image sourced from original article at Columbia University's architecture school has come under scrutiny for its partnership with the Beirut Urban Lab, a Lebanese research group co-founded by Ahmad Gharbieh, who previously collaborated with groups supporting Hezbollah. The collaboration, funded by a $350,000 grant from the Ford Foundation, focused on studying housing access for refugees in Beirut. Columbia has denied having any formal agreements with the lab or Gharbieh, and recently removed references to the partnership from its website after media inquiries.
The revelations add to ongoing controversies at Columbia regarding anti-Israel sentiment on campus, including recent reports of instructors making inflammatory statements and student involvement in pro-Hamas activities. The Ford Foundation, which funded the project until 2023, has a history of supporting groups critical of Israel. The situation highlights growing concerns about the intersection of academic research, political activism, and affiliations with groups tied to Middle Eastern conflicts.
