Infiltrating the Classroom: ISGAP Report Exposes Qatar-Funded Anti-Israel Bias in U.S. K-12 Curriculum

Edited by: Fern Sidman

A newly released and deeply troubling report by the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) has unveiled what it describes as a deliberate and systematic campaign to embed anti-Israel narratives and foreign influence into the fabric of America’s K-12 education system. The investigative findings center on Brown University’s widely adopted Choices Program, an educational curriculum used in over 8,000 schools across all 50 states, reaching more than one million students annually.

At the heart of ISGAP’s report lies a serious allegation: the Choices Program is operating with undisclosed foreign funding—primarily from Qatar—and has become a vehicle for the institutional spread of anti-Israel propaganda, historical distortions, and political bias under the guise of civic education. The implications of this infiltration, both pedagogically and legally, have now rippled across Capitol Hill, prompting heightened scrutiny from policymakers and federal agencies.

According to ISGAP, Qatar Foundation International (QFI)—a well-documented instrument of Qatari soft power and influence abroad—has played an under-the-radar but pivotal role in shaping the Choices Program’s content and delivery. The report alleges that QFI’s support is neither disclosed to schools nor made public through Brown University’s financial reporting, potentially violating the Higher Education Act’s Section 117, which mandates that universities report foreign gifts and contracts exceeding $250,000.

This lack of transparency, the report contends, allows foreign governments to effectively circumvent federal oversight mechanisms while shaping American public education in ways that serve their geopolitical agendas.

Perhaps most alarming is the gradual but calculated shift in the curriculum’s content over the past decade, as documented by ISGAP. The report outlines numerous instances of historical revisionism, selective omission, and ideological framing designed to delegitimize Israel and promote a one-sided narrative of the Middle East conflict.

Among the specific changes highlighted are maps omitting Jerusalem as Israel’s capital, thereby echoing the political positions of nations hostile to Israel’s sovereignty, the removal of key historical documents, such as U.N. resolutions recognizing Israel’s right to exist or peace accords signed with Arab neighbors, a conspicuous lack of representation of Israeli narratives, particularly in topics concerning security, diplomacy, and human rights as well as teaching materials that portray the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in binary moral terms, often casting Israel as a colonial aggressor while sanitizing or omitting context around terrorism and regional incitement.

These pedagogical shifts are not minor editorial decisions—they represent, according to ISGAP, a strategic effort to indoctrinate rather than educate, cloaking political dogma in the language of multicultural civics.

The report has already made its way to key decision-makers within the federal government, including the Departments of Education and Justice. On Capitol Hill, the revelations have galvanized concern from members of Congress across party lines.

ISGAP’s report also raises serious questions about the Choices Program’s legal and financial architecture, suggesting that it is intentionally structured to evade scrutiny while leveraging Brown University’s academic legitimacy. Although housed at Brown, the program reportedly operates with considerable independence, functioning almost as a hybrid private-public entity with ambiguous legal status.

This structure, the report warns, makes it exceedingly difficult to determine the true origin of funding, the extent of foreign involvement, or the accountability mechanisms in place. Additionally, ISGAP noted potential risks to student and teacher data privacy, citing concerns about third-party access to sensitive information due to the digital nature of the curriculum and its distribution systems.

Dr. Charles Asher Small, ISGAP’s Executive Director, said:  “This is a direct attempt to manipulate American students by embedding ideologically motivated foreign propaganda in their education. Foreign entities with known ties to extremist ideologies should not be shaping how our children learn about history and the Middle East. The lack of transparency and oversight in this case is a threat to educational integrity and democratic values. American students should not be used as pawns in foreign propaganda campaigns. It is time to demand transparency, accountability, and an end to the silent manipulation of our children’s education.”

Congressman Kevin Kiley from California, Chair of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education of the House Education & Workforce Committee, noted, “I am grateful that the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy (ISGAP) has dedicated significant effort to investigating antisemitism and foreign influence in K-12 curriculum. As Chairman of the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education, I recently co-led the PROTECT Our Kids Act to prevent federal education funds from supporting schools partnered with or funded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). Similarly, ISGAP’s latest report suggests foreign influence from Qatar has infiltrated the Choices Program hosted at Brown University, a curriculum widely adopted in K-12 schools across the country. I look forward to working with ISGAP and colleagues on both sides of the aisle to assure foreign influence does not promote antisemitism at American schools,” said Rep. Kiley.

Francene D. Reichel Sokol, Ph.D, admin of the Facebook Group, ‘Mothers Against College Antisemitism’ added, “The findings in this report are deeply alarming. Brown University’s Choices Program is not just an academic curriculum—it is a vehicle for foreign influence and the systematic indoctrination of students against Israel. The lack of transparency, the distortion of historical facts, and the documented involvement of Qatari funding underscore the urgent need for oversight and accountability in K-12 education. No parent should have to worry that their child’s education is being manipulated by undisclosed foreign interests. We call on policymakers and school districts to take immediate action to ensure that our classrooms remain places of learning, not propaganda”.

The ISGAP report is more than just a critique of one university program—it is a wake-up call for the broader American education system. It raises urgent questions about how foreign actors exploit academic institutions, the vulnerability of digital curricula to ideological manipulation, and the need for robust safeguards to ensure educational integrity and national sovereignty in the classroom.

It also highlights the ethical responsibility of educators, administrators, and policymakers to scrutinize the materials shaping young minds. As the controversy surrounding the Choices Program unfolds, it is likely to ignite a larger national conversation about foreign funding transparency, ideological bias in public education, and the imperative to protect students from covert indoctrination.

In the words of one ISGAP researcher, “What begins as a history lesson can, without oversight, become a tool of influence—one that teaches not just facts, but agendas.”

In response to the report, calls are intensifying for federal investigations, increased enforcement of disclosure laws under the Department of Education, and the creation of review mechanisms for third-party educational content in K-12 systems. Several education watchdogs have joined ISGAP in demanding full public disclosure of foreign funding sources for all educational programs used in U.S. public schools, congressional hearings on the role of QFI and similar entities in shaping curricula, immediate audits of the Choices Program’s content and contractual relationships and parental access to all instructional materials used in classrooms.

Whether these measures will be enacted remains to be seen. But one thing is clear: the intersection of foreign influence, educational content, and antisemitism is no longer a hypothetical concern—it is now a documented reality.

And the classroom has become its newest battleground.