NEW YORK (WJC)–Anti-Israel and pro-Iranian lecturers received hundreds of thousands of dollars from an Islamic charity in New York believed to be a front for the Iranian regime, the ‘New York Post’ reports.
The Alavi Foundation reportedly supported Middle Eastern and Persian studies programs of Columbia University in New York and Rutgers University in New Jersey, which employ professors sympathetic to the Iranian regime. In one of the donations, US$ 100,000 was transferred to Columbia University. A spokesman for the prestigious university said the school was surprised the Alavi Foundation had direct ties to the Iranian government.
The newspaper also reports that between 2005 and 2007, the foundation had donated over US$ 250,000 to Rutgers University’s Middle Eastern studies department headed by Hooshang Amirahmadi an academic who also heads the American Iranian Council and views Hezbollah and Hamas as legitimate organizations.
In recent weeks, US authorities raided institutions owned by the Alavi Foundation in New York, Maryland and California and filed a request for the seizure of its assets. This followed suspicions of money laundering. If the foreclosure is executed, it would be the largest in American history and would include the bank accounts of Islamic centers including schools and mosques throughout the United States.
*
Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress