Our Mission

The Foundation for Middle East Peace was created in 1979 by Merle Thorpe, Jr., a Washington-based lawyer and philanthropist. The Foundation works to ensure a just, secure, and peaceful future for Palestinians and Israelis. 

Running through FMEP’s grants, programming, and research is a set of key priorities, including:

  1. Promoting respect for international law, democratic norms, human rights and dignity in the Israel/Palestine context – including combating policies and actions that violate these laws and norms.
  2. Upholding and sustaining the anti-occupation/pro-peace sector as a whole, including combatting the weaponization of the Israel-Palestinian issue & false accusations of antisemitism.
  3. Cultivating, elevating, and amplifying new thought leaders who challenge status quo assumptions, expand the debate beyond the existing stale arguments and limited viewpoints, and articulate alternatives to failed policies and approaches.
  4. Enabling Palestinians to remain in Palestine. 
  5. Enriching the public and political discourses by creating, expanding, and defending space for both criticism of Israeli policies and actions, and for Palestinian voices, including on campus, in the media, and in the public discourse and debate writ large.

FMEP produces a weekly summary of news and analysis from Israel and Palestine, a weekly report of Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank, and a legislative roundup of Middle East-related activity in the U.S. Congress (produced every week Congress is in session). You can subscribe to receive FMEP resources here.