Examining Undocumented Foreign Funding of American Universities: 
Implications for Education and Rising Antisemitism
 
Charles Asher Small
Michael Bass
 
Based on the findings submitted to the 
DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE SUMMIT ON COMBATTING ANTISEMITISM
WASHINGTON DC – July 2019
 
Click here to read the newly debuted ISGAP Report.
 
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Multi-year ISGAP research project encourages crackdown on foreign funding of major US universities including Harvard and Yale.
 
ISGAP commends the Department of Education for its response to data provided by ISGAP and others in connection with unreported foreign funding of certain US Universities, including both Harvard and Yale.
 
The ISGAP research project on Higher Education and Contemporary Antisemitism has for more than seven years assessed foreign funding of leading American universities by Middle Eastern autocratic regimes, foundations and affiliated corporations. As reported by major media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal and BBC News, it appears, consistent with ISGAP research, that both Harvard and Yale did not identify and report donations and contracts with foreign governments of at least $375 million.
 
Several major news organizations have reported on these groundbreaking revelations, including:
 
Erica L. Green and Ellen Barry, New York Times
 
Kate O’Keeffe, Wall Street Journal
 
BBC News
 

ISGAP founder Dr. Charles Asher Small originally presented his team’s findings at a conference on antisemitism at the United States Department of Justice on July 15, 2019, attended by Attorney General William P. Barr, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Anti-Semitism Elan Carr, Secretary of the Treasury Steven T. Mnuchin and FBI Director Christopher A. Wray in July 2019.

A video of Dr. Small’s remarks can be found at https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4807852/charles-isgap-summit-talk.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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.