam will go the same way as nationalism and communism |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/political-islam-will-go-same-way-nationalism-and-communism |publisher=Middle East Eye |date=June 15, 2016}}</ref>
*[[Joseph Massad]] – professor, [[Columbia University]]<ref>[https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/joseph-massad Joseph Massad bio], Middle East Eye</ref>
* [[Peter Oborne]] – ''Daily Mail'' columnist<ref>{{cite web |title=Peter Oborne bio |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/peter-oborne |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>
* [[Madawi al-Rasheed]] – visiting professor at the Middle East Institute of the [[London School of Economics]]<ref>[https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/madawi-al-rasheed Madawi al-Rasheed bio], Middle East Eye</ref>
* [[Sarah Leah Whitson]] – [[Human Rights Watch]]<ref>{{cite web |title=Sarah Leah Whitson bio |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/sarah-leah-whitson |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>

=== Jamal Khashoggi ===
[[Jamal Khashoggi]] wrote for MEE prior to joining ''[[The Washington Post]]''.<ref name=wapo>{{cite web |title=Jamal Khashoggi articles |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/users/jamal-khashoggi |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Mayhew |first1=Freddy |title=UK-based Middle East news outlet also targeted for closure in Saudi-led demands against Qatar |url=https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/british-based-middle-east-news-outlet-also-targeted-for-closure-in-saudi-led-demands-against-qatar/ |magazine=Press Gazette |date=June 29, 2017}}</ref>

According to a post on the MEE website, Khashoggi wrote for them over a period of two years. According to MEE, his op-eds were not credited to him at the time due to concerns for his safety because many of his articles for MEE are critical of Saudi Arabia and its policies, and Saudi Arabia's rift with Qatar.<ref name=wapo /> Khashoggi, a ''Washington Post'' columnist, was assassinated when he entered the Saudi consulate in [[Turkey]] on 2 October 2018. After initial denials, [[Saudi Arabia]] stated that he was killed by rogue assassins inside the consulate building with "premeditated intention".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Smith |first1=Saphora |title=Saudi Arabia now admits Khashoggi killing was premeditated |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/saudi-arabia-now-admits-khashoggi-killing-was-premeditated-n924286 |publisher=[[NBC News]] |date=October 24, 2018}}</ref>

==Middle East tensions==
===Blocking===

In 2016, the [[United Arab Emirates]] blocked the Middle East Eye in what was a countrywide ban. MEE says it contacted the UAE embassy in [[London]] for an explanation, but never received a response.<ref>{{cite web |title=UAE government blocks access to Middle East Eye |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/news/uae-government-blocks-access-middle-east-eye-1161235723 |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref> Saudi Arabia also blocked the website across the country in May 2017. Following protests against the President [[Abdel Fattah el-Sisi]] in September and October 2019, Egypt also blocked the website.<ref>{{cite web |title=BBC Arabic website blocked in Egypt |url=https://monitoring.bbc.co.uk/#section10 |publisher=BBC Monitoring}}</ref>

===2017–2018 Qatar diplomatic crisis===
In June 2017, [[Saudi Arabia]], [[UAE]], [[Egypt]] and [[Bahrain]] ended their diplomatic relationships with Qatar, followed by a list of 13 demands to restore diplomatic relations.<ref name="Wintour"/><ref name="Carlstorm"/><ref name="Mandhai"/> MEE was mentioned in one of the demands to be shut down by Qatar even though the news organisation denies receiving funds from them stating that 'the demand as an attempt to "extinguish any free voice which dares to question what they are doing."'<ref>{{cite magazine |title=What's the Problem With Al Jazeera? |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/06/al-jazeera-qatar-saudi-arabia-muslim-brotherhood/531471/ |magazine=[[The Atlantic]]}}</ref> In a statement responding to the demand, the publication's editor-in-chief said "MEE covers the area without fear or favour, and we have carried reports critical of the Qatari authorities, for instance how workers from the subcontinent are treated on building projects for the [[2022 World Cup]]."<ref>{{cite web |title=Unacceptable call for Al Jazeera's closure in Gulf crisis |date=28 June 2017 |url=https://rsf.org/en/news/unacceptable-call-al-jazeeras-closure-gulf-crisis |publisher=Freedom without Borders}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title='An attack on free thought': Middle East Eye responds to Saudi demands |url=https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/attack-free-thought-middle-east-eye-responds-saudi-demands |publisher=Middle East Eye}}</ref>

=== Cyberattack ===
In April 2020, MEE was one of 20 websites targeted by hackers that cybersecurity experts, [[ESET]], have linked to an Israeli surveillance company called [[Candiru (spyware company)|Candiru]]. The website was impacted using a [[Watering hole attack]] which serves malicious code to certain visitors allowing the attackers to compromise their PCs.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Brewster|first=Thomas|title=Blacklisted Israeli Surveillance Company Linked To Middle Eastern Hacks, Denies Knowing Whom Customers Spy On|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/thomasbrewster/2021/11/16/candiru-spy-tool-provider-linked-to-website-hacks/|access-date=2021-12-22|website=Forbes|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://www.middleeasteye.net/ Official website]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:2014 establishments in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Publications established in 2014]]
[[Category:Mass media in London]]
[[Category:Mass media in the Middle East]]
[[Category:Muslim Brotherhood]]

Middle East Eye - Revision history

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