Tucson School District Skirts Arizona Law, Supported By Qatar Foundation International

In early April, staff at Safford K-8, in the Tucson Unified School District, tweeted out high praise and thanks to the Qatar Foundation International for its financial support. The district has received tens of thousands of dollars from the Foundation over the years.

Had an awesome time yesterday at dinner, Cholla students meeting QFI representatives and other people from our community and University of Arizona @tucsonunified @QFIntl @ArabicHonorSoc @QFIntl @chollachargers pic.twitter.com/hb1UvrdMMV

— njandali (@njandali) April 24, 2018

@tucsonunified https://t.co/4DbFAyXhAx

— njandali (@njandali) April 24, 2018

Since 2012, the Tucson district has accepted grant money from the Qatar Foundation International (QFI) despite the fact that the organization has undeniable ties to two terrorist organizations.

In May 2016, Arizona Governor Doug Ducey signed legislation, HB2617, sponsored by then-Speaker of the House David Gowan, that prohibits public entities from doing business with organizations involved in a boycott of Israel. In 2017, the ACLU launched a federal lawsuit arguing that the law violates the First Amendment.

According to an article written by Con Coughlin, for the Telegraph in 2016, Qatar financial backer of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, which “was founded a decade ago by Palestinian human rights activists,” and is supported by “leaders of the radical Palestinian Hamas movement.” Coughlin reported that BDS “seeks to organise a global economic and cultural boycott of Israel in retaliation for its failure to negotiate a peace settlement with the Palestinians.”

Despite the fact that Gowan’s bill was bipartisan support in a 46-14 vote, the law has not prevented Arizona’s educational entities from hosting QFI-sponsored events and school districts from taking its money. According to a March 2018 article in the National Review; The emirate’s educational foundation spreads anti-Israel and anti-American propaganda in U.S. schools: “On January 27, Qatar Foundation International (QFI) sponsored a continuing-education event titled “Middle East 101” for public-school teachers in Phoenix, Ariz.”

The author of the National Review article inaccurately claimed that the  Arizona Department of Education (ADE) hosted the event. While the event was held at the Department’s annex building, the event was hosted by the Arizona Council for the Social Studies (ACSS), Arizona State University’s Department of Geography, and University of Arizona’s Center for Middle Eastern Studies.

ACSS is a private non-profit organization “dedicated to promoting quality instruction for students and support for Social Studies educators.” It is “part of the network of more than 110 affiliated state, local, and regional councils and associated groups with the National Council for the Social Studies.”  According to its website, its “membership represents K-12 classroom teachers, college and university faculty members, curriculum designers and specialists, social studies supervisors, and leaders in the various disciplines that constitute the social studies.”

In other words, the organization, which is not covered by the anti-BDS statute, has been a fixture in Arizona education and the ADE for years.

After Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas learned of the event, she insisted that the Department thoroughly vet organizations using the Department’s facilities in the future.

The National Review reported:

“QFI has donated over $450,000 to Arizona public schools (and over $30 million to public schools across the country). Unfortunately, while there was a good deal of interesting material, teachers also got a large helping of Islamist propaganda, designed to influence American schoolchildren and ultimately to advance Qatari foreign policy.”

“QFI program officer Craig Cangemi introduced QFI as an American member organization of the Qatar Foundation (QF), which he blandly described as “a private, education-focused foundation in Doha, Qatar.” In fact, QF is a massive apparatus directly managed by Qatar’s ruling Al-Thani family, which conducts a tremendous range of state-development activities ranging from technology research to higher education. This includes “Education City,” a district in Doha that hosts Qatari branches of American universities, including Texas A&M, Northwestern, Georgetown, and others, which QF funds to the tune of more than $400 million annually. Georgetown alone received nearly $300 million in grants from QF between 2011 and 2016.”

“However, while the American universities are able to preserve some freedom of thought, other QF-backed schools in Doha enforce a rigid ideological program. QF schools and mosques often host the most virulently radical Islamist preachers, including one who referred to the 9/11 attacks as a “comedy film,” another who said that Jews bake Passover matzoh with human blood (“believing that this brings them close to their false god”), and a third who accused the Shia of “poisoning” and “sorcery.”

In contrast to the intention of Gowan’s bill, which is to protect Israel, the National Review article notes:

“An American educator who worked at a QF educational institution in Doha told the Middle East Forum that faculty were not allowed to purchase maps showing the state of Israel, the entire territory of which was instead labeled “Palestine.” Even tangentially mentioning the existence of Israel or the Holocaust in class would provoke severe reprisals from the Qatari Ministry of Education. The official government policy was “Israel doesn’t exist.”

“QF is a committed supporter of Islamist extremism, particularly at its Al-Qaradawi Center for Islamic Moderation and Renewal — named in honor of Sheikh Yousef Al-Qaradawi, spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, who chaired the committee that established the Center’s faculty. (Al-Qaradawi has repeatedly endorsed suicide bombings, terrorist attacks against the United States, and the total extermination of the Jews. He is barred from entering the U.S. because of terrorism concerns.) And in 2012, QF hosted Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh (who was just designated as a terrorist by the federal government) and gave him a “victory shield” featuring the Dome of the Rock.”

“Meanwhile, during the “Middle East 101” event, Cangemi insisted that QFI (the American branch of QF) sets its own policies, saying, “We are an autonomous organization. . . . We do not have any ties with Qatar: the government, the state, or really [the] Qatar Foundation.” This is patently false. The CEO and nominal founder of QFI is Sheikha Hind bint Hamad Al-Thani, the daughter of Qatar’s former emir. The chairman of the board of QFI is Sheikh Jassim bin Abdulaziz Al-Thani, another member of the royal family. As of 2012 (the most recent year for which public records are available), the treasurer of QFI was Khalid Al Kuwari, a senior Qatari government official and a scion of the powerful Al-Kuwari clan. QFI is in fact a key instrument of Qatari state policy.”

Arizona teachers, who attended the event, were encouraged to use “QFI’s flagship curriculum project. It offers lesson plans and resources about countries all over the Middle East. Unsurprisingly, the most flattering collection is about Qatar. One resource offered is even titled: “Express Your Loyalty to Qatar.” No lesson plan appears particularly critical of Qatar, whereas other countries discussed in Al Masdar’s resources are subject to much more varied discussion.”

The National Review description of the event is in dispute. One educator, who attended the event, said they did not detect a political agenda in the presentation.

In June 2017, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and seven other Muslim countries to severed ties with Qatar due to its support for terrorism and close economic relations with Iran.

Qatar’s support for BDS “was a major cause of concern amongst senior UAE diplomats in Washington, according to the Middle East Monitor.

While Israel and its supporters want Qatar to be held accountable for backing BDS, current Arizona law does not seem to prevent Arizona schools from catering to Qatar and taking its money.

Related articles:

Ideologically Driven Educators Focus On Kids’ Meals

Could The Qatar Foundation Save TUSD’s Failing Magnet Schools?

TUSD accepts grant from group with ties to Muslim Brotherhood (updated)

Tucson school district spends millions to market social justice and create change agents