Saudis Funded Columbia Program At Institute That Trained Teachers
The New York Sun ^ | March 10, 2005 | JACOB GERSHMAN - Staff Reporter of the Sun
 

Saudi Arabia has funneled tens of thousands of dollars into the "outreach" programs of Columbia University's Middle East Institute, which until last week was training some of the city's public-school teachers in how to teach students about Middle East politics.

Since 2002, the government-owned Saudi Aramco has given the institute annual grants of $15,000 for unspecified outreach activities. The institute's outreach activities have included a 15-week teacher-training course on Middle East politics led by Columbia faculty members and graduate students.

In a letter dated April 27, 2004, a scholar of Arab nationalism who took over the Middle East Institute in 2003, Rashid Khalidi, wrote to a senior executive in public affairs at Saudi Aramco, Mustafa Jalali, thanking him for "your generous contribution to the Middle East Institute's outreach activities in 2004." The money, Mr. Khalidi wrote, "will enable us to be more proactive and seek out wider outreach opportunities."
 

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