Identifying as a Jew
8 min read
Arab nations have poured billions of dollars into American universities with little scrutiny.
When Charles “Chuck” Feeney died recently, Cornell University’s daily newspaper mourned the 92-year-old alumnus as Cornell’s “most generous donor.” The philanthropist - who made his fortune operating duty free stores in airports - gave a total of $1 billion to Cornell during his lifetime. But Chuck Feeney is hardly Cornell’s largest donor. Public records show that Cornell has received $1.5 billion from Qatar since 2015.
Qatar has donated close to $5 billion to universities within the United States.
Cornell is hardly the only university to receive massive funds from Qatar. Within the past four years, Carnegie Mellon University accepted $301 million in Qatari donations. Virginia Commonwealth University accepted $125 million. Texas A&M University accepted over $404 million since 2015; Georgetown University has accepted $210 million in the same time period. Since 2000, Qatar has donated close to $5 billion to universities within the United States.
Qatar is not the only Arab state to spread significant largess on universities in the USA and abroad. A 2023 report from the nonprofit group American Israeli Cooperative Enterprise found that since 1986, tens of billions of dollars have flowed from Arab nations to American Universities. Saudi Arabia has donated close to $3 billion to American schools; the United Arab Emirates (UAE) donated well over a billion; Kuwait donated nearly a billion. Other nations such as Egypt and Oman have donated in excess of $100 million to American universities. Even the “State of Palestine” has donated over $10 million to American schools, with Harvard University being the biggest beneficiary.
Giving is not restricted to American universities. In Britain, Arab states have transformed the face of education: a consortium of 12 Muslim nations jointly fund Oxford’s Islamic Studies Center to the tune of 75 million pounds; Cambridge University’s Chair of Arabic (among other programs at the university) is funded by the Sultan of Oman at a cost of 5 million pounds; Exeter University’s Islamic Studies Center is funded by the Sheikh of Sharjah, one of the rulers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who’s donated millions of pounds over the past 25 years.
Researchers note that it’s difficult to determine how much influence foreign governments have on donations that originate in their territories. Much of the funding flowing to American and other overseas universities from Qatar, for instance, comes not from the Qatari government directly, but from the Qatar Foundation, a group that is meant to promote education and Arab culture inside Qatar and to “promote and engage in dialogue internationally to address and influence global topics.” Yet the Foundation is run by Moza Bint Nasser, the mother of Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, Qatar’s Emir. Moza Bint Nasser has been asked by Israeli figures to intercede with Hamas officials living in Qatar for the release of Israeli hostages, indicating at the very least a confluence between her personal projects and the Qatari state. (It seems that attempts to appeal to Moza Bint Nasser for help in freeing Israeli hostages have fallen on deaf years; she has been extremely outspoken on social media about her hostility to Israel in recent weeks.)
Funding from Saudi Arabia often enters foreign universities from companies and groups within the Saudi Kingdom that have links to the ruling family. For instance, when Babson College in Boston created its Prince Mohammad Bin Salman College of Business and Entrepreneurship in 2016, it partnered not with the Saudi government directly, but a well-connected real estate firm inside Saudi Arabia called Emaar. When Harvard partnered with Saudi Arabia on the Project on Saudi and Gulf Cooperation Council Security at the Kennedy School of Government in 2017, it worked with Prince Turki bin Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Al Saud in a personal capacity.
Another way that Arab nations transfer wealth to American and other schools is by subsidizing branch campuses in their countries. Qatar, for instance, hosts branches of Virginia Commonwealth University, Weill Cornell Medical College, Texas A&M University, Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown University, and Northwestern University. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41592-018-0060-9 New York University runs a campus in Abu Dhabi. Thousands of American students study abroad in the Middle East for a semester or a year; in some cases, it’s possible for students to attend Western schools’ satellite campuses and gain degrees without ever leaving these Middle Eastern nations. This adds to universities’ prestige, and also their bottom line, as they find themselves able to expand their student body and reach new groups of students abroad.
Funding at these eye-watering levels usually comes at a hefty price, with donors receiving recognition and honor from the schools they give to. For instance, when the US hedge fund entrepreneur Kenneth C. Griffin donated $300 million to Harvard University in 2023, Harvard renamed its entire sprawling graduate school after him.
What is Qatar getting from American schools in exchange for its nearly $5 billion investments over the past quarter century?
Much of the research and scholarship funded by Arab donors is very valuable, enriching American schools and enabling students from Middle Eastern countries to study abroad and gain a Western education. Yet with so much money at stake, it’s worth asking if there is an ulterior motive at play. Are some Arab nations or actors paying for good press? What impact does receiving substantial donations from Arab countries have on Jewish students, if any?
Troublingly, there seems to be some indication that at least a few financial gifts have resulted in a less welcoming attitude towards Jews on some western campuses.
Massive influx of foreign donations to American institutions of higher learning, much of it concealed and from authoritarian regimes, with notable support from Middle Eastern sources, reflects or supports heightened levels of intolerance towards Jews, open inquiry, and free expression.
That’s the contention of Kenneth Marcus, the founder and Chairman of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which helps Jewish students who experience antisemitism on American college campuses. He points to the many satellite campuses in Arab nations which allow anti-Jewish tropes common in the Middle East to find a way onto American campuses and into students’ discourse. “US students are increasingly studying on Qatari and Gulf State campuses,” he notes, “which don’t have even remotely the academic freedom standards that we have in the United States. Where there is reportedly a very high level of indoctrination, so that American students come back from foreign campuses having been propagandized and indoctrinated for a semester or a year, this then becomes a significant aspect of the climate at their home institutions.”
One recent study found that the “massive influx of foreign donations to American institutions of higher learning, much of it concealed and from authoritarian regimes, with notable support from Middle Eastern sources, reflects or supports heightened levels of intolerance towards Jews, open inquiry, and free expression.” The authors posit that one possible reason for this is that accepting gifts from authoritarian, illiberal regimes creates campus environments where staff and students squelch their horror at gift-givers' human rights abuses and become more willing to tolerate speech that is hostile to liberal, democratic norms.
In some specific cases it’s possible to see a clear link between the goals of foreign funding agents and the values on American campuses. Take the case of two gifts made by the Munib and Angela Masri Foundation, a private foundation based in Nablus, in the West Bank, with ties to the Palestinian Authority. (Munib Masri made a fortune developing oil and gas projects.) In 2020, he and his wife made two gifts of $643,000 each to Brown University to fund a professorship in Palestine Studies. Brown appointed Prof. Beshara B. Doumani as its Mahmoud Darwish Professor of Palestinian Studies. An outspoken supporter of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction (BDS) movement which seeks to isolate Israel, has been accused of fostering extremism at Brown.
In the United States, the Department of Education is beginning to investigate foreign funding and strengthen reporting rules, forcing universities to disclose where their gifts come from and how they are spent.
In 2020, a report by the US Department of Education concluded that “there is very real concern that foreign money buys influence or control over teaching and research,” and highlighted Qatar and Saudi Arabia as two major donor counties of concern.
With antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents at a record high on US and other campuses, it’s high time we held university leadership to account, demanding to know exactly who their major donors are, and how they are spending monetary gifts.
Most telling , reveals that Americans are easily bribed , throughout our Nation . And obeying our religious scriptures , is determined by whose money is available.Let’s not forget our Supreme Court rejected immigration from certain countries.Specifically not allowing Jews and Gypsies to escape mass death . And even sending boatloads back to the Nazi Europe. Russia is keen to cash in on Americans love of money.
All large donations should be regulated. They should have to disclose where they come from. Professors shouldn’t be allowed to teach or probate against anyone!
Nothing new here. A century ago it was American robber barons who were the big donors. The US decided even longer ago to inadequately fund it's educational institutions and as a result they are all susceptible to influence from anyone with money. I can show you an academic cancer center named for someone who owned a cigarette company! We aren't willing to pay the needed taxes to eliminate the temptations.
Here's an excellent and unbiased source: sites.ed.gov/foreigngifts/ Type in any country, school name, or state (USA) you wish and you can see at a glance how just how much has been given, exactly when and and exactly where. Indiana University of Pennsylvania received $6,600,000 from the Palestinian Territories. Why are they giving this money abroad rather than taking care of their own impoverished people?
The site also lists 33 pages of gifts from Qatar, 58 pages from Oman, 100 pages from Kuwait, and 421 (!) pages from Saudi Arabia.
Another fine, balanced consideration of the issues from Dr. Alt Miller. Thank you.
A very sad and deeply disturbing article. At least I now know why there is so much anti-Jewish and anti-Israel rhetoric from these institutions. Do not bite the hand that feeds you, id est, do not offend your benefactor. The only antidote to falsehood is truth, may all lovers of the truth rise in united voice to demand transparency of these institutions.
Very informative piece but I would have liked to see more sources.
I've read about this at National Review in articles by Andrew C. McCarthy, a former Federal prosecutor who prosecuted the Blind Sheik for the first bombing of the World Trade Center. He wrote extensively about the hold that Muslim Brotherhood affiliates have in the US.
After reading this one can assume that the anti-Israel demonstrations on campuses right after the Oct. 7 progrim are linked to Qatari et al "influence". And this to D.E I. and you create a pressure cooker that can only end up demonizing Israel and Jews everywhere. Sad.
I have been in academia for about three decades and have participated in many DEI events. Never have I been demonized.
A very disturbing article. Bastions of free speech funded by the most repressive of countries.
Money always buys influence.
If Americans want less Arab influence, it will have to make these donations illegal. Jewish money will not be treated differently.
We aren't willing to replace these donations.
Thank you for the sensible conclusion, but I wonder if it isn't too late to undo the damage caused by Arab states buying into American universities; after all, "money talks"—even dirty money.
Ironically, Arabs are actualizing the false charges against Jews in the anti-Semitic Protocols of the Elders of Zion, which declared that Jewish presence throughout the world was an intentional ploy to take over the globe – as if we desired the Diaspora!
Please research the number of Arab/Muslim voluntary immigrants worldwide, and compare their dubious, self-serving "contributions" to society with that of Jewish refugees' wherever the latter found a safe haven. Jews show their gratitude by benefiting their host countries, unlike Arab hordes who wreak havoc with their funders' megabucks.
Your final paragraph is a gross generalization. I have known several Arab, Persian and/or Muslims who have immigrated, in part due of the greater freedom in the US. I can’t think of any who were antisemitic or anti American. All were grateful to be here. Some practiced Islam, others did not, and one is a Coptic Christian whose family immigrated from Egypt.
Arab hordes? Please give a US example, not a few isolated incidents.
How about the demonstrators at the universities after Oct.7? Harvard hid the names of the participants and didn't discipline them because many were full-fee-paying foreign students from Arab countries on student visas.
Important piece!