Simone Weichselbaum

Examining foreign influence in our K-12 schools at @fdd Formers: @NBCInvestigates @MarshallProj @NYDailyNews @PhillyDailyNews. @Penn Criminology MS grad.

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

After @MikaHackner broke the news via posting an internal memo that @QFIntl announced it was winding down operations. QFI - the foundation tied to the Qatari ruling royal family - took down parts of its website, including the grants page.
As I reported with @FDD, QFI was paying the salaries of U.S. K-12 public school teachers via these grants.
What happens this morning when you Google QFI Grants ⬇️
Curious as to why? 🤔

[Natalie Ecanow @NatalieEcanow]

1/ I spent over a year documenting Qatar's financial footprint in the United States.

The number I found? $400 billion. That's roughly $1.2 million per Qatari citizen.

Here's what you should know. 🧵
https://t.co/0ho38eUx4t

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

Important and first of its kind examination into Qatari funding across many U.S institutions and industries by my colleague @NatalieEcanow @FDD

[FDD @FDD]

Qatar has spent at least $400 billion in the U.S. since 2000 — roughly $1.2 million per Qatari citizen. @NatalieEcanow spent more than a year tracking Qatari spending in the U.S.

Her new memo maps the full picture and begs the question of when foreign investment becomes foreign influence: https://t.co/qgjhLlLTsw

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

And what I found in Georgia with @FDD @FreeBeacon https://t.co/Poup3HJHkL

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

Curious that @QFIntl will “wind down” just a few months after I published examinations into their footprint in Texas and Georgia 🤔

[Mika Hackner @MikaHackner]

Well this interesting.

Qatar Foundation International "to wind down operations." Existing programs will "conclude" or "evolve" under the control of "local institutions."

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

Here’s my recent @FDD @RealClearEd Texas dig into @QFI https://t.co/pC9rID5qZJ

[Gordon G. Chang @GordonGChang]

President Trump, please ban these educational—propaganda—partnerships.

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

The Chinese government shaping what kids learn in U.S K-12 schools? My teammate @JenRichmond unraveled the paper trail in @thehill @FDD https://t.co/yj7BZPxUyE

[Jennifer Richmond @JenRichmond]

If your child is learning Chinese in a public school, the curriculum may have been shaped by the Chinese Communist Party.

Here's how Beijing kept its foothold in American classrooms — even after Congress forced Confucius Institutes to close. 🧵

New from me @FDD at @TheHillOpinion:
https://t.co/aTOxpegzmK

[Leo Terrell @LeoTerrellDOJ]

Great question!

@SFSU

@IsraelWarRoom @realDonaldTrump @POTUS @DAGToddBlanche @ASGWoodward

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

Let me get this straight, an arm of the PLO-designated by Congress as a terror org - called The General Union of Palestine Students (GUPS), is on @SFSU campus, holds events with people convicted for being in terror groups? And takes students/faculty abroad to meet them?
My colleague @NomiFried argues it’s time for the feds to enforce the Anti-Terrorism Act @FDD @JNS_org https://t.co/TS1txyPZmH

[Naomi Friedman @NomiFried]

While debate rages about students expressing support for terrorist groups, an official branch of a terrorist organization is operating at San Francisco State University--in violation of the Antiterrorism Act of 1987! Learn more in my article in @JNS_org . https://t.co/V4PrH3kKGg

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

My @FDD examination into @QFIntl , the ruling Qatari royal family’s charity, and its funding of schools and teacher salaries in @AustinISD + @HoustonISD, found:
* Qatari influence paid for books and curricula materials.
*QFI programs in Austin used books from the Middle East that promoted an antisemitic conspiracy theory, used maps that erased Israel, and taught Islamic religious thought.
* QFI sent classroom observers to public school classrooms and told teachers how to teach

https://t.co/lwHwytED4v

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

5/ Qatar and @QFIntl has already planted its roots in Texas. How many more classrooms across more states has QFI seeped its way into?
Check out my latest here w/ @FDD and @RealClearEd https://t.co/pC9rID5qZJ
🔚

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

Qatari officials claim @QFIntl gives modest grants to teach Arabic in U.S. public K-12 schools.

But Qatar pumps billions into U.S. universities. 
I investigated what they're doing in Texas K-12 public schools. Here's what I found 👇
🧵below

https://t.co/pC9rID5qZJ

[Simone Weichselbaum @SimoneJWei]

4/ The most invasive @QFIntl endeavor was a QFI study to track how low-income students absorb Arabic instruction in Houston and in three other QFI-affiliated schools in Baltimore, Brooklyn, and Los Angeles. The study also collected student race data. And how many could do math or read English at or below grade level.

[FDD @FDD]

In Texas K-12 Public Schools, Qatari Money Funded Jewish Conspiracy Content

@SimoneJWei in @RealClearEd: https://t.co/Txm6UFX785