Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc.
3542 N. Geronimo Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85705
520 333-2577 phone
520 207-3166 fax
Letter urging the Claremont McKenna College administration and faculty to investigate in a thorough and even-handed manner so as to uphold the principles of free speech and academic freedom regarding the demonstration on March 4 held by Students for Justice in Palestine.
Letter regarding the imprisonment of professors Dr. Abdul Rahman Al Shamiri and Dr. Musa Al Qarni, who were arrested, detained, maltreated, tried, and convicted on false and politically motivated charges.
Complaint to UAE officials for denying entry to Dr. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, Co-Director of the Kuwait Research Programme at the London School of Economics (LSE), who on February 22 was denied entry into the United Arab Emirates “for consistently propagated views de-legitimizing the Bahraini monarchy.”
Letter regarding police violence at Ankara’s Middle East Technical University on December 18, 2012, when an extraordinarily large police contingent was deployed. Students were protesting government policies on the regulation of higher education and the attendant violation of student rights during PM Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s visit to the METU campus in connection to the launching of the Göktürk-2 satellite.
Latest attack by Syrian forces at the University of Aleppo where 80 or more are said to have lost their lives, and more than 150 people were injured.
Support of Brooklyn College President Karen Gould’s principled stance regarding the public forum on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign that took place at Brooklyn College on February 7, 2013.
Mounting reports of intimidation and persecution of students and faculty on Marmara University’s campus and alleged actions of the Dean of the Faculty of Communications, Yusuf Devran, which threaten freedom of thought and freedom of research at the university.
Concern regarding the imprisonment and maltreatment of Omid Kokabee, a doctoral student in physics at the University of Texas at Austin, who was arrested in February 2011 during a visit to Iran and incarcerated at Evin Prison without clear charges or a trial for 15 months. He was later sentenced to 10 years in prison on unsubstantiated charges.
Ongoing pattern of arrests and detentions of academics, scholars and students on the basis of their research and scholarship concerning Kurdish issues.
The fourteen-year-long cycle of trials and acquittals that has subjected Pınar Selek, a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science at the University of Strasbourg, to prolonged denial of justice. Selek’s plight has also contributed to a climate of intimidation confronting all scholars, within and outside of Turkey, who wish to conduct research and writing on Kurdish issues.
Allegations of censorship at several Turkish universities where scholarly publications have touched on sensitive subjects such as racism against Africans in Turkey, Kurdish rights or environmental issues.
Letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton about the recent decision by the US Department of State to freeze scholarships in the 2012-13 academic year for Palestinian students from Gaza who seek to further their studies in the West Bank.
Letter to University of Jordan President Ikhleif Tarawneh concerning the early dismissal of Rula Quawas as Dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Jordan University.
Appeal to international committee members who are charged of implementing the recommendation by the Israeli Council of Higher Education’s Sub-Committee for Quality Assessment that new students not be allowed to register in the Department of Politics and Government at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
Letter to Israel’s Minister of Education Gideon Sa’ar regarding recommendation by Israeli Council for Higher Education Subcommittee for Quality to suspend student registration in Ben Gurion University’s Department of Politics and Government for the 2013-14 academic year.
Letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei protesting the recent banning of women from certain university courses under the guise of the implementation of gender segregation at universities.
Letter to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei concerning the restrictions of scholars in Iran to attend the International Society for Iranian Studies conference in Istanbul, Turkey on August 1-5, 2012.
Letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressing dismay and concern over recent remarks by Turkish Minister of the Interior (Içişleri Bakanı) Idris Naim Şahin comparing writing and publishing ideas in support of Kurdish rights to terrorism.
Letter to King Faisal University President and College of Medicine Dean, Bahrain Minister of Higher Education, and Saudi Minister of Higher Education regarding the sustained interruption of study for four medical students at King Faisal University in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Letter to University of California President Mark G. Yudof expressing concerns about the recent report on “University of California Jewish Student Campus Climate” and its recommendations for new hate speech guidelines.
Letter to Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan expressing dismay and concern over March 8th arrest and detention of Müge Tuzcuoğlu, charged under the Anti-Terror Law on grounds that her attendance at training workshops and her presence at two public demonstrations in support of Kurdish rights allegedly link her to the PKK (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan- Kurdistan Workers’ Party).
Letter to Birzeit University President Khalil Hindi regarding the university administration's handling of the controversy surrounding the caricatures Professor Musa Budeiri placed on his office door.
Israeli Government’s ongoing violations against Palestinian education and its denial of Gaza students’ right to study in the West Bank, in particular the cases of four students who had to discontinue their studies in 2000, and are now seeking to resume their studies at Birzeit University, as well as Lujain Zaim who Israel is denying the right to begin university studies there.
New York Times advertisement placed by the David Horowitz Freedom Center that lists 14 professors by name, describing them (in most cases without any specific accusations) as people who “should be publicly shamed and condemned for the crimes their hatred incites.” It thereby suggests that these scholars are complicit in hate crimes merely for expressing their support for the BDS campaign.
Letter to the Bilateral US-Arab Chamber of Commerce regarding its program, Teachers Educating Across Cultures in Harmony (TEACH), aimed at cross cultural exchanges and increased knowledge between educators in the United States and the Arab World. The 5th annual educator trip is planned for the Kingdom of Bahrain and State of Qatar “to raise awareness, understanding, and cooperation between educators in the United States and the Middle East.” The letter asks that the program introduce its participants to the situation of the educational sector in Bahrain.