On February 12, the Department of Education announced that it suspects Harvard and Yale of failing to report millions of dollars received from China, Iran, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and elsewhere. The department has also accused several other schools of similar violations, and one professor has been arrested in the course of the investigation. Meanwhile, the Institute for the Study of Global Anti-Semitism and Policy has for years been researching Middle Eastern countries’ donations to American institutions of higher education, and believes there is a connection between these donations, especially those from Qatar, and campus anti-Semitism:

Autocratic Middle Eastern regimes, organizations, foundations, and affiliated private corporations have funneled billions of dollars of unreported funding to American universities in order to demonize Israel on campus. . . . With the bulk of all Middle Eastern donations emanating from Qatari donors (75 percent), and the Qatar Foundation accounting for virtually all of the donations from Qatar, these funds significantly impact attitudes, anti-Semitic culture, and activities of the movement to boycott, divest from, and sanction Israel (BDS).

Gulf funding of universities and think tanks, especially when such institutions are concerned about future revenue streams, can be a hedge against criticism of the governments providing the funding. . . . However, there is more to such funding than cultivating political influence. Our research has found a correlation between the funding of universities by Qatar and the Gulf states and the presence of groups such as Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and a [campus] environment that fosters an anti-Semitic atmosphere, aggressive [toward Jews and supporters of Israel].

While a direct causal link has yet to be established, the correlation is too significant to ignore, especially given the horrendous human-rights records and state-sponsored extremism and anti-Semitism of the countries involved. Research indicates other countries, including Iran, also engage in this sort of funding activities.

Qatar has long been an important source of funds for the Palestinian terror organization Hamas and has forged relationships with Islamist groups from the Muslim Brotherhood to the Taliban. It maintains a Western enclave known as Education City on the outskirts of its capital, Doha, which is home to a number of satellite campuses of prominent American universities, such as Georgetown, Northwestern, and Cornell. Education City is funded by the Qatar Foundation, which maintains close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood-linked theologian Yusuf al-Qaradawi, . . . who has “called for the destruction of America and for the annihilation of the Jews.”

For some time, opponents of U.S support for Israel have been urging the White House to end the war in Gaza, or simply calling for a ceasefire. Douglas Feith and Lewis Libby consider what such a result would actually entail:

Ending the war immediately would allow Hamas to survive and retain military and governing power. Leaving it in the area containing the Sinai-Gaza smuggling routes would ensure that Hamas can rearm. This is why Hamas leaders now plead for a ceasefire. A ceasefire will provide some relief for Gazans today, but a prolonged ceasefire will preserve Hamas’s bloody oppression of Gaza and make future wars with Israel inevitable.

For most Gazans, even when there is no hot war, Hamas’s dictatorship is a nightmarish tyranny. Hamas rule features the torture and murder of regime opponents, official corruption, extremist indoctrination of children, and misery for the population in general. Hamas diverts foreign aid and other resources from proper uses; instead of improving life for the mass of the people, it uses the funds to fight against Palestinians and Israelis.

Moreover, a Hamas-affiliated website warned Gazans last month against cooperating with Israel in securing and delivering the truckloads of aid flowing into the Strip. It promised to deal with those who do with “an iron fist.” In other words, if Hamas remains in power, it will begin torturing, imprisoning, or murdering those it deems collaborators the moment the war ends. Thereafter, Hamas will begin planning its next attack on Israel:

Hamas’s goals are to overshadow the Palestinian Authority, win control of the West Bank, and establish Hamas leadership over the Palestinian revolution. Hamas’s ultimate aim is to spark a regional war to obliterate Israel and, as Hamas leaders steadfastly maintain, fulfill a Quranic vision of killing all Jews.

Hamas planned for corpses of Palestinian babies and mothers to serve as the mainspring of its October 7 war plan. Hamas calculated it could survive a war against a superior Israeli force and energize enemies of Israel around the world. The key to both aims was arranging for grievous Palestinian civilian losses. . . . That element of Hamas’s war plan is working impressively.