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Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc.
3542 N. Geronimo Avenue
Tucson, AZ 85705
520 333-2577 phone
520 207-3166 fax
MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom comprises two sub-committees: MENA (Middle East and North Africa) and NA (North America). The mission of CAF is to address violations by protesting them at the highest government and diplomatic levels of the country where the violation occurs. The cases that CAF has addresses can be viewed in the list of interventions. To learn more about CAF, read the Committee's protocol.
Our letter expressing concern regarding the University of Arkansas’s decision to dismiss tenured Professor Shirin Saeidi despite the unanimous recommendation of the Faculty Hearing Committee that Professor Saeidi not be fired.
Our letter expressing concern about the forced resignation of Dr. Edita Gzoyan, Director of the Armenian Genocide Museum Institute-Foundation (AGMI), following her hosting of U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance at the museum in February 2026, calling for her immediate reinstatement and urging the Armenian government to restore the AGMI's institutional independence and uphold its commitment to academic freedom.
Our letter expressing concern about the sudden and arbitrary removal of Professor Azza Basarudin from her role as faculty advisor to the CSULB student organization Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP)
Our letter protesting the recent targeted killings by Israel's armed forces of two Lebanese professors and calling upon international organizations and actors to to condemn this egregious violation of international law by the government of Israel and demand the immediate cessation of such deliberate attack.
Our letter expressing concern about the recently announced policy at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill that permits the university to record classes without providing notice to, or obtaining consent from, the instructor
Our letter expressing dismay concerning the Los Angeles Public Library’s decision to cancel an event featuring the writers Jenan Matari and Nora Lester Murad that was slated for the library’s 2025 Read Palestine Week, scheduled for 29 November-5 December 2025.
Our letter expressing concern about the university administration's improper demand that Professor Mohja Kahf remove two posters from her office door because they are allegedly discriminatory
Our letter expressing concern about the unprecedented lethal state violence against the nationwide protests in Iran since 28 December 2025, including the killing of over 3,700 civilians and thousands of arrests, among them many students and faculty members, and calling for an immediate end to violence and arrests, and the restoration of internet access.
Our letter expressing concern at the University of Arkansas’s decision to remove Professor Shirin Saeidi from her position as Director of the King Fahd Center for Middle East Studies.
Our letter expressing concern for the decision to suspend without pay Peyrin Kao, a Lecturer in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley, for a six-month term, effective 1 January 2026, for allegedly engaging in Palestine advocacy that violates university policy
Our letter expressing concern about the decision of UMass Amherst to pause, and then cancel, a search under way for a tenure-track assistant professor of the history of the modern Middle East, and to launch, in fall 2025, an entirely new search for the same position
Our letter expressing concern about the University of Guelph’s last-minute decision to cancel the second annual People’s Conference for Palestinian Solidarity which was to convene on 29 November 2025
Our letter to vehemently protest the harassment of the eminent international legal scholar and emeritus professor at Princeton University, Richard Falk by the Canadian border security agency at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on 13 November 2025 as he was on his way to participate in the “Gaza Tribunal” and Canada's Responsibility” in Ottawa, Ontario (14-15 November).
The Committee on Academic Freedom received a response from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville Chancellor in response to our letter regarding Professor Tamar Shirinian
Our letter jointly issued by BRISMES, DAVO, SeSaMO and MESA regarding the cancellation of the symposium “Palestine and Europe” organized by the Chair of Contemporary History of the Arab World at the Collège de France and the CAREP (Arab Center for Research and Political Studies)
Our letter protesting the very recent arrests and summons of five independent scholars accused by the regime of threatening national security, and calling upon the government to desist from its punitive practices and the ongoing violations of citizens’ rights.
Our letter expressing concern about the capricious and hasty suspension of Assistant Professor Tamar Shirinian of the Department of Anthropology at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and your decision to terminate her for remarks she made on social media regarding Charlie Kirk
Our letter expressing concern about the decision to prevent students from enrolling in classes unless they complete the deeply flawed online anti-bias training that Northwestern University has mandated for all undergraduate and graduate students
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
The Committee on Academic Freedom received a response from the Vice President for university relations at the University of Kentucky in response to our letter regarding Professor Ramsi Woodcock
Our letter expressing concern about the University of Kentucky’s summary suspension of Ramsi Woodcock, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs Professor of Law, pending an investigation of statements he has made regarding Palestine
Our urgent letter to the Iranian authorities demanding information about the whereabouts and circumstances of Dr. Ahmadreza Djalali who was moved to an undisclosed location soon after Evin Prison came under Israeli attack on 23 June 2025 and has not had contact with his family since then.
The Committee on Academic Freedom received a response from the Dean of the Claremont Colleges Library in response to our letter regarding Bilal Nasir of Pomona College
Our letter expressing concern about the University of California, Berkeley’s decision to give the federal government the names of 160 individuals associated with allegations of antisemitism on campus without informing them of the nature of those allegations and in violation of university policies and procedures
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.