NEW YORK – The Zionist Organization of America today praised Harvard University for deciding to return a $2.5 million donation by Sheik Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The contribution was intended to endow a chair of Islamic studies at one of America’s most prestigious institutions of higher education.

However; ZOA National President Morton A. Klein noted that “Sheik Zayed has a history of supporting the most extreme and vile anti-Semitic and anti-Israel propaganda, through his support for the ‘Zayed International Center for Coordination and Follow-Up,’ located in Abu Dhabi.”

Klein continued, “The Zayed International Center has hosted an Arab writer who repeated the most foul and disreputable anti-Semitic blood libel, claiming that Jews use human blood for ritual purposes, as well as a French author who alleged that the September 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. were the work of Israel. Encouragement of such repellent views cannot be considered a legitimate part of any civilized dialogue, and those who provide them with a platform have no place in American academic life.”

Klein also expressed his appreciation for Jewish and other students at Harvard who had mobilized to demand rejection of the gift, led by divinity school student Rachel Fish. He said: “These students have provided a model example of campus activism for a wholesome and beneficial commitment to defend America and Israel against Arab extremism. Harvard does not need the sheik’s money.”