AICE Study Discloses $10.4 Billion In Arab Gifts To Universities
Chevy Chase, MD— November 30, 2020 — The American-Israeli Cooperative Enterprise (AICE) announces the release of its latest report, “Arab Funding of American Universities: Donors, Recipients and Impact.” The study, written by AICE’s Executive Director, Dr. Mitchell Bard, analyzed Department of Education reports, other public documents, and news and think tank accounts to uncover more than $10 billion in foreign gifts from Arab sources to American universities between 1981 and October 2020. Though universities are required to report all foreign gifts of $250,000 or more, at least $3.4 billion were missing from the Department listings.
Altogether Arab governments, countries and individuals reported 4,451 contributions (gifts and contracts) to 215 universities in 44 states worth $6,934,805,211. The countries contributing the most were Qatar ($3.8 billion), Saudi Arabia ($1.6 billion), and the United Arab Emirates ($874 million). Cornell was by far the largest beneficiary with 115 transactions worth nearly $1.2 billion. It is followed by Georgetown ($725 million), Carnegie Mellon ($674 million), Northwestern ($561 million), and Texas A&M ($580 million).
The totals shocked Dr. Bard who had documented $300 million in foreign gifts in his 2010 book, The Arab Lobby: The Invisible Alliance That Undermines America’s Interests in the Middle East. “I knew that Arab funding had dramatically increased after 9/11,” said Dr. Bard, “but few people are aware of the staggering total because of the failure of universities to report the gifts and the lack of publicity for them.”
Dr. Bard was also surprised to discover the non-existent “State of Palestine” donated more than $4.5 million, including a $643,000 contribution to Brown in 2020 to provide support for a professorship in Palestinian Studies. As an indication of the danger posed by some of the Arab investments, the person chosen for the Brown position supports the anti-Semitic BDS campaign.
The report also documents the ethical lapses by universities that have willingly taken funds from countries with appalling human rights records. As an example, universities challenged to sever ties with Saudi Arabia following the brutal murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi have continued to take money from the Saudis.
“It is an overstatement to say that Arab funding in general has a deleterious impact,” Dr. Bard found. Much of the Arab funding is not overtly political – financial aid for Arab students, and support for science, engineering, information technology, medicine and other areas that will serve the needs of their countries. “Even benign gifts send a message, however, that it is in a university’s interest not to criticize Arab regimes if they want future donations,” according to Dr. Bard.
Some gifts are political, designed to improve the image of the donors and to support faculty “who use their positions to advance political agendas that are typically pro-Arab (often specifically related to the Palestinians), anti-Israel, and uncritical of radical Islam.”
“As the Department of Education recently concluded,” Dr. Bard noted, “There is good reason to be concerned that foreign money buys influence or control over teaching and research and can ‘project soft power, steal sensitive and proprietary research, and spread propaganda.’”
Contact: Dr. Mitchell Bard
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