The U.S. State Department has awarded a $200,000 grant to the Middle East Media Research Institute to conduct a project that documents anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial and Holocaust glorification in the Middle East. The grant was awarded by the Office of International Religious Freedom, part of the State Department's Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor "The grant will enable MEMRI to expand its efforts to monitor the media, translate materials into 10 languages, analyze trends in anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial and glorification, and increase distribution of materials through its website and other outlets," the State Department said in a statement released Thursday. Through translations and research, MEMRI aims to inform and educate journalists, government leaders, academia and the general public about trends in anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial in the Middle East and South Asia, generating awareness and response to these issues. MEMRI is a non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. Its research is translated into 10 languages: English, French, Spanish, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Hebrew. The Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism, which is head of the Office of International Religious Freedom, develops and implements policies and projects to combat anti-Semitism. in the U.S. and internationally. The Special Envoy's Office was created by the Global Anti-Semitism Review Act of 2004, and is a part of the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor.
