Middle East Studies Association

Palestine/Israel

September 12, 2024
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Joint Letter With CAF condemning the decimation of the education sector in Gaza

The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association and its Committee on Academic Freedom vehemently condemn the government of Israel’s brutal military campaign against the Palestinian people of Gaza and urgently insist upon its immediate cessation. This letter focuses on the decimation of the education sector in the Gaza Strip through the military’s killing of students, faculty, and staff and its targeted destruction of schools, university buildings, and related facilities. We are especially concerned to underscore the magnitude of the decimation by identifying by name and affiliation as many of the murdered Gazan scholars as is possible at this time.

March 11, 2024
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Joint Statement with CAF regarding the ongoing genocidal violence against the Palestinian people and their cultural heritage in Gaza

The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association and its Committee on Academic Freedom condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing attack on Gaza by the state of Israel, resulting in the widespread destruction of the built environment and civilian infrastructure of the Gaza Strip with the apparent intention of erasing Palestinian heritage, thereby amounting to cultural genocide.

November 21, 2023
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Letter to Biden Administration on Ceasefire in Gaza

Letter on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America calling on the Biden administration to support an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire in — and lifting of the siege on — Gaza.

October 16, 2023
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Statement on Palestine and Israel

The MESA Board of Directors is heartbroken by the loss of Israeli and Palestinian lives over the last week. There can be no justification for the targeting of civilians. We join our members directly affected in grief, and we join all who are committed to a political solution that offers safety, dignity, and equal rights for Palestinians and Israelis. We are deeply concerned about the cumulative effect of the Israeli siege and bombardment of Gaza, resulting in massive death, displacement and destruction — including the bombing of schools and universities — imperiling, among many other things, the possibility of access to education for generations of Gazan students indefinitely. We also reaffirm the right and ability of students, faculty, and staff at universities across North America (and elsewhere) to express their viewpoints free of harassment, intimidation, and threats to their livelihoods and safety. MESA calls on university leaders and administrations to oppose all forms of discrimination, including anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism and anti-Semitism, and to affirmatively assert and protect the right to academic freedom and freedom of speech on their campuses.

- Interventions

September 28, 2023
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint letter from BRISMES, SeSaMO and MESA to Israeli authorities regarding Khaled El Qaisi

The Italian Society for Middle East Studies (SeSaMO), the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) and the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) have written to express concern for the detained Italian-Palestinian student Khaled El Qaisi. SeSaMO, BRISMES and MESA call upon the relevant authorities to intervene to ensure his immediate release.

November 10, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement on Palestinian Civil Society Organizations

MESA has endorsed a statement from Academia for Equality concerning the designation by the Israeli defense minister of six Palestinian civil society organizations as "terrorist" groups.

October 12, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Statement on hacking and cyber surveillance as digital violence

The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America calls for the cessation of state-directed cyber surveillance attacks against members of the academic community. Digital violence, such as hacking, is inimical to academic freedom and basic rights.

- Interventions

May 21, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Statement in Support of Palestinians

MESA’s Board of Directors condemns the ongoing Israeli government assault on the Palestinian people. It views the damaging and targeting of educational facilities and violence toward students and teachers as part of a systematic domination of Palestinians. We recognize there can be no academic freedom and adequate access to education, so long as there is apartheid.

September 12, 2019
Letters and Statements from the Board

Letter to Israel authorities about restrictions on international academics working in Palestinian universities

MESA and other scholarly societies issue letter that calls upon Israel authorities to issue a transparent policy that allows entry and the presence of foreign faculty and staff on Palestinian university campuses in accordance with international humanitarian and human rights law.

July 27, 2017
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA expresses Opposition to the “Israel Anti-Boycott Act” (S. 720 and H.R. 1697)

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) expresses its strong opposition to the “Israel Anti-Boycott Act” (S. 720 and H.R. 1697), currently under consideration by Congress.

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