Posted on 02/19/24
| News Source: Arutz-7
Malcolm Hoenlein, the Vice Chairman Emeritus of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, in an expansive interview, told Arutz Sheva-Israel National News about Qatar's role in spreading hatred of the Jewish state.
"I believe we have to be very direct with Qatar. Although the United States says 'Look they're playing a key role in the hostage negotiations' and other issues, but at the same time they sponsor Al Jazeera, which is spreading almost Nazi-like images of Israel and hostility toward Israel on a daily basis. It's a constant diet that feeds the street throughout the Arab world that watch it," says Hoenlein.
He adds: "They also are responsible for funding anti-Israel activities on campus in America. We traced so far $13 billion that Qatar has poured into American universities. And part of that is that they get to name the faculty, get scholarship packages, they have a direct influence. There's a direct correlation between funding to universities and increased antisemitism."
According to Hoenlein none of the foreign funding was reported or made public. "Universities didn't report it, the American government didn't require them, they should have."
Hoenlein reveals that the Qatari influence on education does not begin with higher education. "We found it in high schools. In a New York City high school, there's a huge map of the Middle East - no Israel, it's just Palestine. When I spoke to the superintendent, he said 'What do you mean, it's been there for ten years.' I said, 'Ten years you taught this?' He said 'Well it is an Arab cultural thing which the Qatari Fund pays for.'"
He further reveals that the influence is present as early as preschool: "We also found things in the kindergartens, where they changed the words of the children's song 'The Wheels on the Bus' to the 'Wheels on the Tank' and it's against Israel.
It's so pervasive. And then you wonder why they come to campus. Would they not have these hateful attitudes towards Israel while being subject to the propaganda? But when you ask them 'Which river and which sea?' they say they don't know. When you ask 'What does it mean for Israel when you do that, you want to obliterate 9 million people?' they say 'No, no, we don't believe in that.' They don't even know what they're saying, it's total ignorance," he declares.
"They are being taken advantage of, it's a concerted campaign and there are paid activists. We should expose everybody who gave money - domestic or foreign and there have to be real consequences. I think what happened now with the lawsuits against universities, the exposure of the presidents of Penn, Harvard, and MIT at the congressional hearings, and there are many more congressional hearings coming. There is an awakening to this challenge, but many campuses have become hostile places for Jewish students. Catholic universities are advertising to Jewish students in ads 'We offer you a safe place' because they recognize that many of the campuses in America are no longer safe for Jewish students," he adds
Hoenlein notes that Qatar has invested $300 billion to acquire businesses "and they use that influence to promote their agenda, which is an anti-Israel agenda as well. It's anti-American and I think America has to recognize that while Israel may be the first victim, America will be next."