An Iranian refugee’s warning to American universities embracing foreign funding and radicalism

The author argues that American universities should reject foreign funding and take a stronger stand against campus rhetoric that excuses Hamas’s 7 October 2023 attacks. Drawing on her experience fleeing Iran as a child, she warns that universities can become conduits for political radicalisation and says the issue matters to American civic life.

The article says US universities have received $67.6 billion from foreign sources since 1986, including $7.7 billion from Qatar, which has hosted Hamas leaders since 2012. It cites protests and campus statements at Columbia, Harvard, Cornell and other universities, and refers to a JINSA report alleging that Qatar uses funding to influence campuses. The excerpt ends mid-sentence while describing Harvard’s $4.2 billion in foreign funding.