NEW YORK, February 9, 2024 – The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) welcomes the decision on Thursday by the Board of Regents of the Texas A&M University System to terminate its contract with the Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development and close the Texas A&M University at Qatar (TAMUQ) campus by 2028. According to the statement published by the university, this momentous decision underscores the university’s commitment to its core mission of advancing education and research primarily within Texas and the United States.
ISGAP’s recent comprehensive report pertaining to the Qatar Regime’s extensive involvement in funding, controlling, and acquiring the rights to sensitive research projects at Texas A&M University, found that Qatar and Qatari state-owned proxies have given more than $1 billion to Texas A&M in return for the ownership of the intellectual property rights of over 500 research projects. Last month ISGAP sent letters to relevant authorities warning of a potential threat to U.S national security stemming from the partnership.
Dr. Charles Asher Small, Director of ISGAP, said in response, “We commend the Board of Regents for their courageous and morally principled stance. By reevaluating Texas A&M’s presence in Qatar, the Board has demonstrated a commitment to academic integrity, ethical principles, and national security concerns. This is an important statement affirming that there is no place in U.S. academia for billions of dollars coming from a state that supports and funds terror, and promotes and spreads the extremist Islamist ideology from the Muslim Brotherhood”
Acknowledging the significance of this decision, ISGAP emphasizes the need for continued vigilance and immediate action regarding ongoing sensitive research projects funded by Qatar at Texas A&M, as exposed in ISGAP’s November 2023 report. ISGAP therefore calls on the Board of Regents to halt all such research endeavors until a thorough transparent review and investigation can be conducted to assess the potential national security implications.
ISGAP is preparing to release a follow-up report that delves deeper into the nature of the ongoing Qatar-funded and owned research projects, particularly those with possible nuclear related research and national security implications. This forthcoming report will shed light on the extent of Qatar’s involvement in sensitive research endeavors and highlight the importance of scrutinizing all research projects owned by Qatari entities and proxies.
Dr. Charles Asher Small added, “As Texas A&M’s departure from Education City in Doha marks a significant and meaningful shift in US academia’s ties to the Qatari Regime, we urge the remaining US universities there – Virginia Commonwealth, Weill Cornell Medicine, Carnegie Mellon, Georgetown, and Northwestern – to follow suit and relocate their educational endeavors elsewhere, refraining from accepting funding tainted by an anti-Western, anti-democratic, pro-Jihad regime.”
ISGAP remains committed to fostering transparency, accountability, and academic freedom within Texas A&M University System and their entire US higher education system and stands ready to support efforts to address these critical issues.
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For media inquiries contact Raoul Wootliff at [email protected]