Action for Hope started in summer 2013 as a pilot program under the umbrella of Culture Resource (Al Mawred Al Thaqafy), the leading pan Arab cultural organization and provider of services and support to the independent cultural field in the region. The genesis of the project was a trip made by a delegation of 17 Arab artists and cultural activists to the Syrian refugee camps in Kilis, Turkey and to nearby camps near the Syrian border in November 2012.

FANON's action takes place in the post-war context marked by the ideological struggle between the Western bloc led by the United States and the socialist bloc led by the Soviet Union. The division is clear between the capitalist world and the socialist bloc, a third world emerges during the 1950s and 1960s: it is the Third World which also claims its place in international relations and its share in the sharing of the planet's wealth.

MERIP provides critical, alternative reporting and analysis, focusing on state power, political economy and social hierarchies as well as popular struggles and the role of US policy in the region. MERIP seeks to reach academics, journalists, non-governmental and governmental organizations and informed citizens who want knowledgeable analysis and critical resources about contemporary political developments. Informed by scholarship and research, MERIP is a curated platform for critical analysis and discussion that brings informed perspectives to a broader audience.