A new study accuses over 100 American colleges and universities of unlawfully accepting billions of dollars from foreign donors, the Jerusalem Post reported Thursday.
The failure to disclose these funds, totaling some $13 billion, is a violation of American law, according to the Post. “Institutions of higher education … received billions of dollars from foreign donors that were not reported to the US Department of Education as required,” according to the study, titled “The Corruption of the American Mind.” (RELATED: US Universities Silent On Continued Partnership With Country That Funds Hamas)
$13b. in hidden foreign funds linked to 300% antisemitism rise in US universities https://t.co/YGX1uiN5Yk
— Israel Forever Foundation (@Isrl4Evr) November 23, 2023
The study, commissioned by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism & Policy (ISGAP) and carried out by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), was published on Nov. 7 and covers the years 2015-2020.
In addition to the donations, the study also identified a link between foreign donors and erosion of free speech and increased antisemitism on campus, ISGAP noted. Much of the foreign funds came from authoritarian countries, largely located in the Middle East, the study found. Qatar alone contributed the largest amount of any state, totaling $2.7 billion in contributions to American higher ed institutions, the Jerusalem Post noted.
Institutions that received this money were found in the study to have a greater prevalence of “political campaigns to silence academics” and speakers, more students exposed to “antisemitic and anti-Zionist rhetoric” and an increase in reports of “antisemitic incidents” when compared to institutions that did not receive those funds. The institutions that accepted Middle Eastern donors’ money in particular were found to have, on average, a 300 percent more antisemitic incidents than those that did not, the study reported.
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas War, there has been a marked upswing in antisemitic incidents on American college campuses. Protests at Florida State University and other institutions championed “Palestinian resistance” just days after Hamas terrorists murdered some 1,400 Israelis and took nearly 250 others hostage.