Groups ask Congress to deny funds to biased Middle East Studies programs

By JNS.org

A group of 10 Jewish, educational, and civil rights organizations issued a joint statement calling on the U.S. Congress to deny funds to Middle East Studies programs accused of having anti-American and anti-Israel bias, and to enact reforms to the process of federally funding those programs.

Congress is currently considering the reauthorization of the Higher Education Act (HEA), including Title VI, which provides federal funds to 129 international studies and foreign language programs.

According to the organizations that signed the statement—Accuracy in Academia, AMCHA Initiative, American Association of Jewish Lawyers and Jurists, Endowment for Middle East Truth, The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, Middle East Forum, Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations, and the Zionist Organization of America—the Middle East programs in question “have devolved into hotbeds of anti-American and anti-Israel activity, disseminating falsehoods both in universities and to K-12 teachers and to the general public.”

The organizations asked lawmakers to implement two accountability measures, including requiring Title VI recipients to establish grievance procedures and for the U.S. Department of Education to launch a complaint-resolution process.

“Title VI of the Higher Education Act directs federal dollars to support the intellectually corrupt field of Middle East studies, among the most politicized academic disciplines, filled with professors hostile to America, Israel, and the West. American taxpayers should not fund programs that aim to weaken resolve and thwart policy,” said Middle East Forum President Daniel Pipes.

Article originally appeared at https://www.jns.org/news-briefs/2014/9/17/jewish-and-civil-rights-groups-call-on-congress-to-deny-funds-to-bias-middle-east-studies-programs#.VBoOcfldWSo=