Millions in Federal Funding Fuels Anti-Israel Unrest at US Universities

The panelists from ‘The Bottom Line’ have responded to the clashes occurring in universities across the US. With over $5bn worth of American taxpayer dollars being allocated towards Ivy League schools alone during fiscal year 2023, politicians are calling for an end to federal funding for institutions that allow anti-Israel protests to continue unchecked. The eight Ivy League schools, including Harvard University and Princeton University, have witnessed significant incidents of campus unrest in recent times. This has led several Republican lawmakers from both the Senate and House to demand action against these universities’ failure to address such situations effectively. In fiscal year 2023 alone, over $5bn worth of taxpayer dollars were given through sponsorships, grants, and contracts to Ivy League schools. Other prominent institutions that have experienced anti-Israel protests include Northwestern University and Stanford University, which received a combined total of “$33 billion [worth] of federal contracts and grants” since 2018. Moreover, these same ten universities “reaped another $12bn in special tax treatment benefits on the growth of their massive endowment gains,” according to an Open The Books study from November last year. Besides Ivy League schools, other colleges such as UC Berkeley and NYU have also received millions in federal funding during fiscal year 2023. Following Hamas’ Oct 7 terror attack that resulted in the deaths of over a thousand people, anti-Israel demonstrations and incidents of unrest began appearing on several US university campuses from April. One particularly significant incident involved a student orchestrated encampment at Columbia University last week, where students are demanding divestments from Israel among other things. Some participants in these protests have been heard chanting antisemitic slogans and even engaged in physical confrontations with law enforcement officials who were trying to disperse the crowds. While many of these universities seem hesitant or reluctant to intervene, legal experts claim that anti-Israel activists breaking codes of conduct are not being dealt with appropriately by their respective institutions. These protests have also spread beyond Columbia University; similar incidents occurred at Harvard and Princeton Universities in the past. Recently, over two dozen protesters attempted erecting a tent encampment near NYU’s buildings – before police forces moved to arrest them. Some of these protestors displayed anarchist symbols alongside signs reading “Honor Martyrs of Palestine” and “We are all SJP”. Last week, UT Austin also suspended one anti-Israel group following the arrest of several students during protests on campus.