Cambridge University of Saud
- 05.07.2008 - 5:57 PMEngland’s Cambridge University and Edinburgh University have accepted a £16 million endowment from Saudi Prince Al-Walid to create Islamic study centers that “aim to carry out research and public engagements designed to increase understanding between the Muslim world and the West.”
What exactly does “understanding” mean? A month after 9/11, when the same Prince Al-Walid tried to purchase New York City’s “understanding” for $10 million, he said it meant the attacks were to cause the United States to “re-examine its policies in the Middle East and adopt a more balanced stand toward the Palestinian cause.” Then Mayor Rudy Giuliani made himself understood by rejecting the “re-examination,” the “balance,”and the check.
No such luck in England. And now two of the West’s finest universities have been bankrolled in the “understanding” racket.
But perhaps we shouldn’t worry, after all. In Al-Walid’s 2001 check memo to the U.S., he called for Israel to withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank. It’s been almost three years since Israel has withdrawn from Gaza and two years since Kadima–the Israeli political party founded on the very basis of giving land to Palestinians–became the largest party in the Knesset. With that out of the way, maybe Al-Walid just wants the West to “understand” why teenage Muslim girls go missing from Bradford, England, or what it is that offends British Muslim pupils about their teachers assertion that the Holocaust happened, or why British Muslim clerics say “We have to rule ourselves and we have to rule the others.” You know, Islam/West “understanding” stuff.
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May 7th, 2008 at 6:26 PM
Abe
The UK university scene is now openly hostile to Israel (and the US) - have you been following the university academics attempts to boycott Israel (and Israel only) for the last 12+ months? Were it not for the folks over at Engage etc who have been fighting this you would effectively have British academic treating Israel the same as they did apartheid South Africa.
The Saudi money will only go to further that effort and let me suggest, if it gets up, then watch most European universities follow suit.
Another interesting parallel is in Australia where you have a certain university which offered to keep secret certain points of the deal made with Saudis if they got the money….
May 7th, 2008 at 7:36 PM
“The UK university scene is now openly hostile to Israel (and the US)”
You need to take this one step further and add “The United States university scene is also openly hostile to Israel (and the US)”. The denizens of the American academic scene are merely more subtle. They generally limit their complaints to those so-called evil neo-cons and our country’s aggressive empire building.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:19 PM
There was a stir a week or so back at UC Irvine when Daniel Pipes tried to give a speech.
Some Muslim protestors talking about “wiping Israel off of the map” and the like.
Nice.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:22 AM
Ah…. now I see why OPEC are ratcheting up the price of oil. Works wonderfully. Brings the west to it’s knees and the profits gained pay for the undermining of the West’s culture. Brilliant strategy don’t you think?