However, at least one education writer thinks the announcement is a smokescreen.
Although Laurie Higgins of Breakthrough Ideas approves the move to end Northwestern University collaboration with the media conglomerate, she says it's just a fig leaf. She complains Northwestern still maintains academic ties with the Qatar Foundation.
The Qatar Foundation is a state-led non-profit organization founded in 1995 by then-Emir Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani and his second wife Moza bint Nasser Al-Missned.
Headquartered in Education City, Doha, Qatar, the organization says it aims to support and operate programs in three core mission areas: education, science and research, and community development.
Qatar's ties to Hamas
“The Qatar Foundation pays American professors, funds research, trains K-12 teachers and organizes pro Hamas events on campus without registering under the Foreign Agents Registration Act,” Higgins said.
Among initiatives established by the group are its World Innovation Summit for Education and World Innovation Summit for Health.
It’s mission states says the foundation strives to “contribute to human development nationally and regionally.”
Higgins says the biggest concern is Qatar the nation has come under fire for strongly supporting Hamas, financing and even providing accommodations for Hamas terrorist leaders.
"They haven't cut ties to their own campus, and they're probably, still receiving millions of dollars. So what's happening is whatever ideas we have like in science and technology, they're going to take those ideas and run with it to advance their interests, and then they're going to secrete their ideas into American universities."
The Coalition Against Anti-Semitism at Northwestern is calling on the school to not only cut ties with Al Jazeera but Qatar as well.
