Joe Stork
Encyclopedia
Joe Stork is an American political activist and Deputy Director for Middle East and North Africa at Human Rights Watch
. He holds an M.A. in International Affairs/Middle East Studies from Columbia University
.
, Foreign Policy in Focus
and the Iraq Revenue Watch project of the Open Society Institute
."
Stork's involvement with MERIP and anti-Israel activism before joining HRW have made him the object of criticism. Maariv
reported that Stork was a "radical leftist" who had attended an anti-Zionist conference hosted by Saddam Hussein
in 1976, and that MERIP had praised the murders of Israeli athletes in the Munich massacre
. Kenneth Roth
, executive director of HRW, has defended Stork by saying that these events took place thirty years ago, Stork was only one of several editors of MERIP at the time, and he later became a staunch critic of Hussein.
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
. He holds an M.A. in International Affairs/Middle East Studies from Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
.
Career
Before joining Human Rights Watch in 1996, Stork co-founded the Middle East Research & Information Project (MERIP) and was editor of its flagship publication, the Middle East Report. Stork served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Turkey. "He presently serves as chair of the Middle East Studies Association's Committee on Academic Freedom and sits on the advisory committees of the American Friends Service CommitteeAmerican Friends Service Committee
The American Friends Service Committee is a Religious Society of Friends affiliated organization which works for peace and social justice in the United States and around the world...
, Foreign Policy in Focus
Foreign Policy In Focus
Foreign Policy In Focus is a project of the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, DC. FPIF describes itself as a "Think Tank Without Walls" that brings together over 600 writers, scholars, academics, artists and activists seeking to make the United States a more responsible global...
and the Iraq Revenue Watch project of the Open Society Institute
Open Society Institute
The Open Society Institute , renamed in 2011 to Open Society Foundations, is a private operating and grantmaking foundation started by George Soros, aimed to shape public policy to promote democratic governance, human rights, and economic, legal, and social reform...
."
Stork's involvement with MERIP and anti-Israel activism before joining HRW have made him the object of criticism. Maariv
Maariv
Maariv is a Hebrew language daily newspaper published in Israel. It is second in sales after Yedioth Ahronoth and third in readership after Yedioth Ahronoth and Israel HaYom. In a TGI survey comparing the last half of 2009 with the same period in 2008, Maariv saw its market share fall slightly...
reported that Stork was a "radical leftist" who had attended an anti-Zionist conference hosted by Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein
Saddam Hussein Abd al-Majid al-Tikriti was the fifth President of Iraq, serving in this capacity from 16 July 1979 until 9 April 2003...
in 1976, and that MERIP had praised the murders of Israeli athletes in the Munich massacre
Munich massacre
The Munich massacre is an informal name for events that occurred during the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Bavaria in southern West Germany, when members of the Israeli Olympic team were taken hostage and eventually killed by the Palestinian group Black September. Members of Black September...
. Kenneth Roth
Kenneth Roth
Kenneth Roth is an American attorney and has been the executive director of Human Rights Watch since 1993.-Background:Kenneth Roth, a graduate of Yale Law School and Brown University, was drawn to human rights causes through his Jewish father's experience of fleeing Nazi Germany in 1938...
, executive director of HRW, has defended Stork by saying that these events took place thirty years ago, Stork was only one of several editors of MERIP at the time, and he later became a staunch critic of Hussein.
Books and other publications
- Political Islam: A Reader with Joel BeininJoel BeininJoel Beinin is Donald J. McLachlan Professor of History and Professor of Middle East History at Stanford University. From 2006 to 2008 he served as Director of Middle East Studies and Professor of History at the American University in Cairo.-Education:...
- Political Islam: Essays from "Middle East Report" with Joel Beinin
- Middle East Oil and the Energy Crisis