Follow The Money – Examining Undocumented Foreign Funding of American Universities: Implications for Education and Rising Antisemitism

Charles Asher Small, Michael Bass

JUNE 13, 2020

Autocratic Middle Eastern regimes, organizations, foundations, and affiliated private corporations have funneled billions of dollars of unreported funding to American universities in order to encourage the demonization of Israel and the Jewish people within the curriculum and on campus, research by ISGAP has found.

This finding is based on ISGAP’s seven-year “Follow the Money” research project, which was led by Dr. Charles Asher Small, with assistance from Dr. Glen Feder, an expert on the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States, and investigative accountant Michael Bass. ISGAP’s research reveals that federal reporting requirements and procedures have been inadequate in keeping track of academic funding coming in from abroad. This includes more than $3 billion gifted by Qatar and the Gulf States that were not reported by universities to the IRS or the Department of Education. The bulk of Middle Eastern donations emanates from Qatari donors (75 percent), while the Qatar Foundation accounts for virtually all of the donations from Qatar. These funds have a significant impact on attitudes, antisemitic culture, and BDS activities. The “Follow the Money” report also examined US-based corporations and foundations with connections to anti-democratic and antisemitic forces in the Middle East that facilitate unreported funding to universities.

Our research found a direct correlation between the funding of universities by Qatar and the Gulf States and the active presence at those universities of groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), which foster an antisemitic and aggressive atmosphere on campus.

Read in full: Follow The Money – Examining Undocumented Foreign Funding of American Universities: Implications for Education and Rising Antisemitism