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Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy

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The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) is an Israeli-funded American non-profit organization that produces academic research, seminars, and conferences to study antisemitism.

Harvard professors Alan Dershowitz and Ruth Wisse were co-chairs of ISGAP's international board. The executive committee of its International Academic Board of Advisors included former Canadian Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler and historian Irving Abella.[1] ISGAP's chairman is Natan Sharansky.[2] Its managing director is Sima Vaknin-Gil, lieutenant colonel and former chief censor of the Israeli Defense Forces.[3]

History

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ISGAP was founded in 2004 by Charles Asher Small from Tel Aviv University[4] as a non-profit organization to produce and support academic research, seminars, and conferences to study antisemitism.[1]

In 2006, Small and ISGAP founded the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA), the first university-based institute dedicated to the study of antisemitism in North America, at Yale University.[5]

In August 2020, ISGAP suspended its operations for 48 hours in solidarity with African Americans during the George Floyd protests.[2]

Activities

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ISGAP's flagship program is a two-week conference of more than 80 scholars of antisemitism, approximately 80% of whom are not Jewish. In 2019, the conference was held at Oxford University.[1]

In November 2023, ISGAP and the Network Contagion Research Institute published a study entitled "The Corruption of the American Mind". The study alleged $13 billion in undisclosed foreign funding from Qatar and other countries to over 100 American universities to a 300% increase in antisemitism on campuses.[6][7][8] In December 2023, ISGAP produced a report called "Networks of Hate: Qatari Paymasters, Soft Power and the Manipulation of Democracy", describing how billions of US dollars were transferred from Qatari state-owned NGO’s, such as the Qatar Foundation, to US institutions without reporting to the Department of Education or the Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA).[9]

In 2024, ISGAP met regularly with leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties to urge investigations of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in American universities.[3] In February 2024, ISGAP produced "Hijacking Higher Education, Qatar, The Muslim Brotherhood, and Texas A&M Buying Nuclear Research and Student Information (Volume II)", which alleged that Texas A&M and its Qatar campus had received over $1 billion USD from the Qatar Foundation, and alleged an undisclosed connection between Texas A&M faculty members and nuclear research.[10] In March 2024, ISGAP produced produced a similar report relating to Cornell University which claimed to trace the flow of $1.95 billion USD from Qatar to Cornell University between 2001 and 2023, along with $7.9 billion USD to the Sidra Hospital of the Cornell Weill School of Medicine – Qatar.[11] In May 2024, ISGAP produced a report[12] about Students for Justice in Palestine, alleging that SJP was directly connected to the ideology of terrorist groups and the Muslim Brotherhood.[13]

In June 2024, ISGAP produced reports about funding of campus activities at Columbia and Yale universities,[14] alleging that anti-Zionist faculty had promulgated antisemitic rhetoric and activities on campus. The first report noted that over 100 Columbia faculty members endorsed Students for Justice in Palestine. The report quoted one Columbia professor who described the October 7 attacks as "awesome" and "astounding".[15] The second report[16] alleged that Yale received $15 million from Qatar between 2012 and 2023 while reporting only $284,668.[17]

In November 2024, ISGAP published a report alleging that the ANC was approximately $30 million in debt before bringing its case against Israel; the ANC subsequently received a sudden influx of unidentified cash after a series of meetings with Hamas, Iranian, and Qatari leaders; and ANC leaders refused to disclose the source of the funds, which provided approximately $30 million.[18][19]

Funding

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In 2019, the ISGAP received a grant of US$1.3 million, to be distributed over three years, from the Israeli government.[1] In 2020, The Forward reported that almost 80% of the ISGAP's funding in 2018, totaling $445,000, had come from the government of Israel, income which the think tank did not divulge.[20]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d Lungen, Paul (2019-06-20). "NGO looks to combat anti-Semitism through academia". Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  2. ^ a b Levine, Cody (August 29, 2020). "Antisemitism institute halts activities in support of African-Americans". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  3. ^ a b Fang, Lee; Poulson, Jack (2024-08-17). "Israel feared legal trouble over US advocacy efforts, leaked files suggest". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
  4. ^ "Charles Asher Small: Contemporary Global Antisemitism as Rejection of the Other". College of the Holy Cross. September 20, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "Yale Creates Institute to Study Anti-Semitism". Chronicle of Higher Education. 2006-09-19. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  6. ^ The Corruption of the American Mind (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  7. ^ Klein, Zvika (2023-11-23). "$13b. in hidden foreign funds linked to 300% antisemitism rise in US universities". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  8. ^ Bernard, Andrew (2023-11-08). "Report: Concealed foreign funding of US colleges linked to antisemitism". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
  9. ^ "Networks Of Hate: Qatari Paymasters, Soft Power And The Manipulation Of Democracy" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  10. ^ "Hijacking Higher Education: Qatar, The Muslim Brotherhood, and Texas A & M, Buying Nuclear Research and Student Information, Volume II" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  11. ^ "Cornell University's Ten Billion Dollar Sale: Soft Power, Qatar, The Muslim Brotherhood, and an Antisemitism Crisis on Campus" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-12-08.
  12. ^ "National Students for Justice in Palestine: Antisemitism, Anti-Americanism, Violent Extremism and the Threat to North American Universities" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  13. ^ Grimes, Jim (2024-05-15). "Student Protests and the Controversial Role of Students for Justice in Palestine". WPEC. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  14. ^ "Columbia University: From the Classroom to the Campus - The Normalization of Antisemitism, Anti-Democratic Politics, Marginalization, and Intimidation" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  15. ^ "New Report on Columbia University by ISGAP". The Jerusalem Post. 2024-06-04. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  16. ^ "The Ongoing Failure To Report: Yale University, Qatar and Undisclosed Foreign Funding, Volume Two" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  17. ^ "Exposed: Yale University hid millions in funding from Qatar". ynetnews. 2024-06-20. Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  18. ^ "How South Africa uses anti-Israel rhetoric in the ICJ – report". The Jerusalem Post. 2024-11-16. Retrieved 2024-12-01.
  19. ^ "South Africa, Hamas, Iran, and Qatar: The Hijacking of the ANC and the International Court of Justice" (PDF). Retrieved 2024-12-05.
  20. ^ Pink, Aiden (31 August 2020). "Think tank failed to disclose six-figure grant from Israeli government". The Forward. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
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