Middle East Studies Association

All Letters from The Board

October 04, 2022
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement in solidarity with the Iranian academics’ petition in response to the unfolding events in Iran

MESA has endorsed a statement by the Association for Iranian Studies and its Committee on Academic Freedom expressing solidarity with the Iranian academics who have signed a petition in response to the unfolding events in Iran. The petition stresses the right of Iranian women to freely choose their own dress code; calls for abolishing the morality police; and supports the protection of citizenship rights for all Iranians.

March 07, 2022
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement on Discriminatory Treatment meted out to Africans, including Scholars and Students, fleeing the war in Ukraine

MESA has endorsed a statement from the African Studies Association condemning the discriminatory treatment of Africans fleeing Ukraine as a violation of international law. MESA joins the ASA and others in calling on Ukrainian and authorities in neighboring countries to treat all those fleeing the conflict equally, with dignity, and without discrimination based on race or status.

February 28, 2022
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement on Bomb Threats against HBCUs

MESA joins 37 other associations in endorsing a statement by the American Historical Association historicizing and condemning the numerous bomb threats, received by at least 17 Historically Black Colleges and Universities in early 2022, as crimes against Black institutions of higher education and as threats to the Black community.

February 03, 2022
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint Statement in Support of Afghan Scholars and Students

22 ACLS member organizations and 26 other associations or institutions of higher education join MESA, the American Institute for Afghanistan Studies, and Scholars at Risk in urging the Biden Administration to take immediate action to enable the safe and speedy relocation of Afghanistan’s students and scholars.

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

September 17, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement on Threats to Academic Conferences

MESA has endorsed a statement by the American Historical Association condemning the harassment and intimidation of participants, organizers, and university sponsors of the virtual conference “Dismantling Global Hindutva: Multidisciplinary Perspectives.”

August 18, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint letter from MESA and BRISMES regarding proposed University of Cambridge Deal with the UAE

On 18 August 2021, the BRISMES Committee on Academic Freedom and the Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) sent a joint letter to Professor Toope, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cambridge, to express our concern about the proposed academic deal between the University of Cambridge and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and to urge the University of Cambridge to reconsider the proposal.

July 16, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint Letter to President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to Quash Ahmed Samir Santawy’s Verdict

MESA joins a letter amongst 61 NGOs to call on President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi to quash Ahmed Samir Santawy’s verdict.

June 16, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint Statement on Legislative Efforts to Restrict Education about Racism in American History

MESA has endorsed a letter by the American Association of University Professors, the American Historical Association, the Association of American Colleges & Universities, and PEN America stating “firm opposition” to legislation, introduced in at least 20 states, that would restrict the discussion of “divisive concepts” in public education institutions.

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.

May 10, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Statement on Florida law (HB233) allowing recording in the classroom

MESA's Board of Directors calls on university administrators in Florida to support their faculty and speak out against the threat that a new bill poses to academic freedom and free speech rights of both faculty and students, as well as to proper governance and independence of Florida’s colleges and universities.

April 14, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint statement calling for the release of Ahmed Samir Santawy

MESA joins a statement amongst 74 NGOs to call upon the Egyptian authorities to immediately and unconditionally release 29-year-old student and researcher Ahmed Samir Santawy.

March 31, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Statement regarding the IHRA Working Definition of Antisemitism (and “Contemporary Examples”)

MESA expresses its grave concern about a number of the “Contemporary Examples of Antisemitism” that accompany the working definition of antisemitism formulated by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA). MESA therefore encourages the federal, state, provincial, and local governments of the United States and Canada, as well as university and college administrations, to refrain from adopting or making policy based on IHRA's accompanying examples.

- Resources

March 23, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Joint letter to the EU regarding the case of Maâti Monjib

MESA joins a letter with 15 NGOs, led by Reporters Without Borders and Free Press Unlimited, to Josep Borrell and Eamon Gilmore of the European Union concerning the case of the Moroccan historian and journalist Maâti Monjib, which MESA's Committee on Academic Freedom (MENA wing) has followed with growing urgency.

March 22, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement Condemning Anti-Asian Violence

MESA has endorsed a statement by the American Council of Learned Societies strongly condemning anti-Asian violence.

March 03, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Letter to Iowa Lawmakers Opposing Legislation to End Tenure at Public Universities

MESA has endorsed a letter by the American Council of Learned Societies strongly encouraging Iowa lawmakers to vote against bills which would remove tenure for faculty at Iowa's public universities.

February 12, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Statement in Solidarity with Protests at Boğaziçi University

The Board of Directors of the Middle East Studies Association of North America condemns the ongoing and intensified government assault on higher education in Turkey. As a scholarly association, MESA declares its solidarity with student and faculty protestors of the recent developments at Boğaziçi University. We join our voices to the demands raised by faculty and students: academic freedom, freedom of expression, and academic and democratic norms must be respected; and the autonomy of higher education in Turkey must be protected.

January 27, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement Urging Kansas Board of Regents to Uphold Employment Protections for Faculty

MESA has endorsed a statement by the American Council of Learned Societies urging the Kansas Board of Regents to withdraw its endorsement of a proposed policy to suspend, dismiss, or terminate employees, including tenured faculty members, without formally declaring a financial emergency.

January 20, 2021
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement Condemning Report of Advisory 1776 Commission

MESA has endorsed a statement by the American Historical Association condemning the report of the President's Advisory 1776 Commission, which attacks American institutions of higher education without evidence or cause. The 1776 Report omits or criticizes half a century of historical scholarship in favor of extolling a simplistic and tendentious interpretation of our past.

October 30, 2020
Letters and Statements from the Board

Statement on Executive Order on Combating Race and Sex Stereotyping

MESA has endorsed a statement by the American Philosophical Association concerning the threats to academic freedom posed by the Executive Order of September 22, 2020, which seeks to ban recipients of federal funding from instituting workplace training touching on what the order terms “divisive concepts” involving race.

October 29, 2020
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Statement on Academic Freedom and Corporate Control of Digital Platforms

MESA’s Board of Directors calls on university administrators to robustly defend the academic freedom of their faculty, students, and staff within Zoom and other corporate-controlled virtual meeting platforms.

August 13, 2020
Letters and Statements from the Board

ACLS Joint Statement: COVID-19 and the Key Role of the Humanities and Social Sciences in the United States

MESA has signed a statement on behalf of the humanities and social sciences in institutions of American higher education, coordinated in conjunction with the American Council of Learned Societies, attesting to the importance of study and research at this critical moment of crises.

July 08, 2020
Letters and Statements from the Board

Letter to Immigration and Customs Enforcement Concerning Its Decision to End Visa Exemptions for International Students

MESA has cosigned the letter from the MLA and other ACLS constituents to ICE concerning the revocation of temporary visa exemptions for international students and faculty members for the upcoming academic year.

June 29, 2020
Letters and Statements from the Board

MESA Board Statement in solidarity with the uprisings against systemic racism and anti-Blackness

MESA pledges to oppose anti-Black racist violence by addressing the structural injustice at work in our own organization, in the field of Middle East studies, and among communities in the region. Guided by the principles articulated here, we commit to eradicating anti-Blackness in our organization and in the knowledge we produce.

- Interventions

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