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December 10, 2007
Saudi Influence in Academia
There's a big story in today's Washington Times about something I've been blogging about for some time now; the Wahhabist penetration of academia through use of oil money. Scholar Walid Phares has written extensively about this, most particularly in his books Future Jihad and The War of Ideas. I reviewed both here; see "Book Reviews" under "Categories" at right.
Here are a few excerpts, but you'll want to read the whole thing:
Two years ago this month, a Saudi prince caused a media splash — and raised eyebrows — when he donated $20 million each to Georgetown and Harvard universities to fund Islamic studies. ...Some call the Saudi gift Arab generosity and gratitude for the years American universities have educated the elite of the Arab world. Others say the sheer size of the donations amounts to buying influence and creating bastions of noncritical pro-Islamic scholarship within academia.
"There's a possibility these campuses aren't getting gifts, they're getting investments," said Clifford May, president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies. "Departments on Middle Eastern studies tend to be dominated by professors tuned to the concerns of Arab and Muslim rulers. It's very difficult for scholars who don't follow this line to get jobs and tenure on college campuses.
"The relationship between these departments and the money that pours in is hard to establish, but like campaign finance reform, sometimes money is a bribe. Sometimes it's a tip."
As Phares noted in The War of Ideas, it all started after the 1973 oil embargo, when the Saudis realized they had a lot of power at their hands. They did some investigation and discovered that many American universities were eager for their money. As Phares documents, the Saudis also discovered that in return for the money college administrators were eager to believe the Saudi version of Middle East history.
The article is fair, pointing out that "The idea of giving endowed chairs to advance a point of view is not exclusive to wealthy Arabs." Mormons and Israelis have also gotten in on the action.
Influence buying is wrong no matter who does it. We should not, however, fall into moral equivalence. Saudi influence is far greater, and their kingdom is a totalitarian nightmare.
At the end, the article quotes Zuhdi Jasser, an American reform-minded Muslim that I have written about before and who "gets it".
Zuhdi Jasser, a Phoenix physician and a Muslim who is chairman of the American Islamic Forum for Democracy, says Islamic governments are looking for a free pass."Islamists such as the radical fundamentalists seen with the Saudi Wahhabis exploit American universal tolerance to provide a vehicle for the dissemination of their propaganda free of critique," he said in an e-mail. "It is important to emphasize — 'free of critique' ... it is the tolerance which permits that.
"But I would hope that we correct our response not by changing our tolerance but by intensely critiquing political Islam and its incompatibility with our pluralistic democracy. America"s laboratory of freedom and liberty should not change."
The Wahhabists are one of the three branches of the jihad that is trying to destroy the West. Dr Jasser is probably correct in that an absolute prohibition on Saudi money would violate our tradition of tolerance. Rather, the best way to deal with the Wahhabists is to expose them for what they are.
Update
If you still think that the problem of Saudi influence in either K-12 or our university system is exaggerated, please see these two articles by Stanley Kurtz:
Saudi in the Classroom: A fundamental front in the war
Taking Sides on Title VI: Middle East Studies reform goes partisan
Posted by Tom at December 10, 2007 8:08 PM
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Comments
snake hunters sez,
When Speaking of Brute Wahhabi Influence
And Differentials of Bribe & Tip,
Requires An Academic Debate!
>>
The Question: How Many Dollars
buys the soul of a Phd?
____________________________
www.lazyonebenn.blogspot.com
Posted by: Ralph E. at December 11, 2007 11:33 AM
The article in the Washington Times points out that the Islamic influence on universities has been going on for a long time and involves much more than Prince Alwaleed's millions recently given to Harvard and Georgetown.
These Muslim donors are promoting Islamophilia and influencing the next generation--the generation who will become leaders. Smart move on the part of Muslims and subtle enough not to be decried by the general public.
Posted by: Always On Watch at December 17, 2007 7:55 AM
