Topping the chart of the truly brilliant propaganda successes those wishing Israel to disappear have achieved since Oct. 7, 2023 has been their skill in establishing the fashionable line that Israel, the victim of a genocidal invasion by those vowing genocide, is actually guilty of genocide. It doesn't get much more brilliant than that.

But honorable mention surely goes to their success in painting the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, supported entirely by American citizens, as nefarious for contributing tens of millions to American political campaigns while Qatar, a repressive Mideast emirate, is spending billions to influence American policy under the radar. This was quite the neat trick, one which warrants a certain grudging respect.

Qatar, whose ties to the Muslim Brotherhood are inarguable and extensive, long hosted Hamas' leadership in its capital; on Oct. 7, footage of Hamas leaders celebrating the mass slaughter of Israelis was filmed there. That day, not unlike the 34 Harvard student organizations that issued a statement blaming Israel for the massacre of Israelis, Qatar declared Israel "solely responsible" for the slaughter of its own people. Qatar has provided about $2 billion to Gaza since Hamas took control of the territory in 2007.

But that is chopped liver compared to what Qatar has pumped into the coffers of American colleges and universities. Clearly, Hamas is not Qatar's favorite donor, at least by the numbers. Qatar, which has only 325,000 of its own citizens, has shown a remarkable interest in the education of American students. The more than $6 billion it has transferred to American educational institutions' bank accounts makes it the largest single foreign donor to American schools. Utilizing vehicles like Qatar Foundation, the Qatar Fund for Development, Qatar Airways and the Qatar Ministry of Education, Qatar plies American educational institutions with gifts, grants, contracts, salaries, programming and buildings — all out of the goodness of its heart. And this doesn't count massive Qatari investments in lobbying and law firms, sporting activities, corporations and real estate. Or the influence it buys on multiple platforms through its media enterprise, Al Jazeera.

There is a mutuality of interests between American higher education and the Qataris that is heartwarming. Qatar wants to give billions to buy influence. American institutions want the billions because, well, you know why. Qatar doesn't want you to know about it. American institutions of higher learning feel the same. As Yenta the Matchmaker in Fiddler on the Roof put it: "It's a perfect match!"

There are laws that are supposed to prevent this kind of secretive influence-peddling by foreign sources. For example, Section 117 of the federal Higher Education Act of 1965 imposes reporting and disclosure requirements for foreign-sourced gifts and contracts exceeding $250,000. Trouble is, for reasons that are probably not immaculately conceived, they have been enforced sporadically, weakly or not at all.

Credit is due where credit is earned: the Trump administration has significantly stepped up enforcement of Section 117, including by initiating compliance investigations, threatening liability under the False Claims Act for false or incomplete reporting of foreign funding and an executive order, "Transparency Regarding Foreign Influence at American Universities," directing agencies to subject foreign influence-peddling at universities to disinfecting sunlight. And the Republican-run House Committee on Education and the Workforce has conducted much-needed investigations of its own.

Perhaps the leading force pushing for disclosure of Qatar's influence-peddling in the courts, Congress, and the public square has been the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. Earlier this month, in response to Qatar's boilerplate claim that questions about its funding constituted "disinformation," the center's CEO, Kenneth Marcus, challenged Qatar to come clean. "There is a straightforward way for the government to demonstrate that public accounts of its activities are inaccurate or misleading," Marcus wrote in a letter to Qatar's embassy. "Full disclosure." He asked Qatar to "provide a complete public accounting ... of the funding and other financial support" that the Qatari government or government-controlled entities had provided to American educational institutions.

Qatar will disclose its conduct when pigs don't merely fly but circumnavigate the globe. But the Brandeis Center's pointed public challenge puts Qatar on the spot. Good for the center for doing so. Even better if Qatar and the grateful recipients of its massive largesse are forced to be transparent — and honest.

Jeff Robbins' latest book, "Notes From the Brink: A Collection of Columns about Policy at Home and Abroad," is available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Apple Books and Google Play. Robbins, a former assistant United States Attorney and United States delegate to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, was chief counsel for the minority of the United States Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. An attorney specializing in the First Amendment and a longtime columnist, he writes on politics, national security, human rights and the Middle East.

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