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MESA President Ussama Makdisi and others to speak at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding Trump administration's suppression of pro-Palestinian speech and its threats to academic freedom on university and college campuses.
MESA's Academic Freedom Initiative has released a major new report, Lessons in Repression: Silencing Campus Workers on Palestine Since October 7, 2023. The report shows how higher education institutions converged with government and outside actors to retaliate against employees speaking out for Palestinian rights.
MESA Past President Aslı Bâli has written an article in the latest issue of MERIP entitled "Fighting the Campus Crackdown: Why the Middle East Studies Association Took the Trump Administration to Court."
MESA’s Task Force on Civil and Human Rights established the Academic Freedom Initiative (AFI) in October 2024 to produce analysis and resources for MESA members and the wider public to support academic freedom and to challenge repression on North American campuses. The AFI website includes data on topics such as Title VI lawsuits, congressional hearings of higher education representatives, cases of retaliation against employees on university and college campuses, and information about interference with campus events related to Palestine since October 7, 2023. The website also features resources for academic freedom advocacy and Know Your Rights and FAQ documents about visa and immigration issues.
Following the September 30 ruling by Judge William G. Young regarding the lawsuit AAUP v. Rubio lawsuit in which MESA is a plaintiff, Judge Young's order makes it clear that the administration’s ideological deportation policy must stop.
Trump administration letter from the Treasury Department characterized as “interpretive guidance,” makes clear that hosting a speech by Albanese, asking her questions, and sharing research and scholarship with her are “not prohibited” under U.S. sanctions law.
On November 23, 2025, MESA awarded 19 individuals for excellence in scholarship, mentoring, and service.
Judge William G. Young today ruled that the Trump administration’s policy of arresting, detaining, and deporting noncitizen students and faculty members for their pro-Palestinian advocacy violates the First Amendment.
MESA welcomes a court decision striking down the Trump administration’s freezing of over $2 billion in federal grants to Harvard University.
MESA has filed an amicus curiae brief in support of Harvard University in its federal lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s funding cuts.
A federal judge has ruled that the case of AAUP v. Rubio can move forward. The lawsuit alleges that the administration’s ideological-deportation policy violates the First Amendment by targeting constitutionally protected speech that Americans have a right to hear and engage with.
The American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) today filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in their lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in pro-Palestinian protests and other protected First Amendment activities.
The Middle East Studies Association (MESA) and the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) today filed a lawsuit seeking to block the Trump administration from carrying out large-scale arrests, detentions, and deportations of noncitizen students and faculty members who participate in pro-Palestinian protests and other protected First Amendment activities.
MESA’s Academic Freedom Initiative will support data collection and analysis as well as dissemination of findings regarding academic freedom in the context of scholarship and teaching in Middle East studies.
Georgetown University's Center for Contemporary Arab Studies Welcomes the MESA Secretariat
The 2023 MESA Academic Freedom Award has been goes to Professor Abduljalil Al-Singace for his unwavering courage and steadfastness in the face of more than a decade of repression and torture
On November 3, 2023, MESA awarded 21 individuals for excellence in scholarship, mentoring, and service.
The 2022 MESA Academic Freedom Award has been given to 6 Palestinian NGOs — Addameer, Al-Haq, Bisan Center for Research and Development, Defense for Children International - Palestine, Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees, and the Union of Agricultural Work Committees — for their decades-long pursuit of academic freedom, courageous resilience, and contributions to the field of Middle East Studies.
On December 2, 2022, MESA awarded 17 individuals for excellence in scholarship, mentoring, and service, and to 6 Palestinian NGO's for their decades-long pursuit of academic freedom, courageous resilience, and contributions to the field of Middle East Studies.
The membership of MESA has voted in favor of a resolution endorsing the Palestinian call for boycotts, divestment, and sanctions of Israel as a way to hold the government accountable for ongoing human rights violations. MESA’s Board of Directors will implement it in a manner consistent with MESA’s bylaws as well as relevant U.S. federal, state, and local laws. The resolution states that the boycott will not target individual students or scholars, and reiterates the right of individual MESA members to choose whether or not they wish to participate in an academic boycott of Israeli institutions.
The 2021 MESA Academic Freedom Award has been given to the student and faculty protest movement at Boğaziçi University.
On December 1, 2021, MESA awarded 20 individuals for excellence in scholarship, mentoring, and service, and to faculty, students, and alumni of Boğaziçi University for defending academic freedom
Fourteen individuals in nine categories including the Academic Freedom Award, Mentoring, Service, and three book awards, were honored at MESA's 2020 Awards Ceremony held October 11, 2020,
MESA awarded 14 individuals for excellence in scholarship, mentoring, service, and defending academic freedom on October 11, 2020.
Press release regarding MESA's first virtual conference (#MESA2020), which will take place live October 5-17, 2020.