Examining carefully the problem of anti-Semitism, and sympathy with jihadists, at American universities, Danielle Pletka addresses the very difficult problem of what can be done about it. Pletka avoids such simplistic answers as calling for more education and turns instead to a more promising tool: law. The complex networks of organizations funding and helping to organize campus protests are often connected to malicious states like Qatar, and to U.S.-designated terrorist groups. Thus, without broaching complex questions of freedom of speech, state and federal governments already have ample justifications to crack down. Pletka also suggests various ways existing legal frameworks can be strengthened.

And that’s not all:

What is Congress’s ultimate leverage? Federal funding. Institutions of higher education in the United States will receive north of $200 billion from the federal government in 2024.

[In addition], it is critical to understand that foreign funders have been allowed, more or less, to turn U.S. institutions of higher education into political fiefdoms, with their leaders and faculty serving as spokesmen for foreign interests. Under U.S. law currently, those who enter into contracts or receive funding to advocate for the interest of a foreign government are required to register with the Department of Justice under the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA). This requirement is embedded in a criminal statute, and a violation risks jail time. There is no reason compliance by American educational institutions with disclosure laws should not be subject to similar criminal penalties.

Offering a physical safe haven for Hamas’s leaders is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Qatar’s bad behavior. Danielle Pletka explains:

Hamas’s leader Ismail Haniyeh and his cronies live a plush life in Doha. He is reputedly worth billions. Is all that dough under his mattress? Or in a bank in Qatar? I don’t know, but presumably the Treasury Department does.

Qatar has funneled billions to Hamas, an organization that currently holds 120—and five live American—hostages in Gaza. When the U.S. was playing the good guy in Afghanistan (before Biden’s disgraceful withdrawal), where were the exiled al Qaeda-loving emirs of the Taliban swanning about? Qatar.

Then there’s Qatar’s super-cozy relationship with Iran. Qatar’s cronies in the Washington lobbying world, at the Department of State, and—perhaps most importantly—at the White House, insist that the Qataris are only acting at America’s behest. Hamas? They wouldn’t be there if the U.S. hadn’t asked. Iranian money flowing through Qatari banks? Ditto.

Finally, . . . there’s Qatar’s nefarious influence on U.S. universities. Between the numerous “Qatar campuses” and the largely unreported cash gushing to U.S. institutions of higher ed, we shouldn’t be surprised to see Jew-hatred flourishing. And yes, there’s a direct correlation between that cash and anti-Semitism.

It’s way past time for the United States to get serious about this regime. And if the White House won’t, let’s hope that Congress will.