Professors involved in anti-Israel protests led programs that received millions of taxpayer dollars, according to a report released Wednesday by government transparency group Open the Books.

The Department of Education has spent $283 million in foreign research grants since 2020, with more than $22.1 million earmarked for Middle East studies programs (Open the Books) Found. The study analyzed the top three grant recipients, Indiana University, Columbia University, and Georgetown University, and found that each university highlighted anti-Israel professors as top staff in its programs. .

“All of these universities have multi-billion dollar endowments,” Amber Todorov, deputy policy editor at Open the Books, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “They get huge amounts of money through tax breaks, government-backed student loans, and federal grants and contracts. Through these Title VI grants, they host especially radical professors and support disgraceful protests nationwide. There are many new ways to learn languages ​​and international cultures and how this money is being used, so if that’s what you need, Congress. It’s time for a closer look.”

The university received these funds in the form of two different grants. One is a National Resource Center grant that goes directly to undergraduate programs, and the other is a Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) grant, which can be used to provide students with a fellowship to study a foreign region or language. Masu. According to OpenTheBooks.

Colombia received $2.8 million in FLAS grants from 2020 to 2024, the report said. The program aims to “explore transnational connections, advance Islamic studies, and deepen expertise in the region.” According to Based on Columbia’s 2018 grant proposal.

The 2018 application cited Joseph Massad, a professor in the Department of Middle Eastern, South Asian and African Studies, as a selling point for the university’s program, saying his classes include “modern history, gender, political economy, international relations, “The focus is on politics.” and the culture of the area. ” According to Open the Books, the university will receive $653,632 in FLAS grants for the 2022-2023 academic year, and part of the grant will support Professor Massad’s “Gender and Sexuality in the Arab World” class. The money was used to fund fellowships for students to take the course.

Open the Books, citing the nonprofit Middle East Forum, said students have alleged that Massad is biased “against both Israel and the West” in his classes. The professor published article A day after the 2023 Hamas attack, calling it an “amazing victory,” he said: talk In 2002, he published a paper titled “On Zionism and Jewish Supremacy” at a university.

Columbia University experienced violent anti-Israel campus protests during the spring semester, resulting in more than 100 arrests and multiple safety concerns. (Related: Many pro-Palestinian protesters remain in ‘good standing’ in Colombia)

🧵On October 8, Professor Joseph Massad described the brutal terrorist attack of October 7 as “amazing” and an “amazing victory.”

He is also the chair of an important academic approval committee.

see as @Columbia The president claims that “he is no longer the speaker…” pic.twitter.com/rRU32HQnTv

— House Education and Labor Committee (@EdWorkforceCmte) April 17, 2024

Indiana University raises $2.84 million in federal grants from 2020 to 2023 for its Middle East program, touting Professor Abdulkader Sinno’s 2018 grant application His areas of expertise are “developments and outcomes of civil wars, ethnic conflicts, and other territorial disputes; representation of Muslims in Western liberal democracies; electoral participation of Islamist parties,” the report said. Sinno reportedly served as a faculty advisor to the university’s Palestine Solidarity Committee. involved Regarding organizing an “anti-Israel anti-protest demonstration” in which members confronted participants in the Hillel demonstration.

Sinno circumvented the university’s policy of hosting pro-Palestinian speaker Miko Peled, booking the speaker as an academic event rather than a student event. According to He wrote for the university’s student newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student. The decision resulted in a two-semester suspension from teaching and a one-year suspension from advising student organizations, according to Open the Books.

Even after his suspension, Mr. Sinno gave a speech at an “alternative” graduation ceremony for anti-Israel activists, in which he praised them as part of a “proud tradition” and said their protests were “a symbol of empathy.” He said he was showing “compassion.” According to To WFYI.

More than 50 protesters were arrested after clashes with police on Indiana University’s campus in April left multiple people injured. According to To Fox 59.

Georgetown will receive $2.64 million in FLAS funding from the Department of Education from 2020 to 2023, and Dr. Fida Adely, associate professor and director of the Georgetown Center for Contemporary Arab Studies, was named for the 2018 grant. . suggestionfound in the report. According to Open the Books, Adely is a member of the judicial faculty of the Palestinian National Advisory Council. Open the Books is an organization that “encourages academic and cultural boycotts of Israel and Israeli academic institutions.” According to Go to that website.

Hundreds of people gathered on Georgetown’s campus during the spring semester, clashing with police in an encampment that lasted more than a week. According to I contributed to the university’s student newspaper, The Hoya. Adely participated in a rally in October calling on the university to divest from Israeli-related companies. According to He wrote for another student newspaper, the Georgetown Voice.

“By funding schools that teach radical ideologies and practice far-left DEI philosophies, controversial professors and administrators also gain access to a vast ecosystem of tax dollars, and impressionable young people ”, the report concludes. “These funds can be used to advance research, establish yourself as a qualified scholar, gain tenure, and influence international policy debates. There are big questions about our national interests: Will we encourage more professionals in these fields who are trustworthy and represent America’s interests, or will we encourage more of the “settler colonialism” that we see all around us? Will it encourage more people to decide to “dismantle” the “ism”? ”

Columbia University, Georgetown University, Indiana University, Massad University, Sinnoh University, and Adéli University did not respond to DCNF’s requests for comment.

All content produced by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent, nonpartisan news distribution service, is available free of charge to legitimate news publishers with large audiences. All republished articles must include our logo, reporter byline, and DCNF affiliation. If you have any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact us at licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.