Campus Watch Home  |  Middle East studies in the News  |  Donate

Saudi Funding: From Jimmy Carter to Middle East Studies by Cinnamon Stillwell  •  Apr 8, 2015 at 5:13 pm http://www.campus-watch.org/blog/2015/04/saudi-funding-from-jimmy-carter-to-middle-east Share: Be the first of your friends to like this. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal and Jimmy Carter According to the Arab News, former U.S. president Jimmy Carter recently participated in an official Carter Center delegation to Saudi Arabia, where he met with Saudi billionaire and prolific funder of Middle East studies in the U.S, Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal. The prince's largesse has resulted in the Islamist apologist-dominated Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University (headed by chief apologist John Esposito) and Harvard University's Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Islamic Studies Program, whose faculty, although less controversial, is equally tendentious. During the meeting, Carter dutifully "commended the prince for his efforts to encourage East-West dialogue to bridge the understanding between the two cultures," but, as Campus Watch noted in 2012, Bin Talal's funding of Middle East studies is not intended merely to promote cross-cultural understanding. A representative for his foundation admitted at the time that it's part of an "effort to combat Islamophobia after September 11," including "an anti-campaign against Islam in general." In other words, its purpose is to promote a whitewashed, positive image of Islam in the West. Saudi-funded Middle East studies academics have eagerly embraced this goal, whether wittingly or not. Such academics are not so much "created" by the Saudis and other Middle Eastern funders, as drawn to centers and positions that confirm and amplify preexisting biases. Bin Talal's funding magnifies the field's pro-Islamist, anti-Western voices and, for that reason, remains a cause for concern. This text may be reposted or forwarded so long as it is presented as an integral whole with complete and accurate information provided about its author, date, place of publication, and original URL. Related Items Other writings by Cinnamon Stillwell Other items related to Harvard University Other items related to Georgetown University Other items related to Saudi/Gulf Funding Other items related to John Esposito

To subscribe to the CW list, go to http://www.campus-watch.org/list_subscribe.php Campus Watch