The Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) is an Israeli-funded American non-profit organization that produces academic research, seminars, and conferences to study antisemitism.
Harvard professors Alan Dershowitz and Ruth Wisse were co-chairs of ISGAP's international board. The executive committee of its International Academic Board of Advisors included former Canadian Minister of Justice Irwin Cotler and historian Irving Abella.[1] ISGAP's chairman is Natan Sharansky.[2] Its managing director is Sima Vaknin-Gil, lieutenant colonel and former chief censor of the Israeli Defense Forces.[3]
History
editISGAP was founded in 2004 by Charles Asher Small from Tel Aviv University[4] as a non-profit organization to produce and support academic research, seminars, and conferences to study antisemitism.[1]
In 2006, Small and ISGAP founded the Yale Initiative for the Interdisciplinary Study of Antisemitism (YIISA), the first university-based institute dedicated to the study of antisemitism in North America, at Yale University.[5]
In August 2020, ISGAP suspended its operations for 48 hours in solidarity with African Americans during the George Floyd protests.[2]
Activities
editISGAP's flagship program is a two-week conference of more than 80 scholars of antisemitism, approximately 80% of whom are not Jewish. In 2019, the conference was held at Oxford University.[1]
In November 2023, ISGAP and the Network Contagion Research Institute published a study entitled "The Corruption of the American Mind." The study alleged $13 billion in undisclosed foreign funding from Qatar and other authoritarian countries to over 100 American universities to a 300% increase in antisemitism on campuses.[6][7][8]
In 2024, ISGAP met regularly with leaders of the Democratic and Republican parties to urge investigations of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in American universities.[3]
Funding
editIn 2019, the ISGAP received a grant of US$1.3 million, to be distributed over three years, from the Israeli government.[1] In 2020, The Forward reported that almost 80% of the ISGAP's funding in 2018, totaling $445,000, had come from the government of Israel, income which the think tank did not divulge.[9]
References
edit- ^ a b c d Lungen, Paul (2019-06-20). "NGO looks to combat anti-Semitism through academia". Canadian Jewish News. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ a b Levine, Cody (August 29, 2020). "Antisemitism institute halts activities in support of African-Americans". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ a b Fang, Lee; Poulson, Jack (2024-08-17). "Israel feared legal trouble over US advocacy efforts, leaked files suggest". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-08-21.
- ^ "Charles Asher Small: Contemporary Global Antisemitism as Rejection of the Other". College of the Holy Cross. September 20, 2018. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
- ^ "Yale Creates Institute to Study Anti-Semitism". Chronicle of Higher Education. 2006-09-19. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ The Corruption of the American Mind (PDF) (Report). Retrieved 21 May 2024.
- ^ Klein, Zvika (2023-11-23). "$13b. in hidden foreign funds linked to 300% antisemitism rise in US universities". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ Bernard, Andrew (2023-11-08). "Report: Concealed foreign funding of US colleges linked to antisemitism". Jewish News Syndicate. Retrieved 24 November 2023.
- ^ Pink, Aiden (31 August 2020). "Think tank failed to disclose six-figure grant from Israeli government". The Forward. Archived from the original on 28 May 2024. Retrieved 20 June 2024.