Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc.
3542 N. Geronimo Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85705
520 333-2577 phone
520 207-3166 fax
The Committee on Academic Freedom received a response from the Executive Correspondence Officer for the Prime Minister of Canada in response to our letter regarding visas and study permits for Palestinian scholars
Our letter urging an immediate intervention to expedite the visa and study permit applications of Palestinian scholars who have secured academic placements at Canadian universities.
Our letter to the president and provost of York University expressing concern about a recent incident involving police disruption of an academic lecture.
MESA has created a new Campus Climate resource page for our members in response to academic freedom-related developments on campuses across North America and beyond.
Letter to the provost of McGill University protesting the threat to sanction the Students' Society of McGill University.
Letter to the president of the University of Toronto protesting the rescinding of the offer of employment to Dr. Valentina Azarova.
Letter to Canadian Prime Minister Trudeau and Heritage Minister Rodriguez objecting to the flawed definition of antisemitism used by the government's antiracism strategy.
Letter to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and parliamentary leaders regarding the motion passed by Canada's parliament denouncing the BDS movement.
Letter to York University President Mamdouh Shukri expressing concern about the response to on-campus political advocacy including sanctioning a student by banning him from being on York University property until April 2014.
Letter to Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada President Chad Gaffield expressing concern about his organization's use of a politicized referee's report to evaluate a research proposal submitted by University of Toronto Professor Jens Hanssen.
Letter to McGill University administrators for pressure put on members of its faculty who have expressed solidarity with the strike called by the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA).
Response to the July 7, 2011, Canadian Parliamentary Coalition to Combat Antisemitism (CPCCA) report whose loose and overly broad definition of antisemitism may threaten freedom of speech and violate the principles of academic freedom by defining criticism of Israeli policies, of Zionism or of Israel as a self-defined Jewish state as inherently antisemitic.
Remarks by two members of Ontario’s Legislative Assembly, and by Ontario’s Minister of Citizenship and Immigration, with regard to the contents of a thesis accepted by a master’s program at the University of Toronto. These assertions inappropriately conflate criticism of Zionism and Israel with anti-Semitism. They also evince a disregard for the principles of academic freedom and threaten the autonomy of Canadian universities.
Response from the Office of the Hon. Gary Goodyear to June 19, 2009 letter regarding a second review of the grant-in-aid secured from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
Three letters sent regarding the request by the Minister of State (Technology and Science) Gary Goodyear for a second review of the grant-in-aid secured from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The grant helped fund the York University conference, Israel/Palestine: Mapping Models of Statehood and Paths to Peace. The three letters were sent to Minister Gary Goodyear, SSHRC President Chad Gaffield, and York University President Mamdouh Shoukri. [A reply from Minister Goodyear’s office received June 22, 2009.]