Letters on Israel

November 11, 2009

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Minister of Defense Ehud Barak
Mr. George J. Mitchell, US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace
H.E. Michael B. Oren, Ambassador of Israel to the US

Gentlemen,

I write on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) to you to express our concern regarding the arrest and subsequent deportation to Gaza by Israeli authorities of Ms. Berlanty Azzam, a 21-year-old student of business translation who was weeks away from completing her degree at Bethlehem University.

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 3000 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

Ms. Azzam began her studies at Bethlehem University in 2005 after Israeli authorities granted her a permit to travel across Israel from Gaza to the West Bank. This travel permit was not subsequently renewed, so in order to complete her degree, she remained in Bethlehem, unable to see her family for four years. On October 28, 2009, she was stopped at a roadside checkpoint in the West Bank and was detained, as best we can ascertain, solely because she is legally a resident of Gaza. Despite appeals by the university and human-rights groups she was then deported.

The Israeli military policy of banning Palestinian residents of Gaza from studying at Palestinian universities in the West Bank, and of arresting West Bank-resident Palestinian students with Gaza identity cards such as Ms. Azzam and sending them back to the coastal strip is a drastic and unwarranted denial of academic freedom as well as a form of collective punishment, which, as you know, is forbidden under humanitarian international law. According to the Israeli Human Rights organization Gisha, Ms. Azzam’s case is the sixth in less than two weeks involving Gazans arrested at the same checkpoint.

As a committee of MESA charged with monitoring infringements on academic freedom, CAF members are very troubled by the action taken against Ms. Azzam and what it implies about Israel’s policies toward academic freedom. We have written several letters in the past several years, the most recent dated 1 May 2008, expressing our concern specifically over the issue of the impact of travel restrictions on students from Gaza. Israel has the responsibility to ensure the Right to Education as enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which it ratified in 1991. If there is evidence of Ms. Azzam’s constituting a security threat, we urge you to produce it and process her case through established judicial channels. If not, we ask that you to allow her immediately to return to Bethlehem to complete her degree.

The ongoing disruption of Palestinian education constitutes a violation of a basic human right that will have long-term and negative political, economic, and humanitarian consequences for all peoples involved. We call on the Israeli government to create a reliable policy that will allow students from Gaza to undertake and complete university education outside the Strip.

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Virginia H. Aksan
MESA President
Professor of History, McMaster University

October 7, 2009

Mr. Eliyahu Yishai, Minister of the Interior, Israel
Mr. Daniel Rubenstein, US Consul General, Jerusalem
Mr. George J. Mitchell, US Special Envoy for Middle East Peace
H.E. Michael B. Oren, Ambassador of Israel to the US

Gentlemen,

I write on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) to ask about the reasons for Rima Najjar Merriman, a citizen of the US and Assistant Professor of American Literature at the Arab American University in Jenin (AAUJ), to have been denied entry into the West Bank at Allenby on September 14, 2009.

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 3000 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

Professor Merriman has been employed at AAUJ for 2 1/2 years and has been allowed to enter the West Bank at Allenby without difficulty each academic year until now. Each time that she entered, she was given a tourist visa stamped “not permitted to work,” even though the authorities at Allenby had full knowledge of her employment at AAUJ. Heretofore, her tourist visa was extended by Beit El through the PA Ministry of Interior for the remainder of the academic year. To this end, Beit El routinely requested work contracts to verify her employment at a Palestinian institution.

From all that we have learned of this incident, we are persuaded that Prof. Merriman has done everything possible to remain within the restrictions imposed by Israel on international academics who seek to enter and reside in the West Bank to teach at Palestinian institutions. Now, however, it appears that new rules are being applied – rules that prevent educators like Prof. Merriman from teaching at AAUJ and her Palestinian students from benefitting from her instruction.

What, then, prompts these changes in policy? And why was Professor Merriman denied entry even though several of her colleagues who teach in the English Department at AAUJ successfully entered the West Bank a week or so before her? Although it now appears that Professor Merriman has been allowed to enter the West Bank, the decision to deny her entry on September 14 and send her back to Amman is unduly capricious. Moreover, it places undue burdens on those who are trying to fulfill their contractual agreements with Palestinian institutions of higher education. And it also creates enormous difficulties for the administrators of those institutions as they seek to attract foreign faculty members.

Such restrictions, as well as the recent practice of stamping the passports of US citizens of Arab descent who are allowed to enter the West Bank with the proviso “PA Territories Only,” are discriminatory. To make matters worse, there is no procedure available in current Israeli administrative regulations that will allow Prof. Merriman or other US citizens of Arab descent to protest such discrimination and seek redress.

The policy, if it is a policy rather than a simple mistake that can easily be corrected by providing Allenby officials with better instructions, is both illegal and short-sighted. It is illegal insofar as it puts Israel in violation of UN regulations governing the obligations of an occupying power, and it is short-sighted insofar as it deprives Palestinians of the very education that will allow them to participate fully in the viable society Israel claims to desire for them.

As a committee of MESA charged with monitoring infringements on academic freedom, CAF members are very troubled by the action taken against Prof. Merriman and what it implies about Israel’s attitude toward academic freedom. In that spirit, I write to urge that you investigate this incident and then explain on what grounds the initial refusal to admit Prof. Merriman was warranted. Since our committee has written several letters to different officers in the Israeli government recently to protest infringements of academic freedom, it would be both instructive and productive for a few members of the committee resident in the Washington D.C. to meet with Amb. Oren or the academic liaison at the Israeli Embassy and explore how such difficulties might be avoided in the future.

I await your response.

Virginia H. Aksan
MESA President
Professor of History, McMaster University

27 August 2009

Professor Rivka Carmi
President, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Israel

Fax: 972-8-6472991
president@bgu.ac.il

Dear Prof. Carmi:

On behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) I write to express our grave concern over your recent comments approving Ben-Gurion University’s search for legal means to dismiss Senior Lecturer and Chair of the Government and Politics Department, Neve Gordon. These comments came in response to an opinion piece published by Dr. Gordon in the Los Angeles Times on 21 August, in which he called for a comprehensive boycott of his country as a means to pressure Israel to end its occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The threat of dismissal against a tenured faculty member because of opinions he expresses on a subject of regular debate in his country flies in the face of academic freedom, a freedom that Ben-Gurion University has committed itself to uphold. We therefore urge you to publicly rescind this threat and to fulfill your primary duty as university president to affirm and protect the rights of all members of the university community to express their opinions without fear of censure or punishment.

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, MESA publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 3000 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

CAF does not challenge the right of you or anyone else at the university to disagree, even vehemently, with the views of another faculty member. But it is precisely in moments of political crisis that the principles of academic freedom are tested. In your public statements since August 22, you have added to the popular campaign of vilification mounted against Professor Gordon in the media by repeating, without contesting, the extremely damaging charge that his article amounts to treason against the state. Similarly, your reference to his views as “destructive” and an “abuse of the freedom of speech prevailing in Israel and at Ben-Gurion University,” and your suggestion that academics with such views should “consider another professional and personal home” cast an alarming chill on the free exchange of ideas that is foundational to the academic enterprise and to democratic governance more generally. Indeed, Article 2 of BGU’s own Academic Code affirms that the university “will not discriminate in its activities against any person for reasons of race, religion, nationality, gender, or political views [and] will act to protect academic freedom.” Article 4c of your university’s Code of Ethics further clarifies “in addition to their academic freedoms, researchers of the university enjoy all civic freedoms enjoyed by every citizen of the state, including freedoms of expression and organization... Researchers are authorized to express their political or religious opinions without incitement and are authorized to act to implement them using legal means.”

In refusing to reiterate the university’s obligation to protect Dr. Gordon’s professional and civil freedoms and in failing to clarify that it will not be blackmailed into suspending the freedoms of particular faculty members that some donors do not like, your administration has given a green light to those attacking him and in some cases threatening his physical safety. We hope you will realize the importance of doing everything in your power to end the intimidation against Dr. Gordon by reaffirming his academic right to free expression as guaranteed by the by-laws of your university. In doing this you would be following the exemplary lead of your colleague Zvi Galil, the former president of Tel Aviv University, who in May 2009 rejected popular pressure to expel Omar Barghouti, an MA student in philosophy, because of his work with the international Boycott-Divestment-Sanctions movement against the Israeli occupation.

We look forward to hearing from you.

Virginia H. Aksan
MESA President
Professor of History, McMaster University

May 27, 2009

Mr. Eli Yishai
Minister of the Interior
2 Kaplan Street, Kiryat Ben-Gurion
Israel

via fax 011-972-2-670-1628

Dear Minister Yishai,

I write on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) to inquire about the reasons why Dr. Nicola Pratt, Lecturer in Comparative Politics & International Relations in the School of Political, Social & International Studies at the University of East Anglia in Norwich, UK was refused entry into the Occupied Palestinian Territories on 22 April, 2009 at the Allenby Bridge Crossing.

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 3000 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

According to information received from Dr. Pratt, she had been invited to the Institute for Women’s Studies at Bir Zeit University so that she might visit with faculty, staff, and students and also conduct two seminars about her research on gender and conflict in the Middle East. She was in possession of a formal invitation from the director of the Institute for Women’s Studies at Bir Zeit University, Prof. Islah Jad, as well as relevant contact information. Nonetheless, Dr. Pratt was forced to wait for 5 hours at Allenby Bridge and was then refused entry without explanation.

Moreover, Dr. Pratt’s experience comes against the backdrop of a sharp rise in Israel’s denial of tourist or work visas to visiting international faculty at West Bank Palestinian universities since 2006. Bir Zeit University has been particularly damaged by this practice: in 2006 alone one half of its foreign passport-holding staff were deported or denied re-entry.

As a committee of MESA charged with monitoring infringements on academic freedom, CAF is very troubled by the action taken against Dr. Pratt and concerned about what it may imply regarding Israeli policy toward academic freedom in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. In that spirit, I urge you to investigate this incident and then either explain why the refusal to admit Dr. Pratt was warranted, or ensure that she will be allowed to visit Bir Zeit University in the near future.

I look forward to your response.

Virginia Aksan
President, Middle East Studies Association
Professor, McMaster University

21 May 2009

Professor Zvi Galil
President
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv, Israel

Dear Professor Galil:

On behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, I am writing to you to express our strong support for your letter of May 3, 2009 regarding Omar Barghouti, a Tel Aviv University master’s student of philosophy.

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 3000 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

Generally, the Committee’s work consists of highlighting threats and infringements on academic freedom. When we write to university or government officials in North America or the Middle East, it is usually to express concern or dismay. It is a pleasure in this case to write expressing commendation. Your letter regarding Mr. Barghouti, a student leading a campaign to boycott Israeli universities, is an admirably succinct and eloquent statement of the principle of academic freedom. We are happy to endorse it, all the more because you took this position even though the campaign in question would target your university among others.

Respectfully,
Virginia H. Aksan
MESA President
Professor of History, McMaster University

Reply received 21 June 2009
19 June 2009

Professor Virginia H. Aksan
MESA President
Middle East Studies Association of North America Inc
1219 N Santa Rita Ave
University of Arizona
Tucson AZ 85721
USA

By Fax: ++1 520 626 9095

Dear Professor Aksan,

Allow me to express my sincere thanks to the Committee on Academic Freedom of the MESA of North America for your letter of encouragement and praise in the wake of Tel Aviv University’s rigorous upholding of academic freedom in the matter of student Omar Barghouti.

Pluralism is a central tenet of Tel Aviv University, a doctrine forming the basis of its very existence and its societal role.  Hence, the diversity of racial and ethnic or cultural groups is accepted, and it is on academic criteria, not on political viewpoint, that a student’s standing is determined.

It is against this background that we object to the unjust and unwarranted imposition of an academic boycott against Israel’s universities, particularly against a liberal university such as ours which, as you have stated, defends the values of academic freedom.  Such a boycott, threatening the continued academic work of thousands of professors and students, would serve to undo much of what we have accomplished in upholding the democratic values of liberal tolerance.  It would be counter-productive and more allied to the hate propaganda of a number of radicals that have permeated academic and in doing so undermine society rather than engage in pursuit of knowledge and academic discussion of all issues, including controversial ones.

We are appreciative of your praise for our endeavors.  In the same spirit that you have spoken out in the interests of one student, we truest you will act to support Israeli universities against these ongoing boycott efforts.

Sincerely,
Zvi Galil

cc:   Prof Dany Leviatan, Rector

5 January 2009

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
3 Kaplan St., Qiryat Ben-Gurion
PO Box 187
91919 Jerusalem
Israel

via fax: 972-2-6512631

Dear Prime Minister Olmert:

I write to you on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) to express our grave concern about the 27 December missile strike which killed eight students outside the Gaza Training College in Gaza City and about the bombing of the Gaza Islamic University on 29 December, both part of your government’s current military attacks against the Gaza Strip.

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 3000 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

On December 27, the first day of your government’s aerial attacks, witnesses reported to Human Rights Watch that an Israeli air-to-ground missile struck a group of students leaving the Gaza Training College, adjacent to the headquarters of the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) in downtown Gaza City. The students were waiting to board buses to transport them to their homes in Khan Yunis and Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. The strike killed eight students, ages 18 to 20, and wounded 19 others.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education of 29 December 2008, two Islamic University structures -- the science-laboratory block and the Women’s Building, where women studied in classrooms separate from those for male students-- were hit by Israeli bombs.  We are aware of the IDF claim that the science laboratory facilities were used as “a research and development center for Hamas weapons, including Qassam rockets.”  However Gaza Islamic University officials have denied these claims.  Such an attack would be lawful only if the Government of Israel can demonstrate that the university was in fact being used for military purposes. If the Government of Israel has proof of the university’s facilities being used for such purposes, we urge it to adduce that evidence immediately. We are aware of no claims, however, regarding the Women's Building except that supporters of Hamas study there or regarding the Training College.  Such impermissibly broad targeting would be a violation of Israel's international commitments.    

In March 2008 we wrote to Ismail Haniyah urging him to use his authority to halt the activities of armed groups engaged in indiscriminate rocket fire against Israeli towns bordering Gaza.  Our letter was triggered by the 27 February 2008 bombardment of Sderot, during which around 50 rockets hit the western Negev, one of which slammed into Sapir College near Sderot killing Roni Yechiah, a 47-year-old student.

In the context of the current Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip we are writing to remind you that your government has the responsibility to ensure the Right to Education as enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which it ratified in 1991. The disruption of Palestinian education caused by the deliberate destruction of academic facilities constitutes a violation of a basic human right that will have long-term and negative political, economic, and humanitarian consequences for all peoples involved.  

We look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Virginia H. Aksan
MESA President

cc:   Minister of Defense Ehud Barak 

June 3, 2008
Meir Sheetrit
Minister of Interior of Israel
2 Kaplan Street, Kiryat Ben-Gurion
Israel

via fax 011-972-2-670-1628

Dear Minister Sheetrit:

I write on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom to express our grave concern regarding your decision on 23 May 2008 to deny Professor Norman Finkelstein entry into Israel on what appears to be retribution for his critical academic examination of Israeli government policy, including the ongoing occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. We urge you to reverse this decision, which represents a serious threat to future scholarship and academic freedom.

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in its field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 2800 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

Professor Finkelstein, a US citizen, is a well-known scholar who has published extensively with the top academic presses in his field. In the early morning of 23 May 2008, he arrived at Ben Gurion airport en route to friends in the West Bank city of Hebron. Over the next 24 hours the professor was detained, questioned by Shin Bet officials, and finally forced to board a plane bound for the United States.  Upon his deportation, the authorities informed him that for “security” reasons he would be barred from entering Israel (and the Occupied Territories) for at least ten years, and that he should contact the Ministry of Interior should he wish to inquire about the precise reason for the ban issued against him. Since then, however, government officials have offered two different explanations for their decision. The first, reported by Ha’aretz, was ‘suspicions involving hostile elements in Lebanon,’ referring to Professor Finkelstein’s well-publicized meetings with Hizbullah officials in Lebanon in January 2008. The second reason, reported in the Jerusalem Post, was the professor’s ‘outspoken anti-Zionist opinions and for his harsh criticisms of Israel.”

We understand that Israeli law allows you to deny entry to any non-citizen you choose. But the absence of a consistent explanation, and one that may even constitute punishment for a professional scholarly critique, is troubling on several grounds.  First, you have failed to explain how Professor Finkelstein poses an actual threat to state security as a result of his meetings with Hizbullah officials.  The timing of your decision raises a second concern. According to Professor Finkelstein, this is the first time in 20 years (and at least 16 visits) that he has had trouble entering the country. His most recent book, Beyond Chutzpah (University of California Press, 2007), investigates Israeli policy in the Occupied Territories, focusing in particular on Israel’s human rights record since 1967. The unprecedented nature of his deportation can easily lead people to wonder whether there is a connection between your decision and the analysis presented in this book.

If you have evidence that Professor Finkelstein poses a security risk to the State of Israel, we urge you to make it available so as to reassure the Israeli public—who are accustomed to open debates about the state of their country—that untoward political pressures did not affect your decision.  We also ask that you clarify whether you intend to uphold the 10-year ban against Professor Finkelstein: what would happen to him should he attempt to visit Israel before 2018?

Denying qualified scholars entry into the country because of their political beliefs strikes at the core of academic freedom. This is why we write to protest the barring of Professor Finkelstein and to request that the Israeli government reverse the action immediately.

Finally, we would like to request clarification from the Ministry about the implications of your decision regarding Professor Finkelstein for the membership of the Middle East Studies Association. Can MESA members, who may or may not oppose various aspects of Israeli government policy, expect similar treatment when entering your country?

Thank you for your consideration. We look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Mervat F. Hatem
MESA President
Professor of Political Science, Howard University

cc:    The Honorable Condoleeza Rice, U.S. Secretary of State
        Ambassador Richard H. Jones, U.S. Ambassador to Israel
        Ambassador Daniel Ayalon, Israeli Ambassador to the U.S.

March 7, 2008
Dr. Ze’ev Tsahor, President
Sapir Academic College
D.N. Hof Ashkelon 79165
Sderot, Israel

Dear President Tsahor,

I am writing on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) regarding the case of Nizar Hassan, a well-known filmmaker and professor at Sapir College, who, we understand, is to be dismissed from his post for comments he made on 8 November 2007 to an army reserve student who had come to class in uniform and carrying a weapon.  
 
The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 2700 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

According to reports in Ha-Aretz, Sapir College has no formal set of disciplinary regulations nor a charter concerning the behavior of students and teachers. Yet, in the absence of such regulations, a disciplinary procedure was launched against Prof. Hassan; moreover, he was suspended from his teaching duties even before the procedure was concluded. Apparently, three days after the first media reports, the Sapir College administration convened its internal academic council, which decided that “measures” had to be taken. This resulted in the establishment, for the first time in the College’s history, of a committee to look into such a case.
 
Again, according to press reports, the council did not invite Prof. Hassan to the committee’s meeting. Instead actions were taken on the basis of a report you submitted grounded in your conclusions regarding the incident. According to Ha-Aretz, you have contended that the committee acted on the basis of the decision of the internal academic council and according to what you have characterized as “the academic ethos” --that politics stops at the classroom door -- an ethos you claim Prof. Hassan has violated.

Our committee does not seek to pass judgment on either the question of military attire in the classroom, or on what constitutes the politicization of the classroom. We are very concerned, however, that Sapir College does not have established procedures for investigating charges against faculty, and hence that the process initiated against Prof. Hassan has been ad hoc. Indeed, Prof. Faingulernt, who is department chair, has claimed that if both he and Prof. Hassan had been in Israel at the time the controversy arose, matters would have been worked out differently, and that Sapir College has seen worse cases in the past. This statement, in conjunction with your own explanations of how events have unfolded, strongly suggests that the process by which Prof. Hassan’s case has been investigated and considered has been highly irregular.

A key base of academic freedom is a system of regulations and procedures whereby grievances can be investigated and adjudicated openly and fairly. We, therefore, call upon you to review the case of Prof. Hassan in this light, to ensure that his case is dealt with in the same way as other cases of complaints against faculty have been.
 
Sincerely,
Mervat Hatem
MESA President

1 May 2008

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
3 Kaplan St., Qiryat Ben-Gurion
PO Box 187
91919 Jerusalem
Israel

via fax: 972-2-6512631

Dear Prime Minister Olmert:

I write to you on behalf of the Middle East Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) to express our concern about the continued restriction of movement and travel imposed by the government of Israel on Palestinian students from Gaza. Though a shuttle service for transporting the students via the Erez Crossing and then on to Egypt or Jordan, for exit to third countries, was put into effect in late 2007 it proved to be no more than an ad hoc arrangement that facilitated the passage of fewer than half of the 730 students who need to reach universities abroad. While waiting for the shuttle service to begin or for subsequent shuttles to operate, many of the students in Gaza missed the start of the academic year at universities around the world. Some lost their places for the entire year, as well as their scholarships, because they did not arrive at their campuses in time. It is impossible to estimate how many students, faced with the intensifying closure policy, lost hope and gave up altogether on trying to pursue their studies abroad.

MESA was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 2700 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

On October 19, 2007, we addressed you about this matter and now wish to reiterate our expectation that the government of Israel will establish a reliable policy that will allow Palestinian students so wishing to pursue their academic studies abroad.

In particular, we wish to bring to your attention the cases of ten Palestinian students who have been prevented from leaving Gaza to pursue their academic studies in the U.S. Belgium, U.K., Germany, and Jordan:

1.   Mariam Ashour, 18 years old, received a scholarship from the Hope Fund to study business administration at Columbia College in South Carolina.

2.   Yahia Abu Hashem, 18 years old, received a scholarship from the Hope Fund to study computer information technology at Roanoke College in Virginia.

3.   Wajdi Halabi has been accepted to complete a PhD in computer science at Vrije University in Brussels, supported by the European fellowship program Erasmus Mundus.

4.   Wissam Abuajwa has been admitted to an MA program in environmental studies at a British university.

5.   Nibal Nayef is the recipient of a scholarship from the German scholarship program DAAD to study at the Technical University in Kaiserslautern, Germany for a PhD in computer science.

6.   Basheer Obaid is the recipient of a scholarship from the German DAAD program to study at Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany for a PhD in infrastructure engineering.

7.   Ahmed al Hayak has been accepted to a Master’s program at the Herder-Institute of Leipzig University in Germany, and is a recipient of a scholarship of the German DAAD program.

8.   Fatma Shbair is a recipient of a scholarship from the German DAAD program for a Master’s degree in computer science at the New York Institute of Technology in Amman, Jordan.

9.   Samah Hamouda is a recipient of a scholarship from the German DAAD program for a Master’s degree in industrial engineering at the University of Jordan in Amman.

10. Ahmed Ghorab is a recipient of a scholarship from the German DAAD program for a Master’s degree in computer engineering at the University of Applied Sciences in Amman, Jordan.

Israel has the responsibility to ensure the Right to Education as enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which it ratified in 1991. The ongoing disruption of Palestinian education constitutes a violation of a basic human right that will have long-term and negative political, economic, and humanitarian consequences for all peoples involved.  We call on the Israeli government to create a reliable policy that will allow the ten students mentioned above as well as the hundreds of other registered Gaza university students to travel to their educational institutions abroad.

Sincerely,
Mervat Hatem
MESA President

cc:   Minister of Defense Ehud Barak 

October 19, 2007

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
3 Kaplan St., Qiryat Ben-Gurion
PO Box 187
91919 Jerusalem
Israel

via fax: 972-2-6512631

Dear Prime Minister Olmert:

I write to you on behalf of the Middle East Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) to express our concern about the restriction of movement and travel imposed by your government on Palestinian students from Gaza. Recently, Israel’s Supreme Court rejected a petition brought by Gisha, the Israeli human rights organization, on behalf of Khaled al-Mudallal, a resident of Rafah. Mr. Mudallal was prevented from resuming his studies in management and business at the University of Bradford in the United Kingdom.

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 2700 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

Israel’s Supreme Court decision of October 2, 2007 to accept the government’s argument that Gazans with study permits trapped in Gaza should wait for the resumption of the shuttle bus service to Eretz crossing, discontinued since September 6, amounts to a denial of Mr. al-Mudallal’s rights to an education. Israel has the responsibility to ensure the Right to Education as enshrined in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which it ratified in 1991.

The ongoing disruption of Palestinian education constitutes a violation of a basic human right that will have long-term and negative political, economic, and humanitarian consequences for all peoples involved.   We call on the Israeli government to allow Mr. al-Mudallal as well as the hundreds of other registered Gazan university students to travel to their educational institutions, whether abroad or in the West Bank.

Sincerely,

Zachary Lockman
MESA President

cc:           Minister of Defense Ehud Barak
                Prime Minister Gordon Brown
                Gisha

Dear Prime Minister Olmert, Minister Peretz, President Bush, Secretary Rice,
Mr. Ambassador Jones, and Mr. Abrams:

I write to you on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom (CAF) in order to express our grave concern about the broad assault on the education system in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The current academic crisis is the result of numerous factors, including Israel’s military bombing campaigns and incursions in the Palestinian territories. Direct attacks on educational institutions, the denial of free access to schools through the operation of military checkpoints, and the isolation of Palestinian universities through Israeli immigration restrictions on faculty, researchers, and students with foreign passports have severely disrupted education at the primary, secondary, and university levels. The impact of international sanctions against the Hamas-led government is further crippling the Palestinian education system by rendering the Palestinian Authority unable to pay teachers’ salaries with any consistency, parents unable to afford tuition and other fees, and universities unable to provide scholarships to those in need of financial assistance.

Our organization is aware of the violent strife among Palestinian factions in Gaza that have also had a detrimental effect on educational institutions and personnel, and we have publicly expressed our concerns to Palestinian leaders about that fact. We are also aware of the rocket attacks from Gaza on Israeli civilian targets in the past three weeks, but Israeli responses must not violate international law. Moreover, Israel, as the occupying power, and the United States, Israel’s primary financial and political backer, bear responsibility for ensuring the Right to Education as enshrined in The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, which Israel ratified in 1991. We urge you to take immediate measures to ensure the continuing operation of the educational process at all levels.

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 2700 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

The latest disruption to the Palestinian education system took place on 24 May 2007, when Israeli forces abducted Dr. Nasser Eddin al-Shaer, Minister of Education, along with 32 prominent political and community figures. On Israel’s Army Radio, Defense Minister Peretz stated that the recent detentions are intended to pressure Hamas’s armed wing to stop the firing of Qassam rockets from Gaza into Israel. However, regardless of official justifications for the arrest, Dr. al-Shaer’s detention without charge or trial clearly contravenes international and human rights laws. In a separate raid on 24 May, the army also vandalized a local school in Hebron, confiscating computers and teaching materials.

These recent events are just a few of the incidents exemplifying a disturbing trend in Israel’s occupation policies, which have hindered the academic freedom of 1.2 million students in the occupied Palestinian territories (who constitute 32 percent of the total population), and obstructed the work of 10,000 teachers and educational staff. Since the start of the Intifada in September 2000, the Israeli army has partially or fully destroyed 73 schools in Gaza, including a teachers’ training college in 2004, and it has shelled or raided eight out of eleven universities in the West Bank.

The ongoing disruption to Palestinian education constitutes a violation of a basic human right that will have long-term political, economic, and humanitarian consequences for all peoples involved. It also does further damage to the reputation of Israel and the United States, and presents an additional obstacle in the already obstructed path toward a peaceful resolution to this conflict. We call on the Israeli and United States governments to take all measures necessary to remove those physical, military, and political barriers that they have placed in the way of Palestine’s educational system.

Sincerely,
Zachary Lockman
President

cc: President Mahmoud Abbas
      Palestinian National Authority
      Fax: +972-08-282-5856
              +972-2-296-3170
      Colonel Muhammad Dahlan
      Head of Preventive Security Service
      Fax: +972-7-825-425
+972-2-561-9112

August 9, 2007

Mr. Zachary Lockman, President

Dear Mr. Lockman,

On behalf of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, we acknowledge receipt of your letter dated May 6, 2007, the contents of which have been noted.

The State of Israel, through the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, makes every effort to allow Palestinian students in Judea & Samaria to study regularly and with no interruptions. To this end, the Civil Administration in Judea & Samaria employs a special coordinator whose exclusive task if to assist the Palestinians in maintaining a regular school routine, despite the harsh security reality in the area–a reality which compels the IDF to continue its security activity in Palestinian cities and establish checkpoints for the purpose of preventing terror attacks.

Israel provides freedom of movement for Palestinian teachers at checkpoints throughout Judea & Samaria, and continues to issue entry permits for Palestinian teachers working in Arab schools in east Jerusalem. During 2006 almost 6,600 free movement permits in Judea & Samaria were issues for teaches, inspectors, examiners, members of the Palestinian Ministry of Education, and employees of the education system. Moreover, 98 special permits were issued recently for education personnel in east Jerusalem in order to allow them to arrive daily at the center for the evaluation of matriculation exams in the city of Bethlehem. Special representatives of the civil Administration and the Coordination and Liaison Offices in Judea & Samaria were stationed at checkpoints in order to ensure regular freedom of movement for Palestinians in general, and teachers and students in particular. Israel also allowed for the regular transfer of textbooks and other teaching materials to all school throughout Judea & Samaria. Operating on the principle that all human beings have the right to education, the State of Israel, through the education coordinator of the Civil Administration, even authorized the entry of textbooks for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Israel also ensured that matriculation and other exams in Judaea & Samaria would take place on time, including in east Jerusalem and among Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails. To this end, we made certain that the exam forms would be transferred unhindered through the checkpoints, along with thousands of inspectors, examiners and other employees of the Palestinian Education & Culture Ministry, and tat the exam notebooks would be returned to the various examination center in Judea and Samaria. Official data show that over 34,000 Palestinian students took their matriculation exams this year.

IDF forces in Judea & Samaria did not bomb or demolish a single school, university or educational institute. Apart from instances in which there is an urgent security need, they refrain from even entering Palestinian education institutes. It my be worth noting that this principle is upheld despite the fact that Palestinian education institutes are often cynically used by terrorist organizations for the spreading of hatred and incitement against Israel, the storage of weaponry and the launching of terrorist attacks against IFDF soldiers and innocent Israelis.

The key to ensuring complete freedom of movement for Palestinians in general, and students in particular, lies in the hands of the Palestinians and their leaders. The IDF makes every effort to uphold freedom of education, but its primary responsibility is for the security and safety of the State of Israel and its citizens. Only when the Palestinian radicals place education above terrorism on their list of priorities will there be real change.

Sincerely,

(Ms.) Einat Gluska
Assistant Foreign Policy Advisor to the Prime Minister

September 21, 2006
Dear Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
Fax: +972-2-629-6014

Dear Minister of Defense Amir Peretz
Fax: +972-3-696-2757/+972-3-691-6940/+972-3-691-7915

I write to you on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, and its Committee on Academic Freedom in order to request that the Government of Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces allow 10 occupational therapy students from Gaza to attend Bethlehem University. These students, including Shima Naji, petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court in December 2005, and asked the court to overturn the restriction placed on their access to study in the West Bank. We request that you immediately lift the order restricting them from traveling to the West Bank and that you direct your legal representatives not to oppose this petition. This is essential in order that these students exercise their right to access to education, a key component of academic freedom.

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 2600 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

While Israel has legitimate security concerns and a responsibility to protect its citizens, it must do so in a manner that does not violate international human rights and humanitarian law, including the prohibition against collective punishment. A sweeping prohibition imposed on all students from Gaza against studying subjects such as occupational therapy and medical specializations that are only available at West Bank universities, however, constitutes precisely such a violation. The rationale offered by the Government of Israel and the Israeli Defense Forces is that students from Gaza studying in the West Bank might become involved in hostile acts against the State of Israel in the future. It is not based on any evidence of past and current wrongdoing on the part of individual students, but, rather, on a collective suspicion of all Palestinian students.

As you know, collective punishment is forbidden under humanitarian international law. A restriction imposed on all students from Gaza is transparently punitive and thus clearly constitutes collective punishment as well as a drastic and unwarranted denial of academic freedom. By proscribing access to West Bank universities and academic disciplines of choice, your government is denying the right to education to hundreds of students.

Over 200 professors in Israeli universities have recently called for these sweeping restrictions to be lifted.

On behalf of MESA, I ask that your government allow the 10 petitioning occupational therapy students from Gaza to attend Bethlehem University and thus restore their access to higher education and academic freedom. Occupational therapy is a new specialization in Gaza and there is currently only one practitioner with 24,000 cases requiring his/her attention.

I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,
Juan R.I. Cole
MESA President

Dear Prime Minister Olmert:

On behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom, I am writing to express our concern over the recent arrest of Professor Ghazi Walid Falah, a dual Israeli-Canadian national working in the US with permanent resident alien status, and a respected associate professor of geography at the University of Akron, Ohio.

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) was founded in 1966 to promote scholarship and teaching on the Middle East and North Africa. The preeminent organization in the field, the Association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies and has more than 2600 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom and freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.

Professor Falah traveled to Israel on July 4 from Toronto after hearing that his mother had been hospitalized with a brain tumor. On July 6, Professor Falah, an avid photographer whose photos have appeared on the cover of the Arab World Geographer and who also uses photographs for his teaching and research, went to Nahariya. Security personnel arrested him that day just north of Nahariya, where he was taking photographs. He was then taken to his brother’s home, near Nazareth, to collect his belongings, and was then brought before a judge in Akko, who approved the security forces’ requests to detain him without charge. He has been under arrest since July 8 and has been unable to see his lawyer or contact his family or consular officials. On Sunday July 16, his arrest was extended for another 15 days.

Because some of Professor Falah’s past research projects have been critical of Israeli land policies, we are concerned, in the absence of formal charges against him, that his arrest may owe to his record of academic research and publishing. The fact that his family requested his home institution, the University of Akron, to send documents to US consular authorities vouching for his academic work heightens our concern that his arrest may be related to his research and publishing and therefore constitute a violation of his academic freedom.

MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom holds that the free exchange of ideas is among the basic human rights codified in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, both of which Israel has ratified. We ask, on behalf of our organization, that you use your good offices to ensure that Professor Falah has access to his lawyer and his family, that he be released promptly or charged with a criminal offense, and if he is charged that he be tried before a court that meets international fair trial standards.

Sincerely,
Juan R.I. Cole
MESA President

cc: Mr. Haim Ramon, Minister of Justice
Mr. Menachem Mazoz, Attorney General

Dear Prime Minister Sharon,

We write to you to express our grave concern over the impact Israel’s security barrier is having on the Palestinian educational system in East Jerusalem. In practical application, the barrier infringes on the academic freedom and right to education of hundreds of teachers and thousands of pupils by effectively denying access to East Jerusalem schools. We urge you to take decisive action that will guarantee the full right of access of all Palestinian teachers to their schools in East Jerusalem and the right of education to all Palestinian students.

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) comprises 2600 academics worldwide who teach and conduct research on the Middle East and North Africa, and is the preeminent professional association in the field. The association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies, and is committed to ensuring respect for the principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression in the region and in connection with the study of the Middle East and North Africa in North America and elsewhere.

Israel’s security barrier has nearly been completed in the Jerusalem area. In this area, the barrier is being built entirely on Palestinian lands occupied in the 1967 war, in clear contravention of International Humanitarian Law. Because it is being built deep inside Palestinian areas, the barrier has cut off Palestinian neighborhoods in East Jerusalem from surrounding Palestinian communities making it nearly impossible for teachers living in the outlying areas from reaching their schools in East Jerusalem.

It is our understanding that nearly 700 East Jerusalem-based teachers fall into the category of living outside the barrier without an Israeli identification card and thus cannot reach their schools. Even though Palestinian schools are about to open, only a small number of these teachers have been approved entry. Essentially barring hundreds of teachers from reaching their schools will have a devastating effect on the 18,000 pupils in the 50 private schools that provide the bulk of education to Palestinians in East Jerusalem.

We have further concerns over the potential of unwarranted delays in crossing the barrier even for those teachers who have the necessary paperwork; this has been a common problem elsewhere for Palestinians seeking to cross the barrier or pass other military checkpoints in the West bank. Punitive or other delays not linked directly to immediate and legitimate security risks would likewise constitute an abridgement of the Palestinians’ right to education.

Guaranteeing the right to education for Palestinians in East Jerusalem is a test case for how Israel intends to use the barrier. To date, it has not been encouraging. We ask that you immediately lift all restrictions on teachers seeking to cross the barrier to access their schools in East Jerusalem. This can be done without harming Israel’s legitimate security requirements.

Sincerely yours,
Ali Banuazizi
MESA President

June 14, 2005
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
3 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem, ISRAEL 
By Facsimile: 972 2 651 2631

Dear Prime Minister Sharon:

On behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom, I am writing to express our strong opposition to the May 2, 2005 decision of the Israeli Cabinet to upgrade the status of the College of Judea and Samaria, located on the West Bank settlement of Ariel, to university status. Since that decision is subject to the approval of the Council on Higher Education, we are writing separately to that committee to urge rejection of the decision.

[MESA is...]

Our objection to this decision is based on the fact that Israel’s settlements on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip are in violation of international humanitarian law. Article 49 (6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) specifically forbids an occupying power from transferring and settling its own citizens in occupied territory. Article 55 of the Hague Regulations (1907) prohibits creating permanent changes in an occupied territory that are not intended to benefit the protected persons of that territory—in this case, the Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank. It is manifestly clear that this college, like the settlement of Ariel, is not intended to benefit the area’s Palestinian inhabitants. The College of Judea and Samaria has already increased the traffic of Israeli citizens to the illegal settlement of Ariel. The college’s faculty and students are prime users of the Trans-Samaria Road, a four-lane highway built on confiscated Palestinian land. Palestinians, including those whose land was confiscated to build this highway, are prohibited from using major portions of that road. West Bank Palestinians, moreover, are absent from the faculty and student body of the college. The establishment of an institution of higher learning in an illegal settlement thus creates an additional obstacle to Israel’s compliance with international law.
Indeed, the college to be upgraded lies in an area where the Israeli government is obliged to freeze all construction work under the “Roadmap” peace plan drafted by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, endorsed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1515 (2003), and accepted by your government. Despite your government’s commitments in this regard, you were quoted as saying, in supporting this decision regarding the college, that it is “in keeping with government policy, which views strengthening the settlement blocs as being among its goals.”

MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom holds that the free exchange of ideas is among the human rights identified by the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This spirit of freedom of inquiry and exchange is the essence of what higher education should embody. It is clear that such exchange cannot occur at an institution of higher learning built on confiscated land and in clear violation of international humanitarian law. Moreover, upgrading the College of Judea and Samaria to the status of university, on a par with Israel’s other universities inside its internationally-recognized borders, would demean the reputation of the latter by giving an illegal institution equal standing with the recognized high standards of Israel’s universities as a whole.

For these reasons, we strongly recommend that your government not proceed to upgrade the College of Judea and Samaria to university status, but rather relocate its facilities to a location inside Israel’s internationally recognized borders in order to provide educational opportunities to its present and prospective students. Israel must respect its obligations under international law and not tie legitimate educational requirements to its illegal settlement drive.

Sincerely,
Ali Banuazizi
President, Middle East Studies Association
Professor, Boston College

Cc:
Minister of Education Limor Livnat, and Chair, Council of Higher Education
United Nations General Secretary General Kofi Annan
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of the Russian Federation
Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn of Luxembourg for the European Union Presidency
High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European
Union Javier Solana
United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Dear Minister Livnat:

On behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) and its Committee on Academic Freedom, I am writing to you and to the members of the Council for Higher Education, to request that the Council reject the May 2, 2005 request of the Israeli Government to accredit the College of Judea and Samaria, located on the West Bank settlement of Ariel as a university.

[MESA is...]

Our objection to this decision is based on the fact that Israel’s settlements on the West Bank and in the Gaza Strip are in violation of international humanitarian law. Article 49 (6) of the Fourth Geneva Convention (1949) specifically forbids an occupying power from transferring and settling its own citizens in occupied territory. Article 55 of the Hague Regulations (1907) prohibits creating permanent changes in an occupied territory that are not intended to benefit the protected persons of that territory—in this case, the Palestinian inhabitants of the West Bank. It is manifestly clear that this college, like the settlement of Ariel, is not intended to benefit the area’s Palestinian inhabitants. The College of Judea and Samaria has already increased the traffic of Israeli citizens to the illegal settlement of Ariel. The college’s faculty and students are prime users of the Trans-Samaria Road, a four-lane highway built on confiscated Palestinian land. Palestinians, including those whose land was confiscated to build this highway, are prohibited from using major portions of that road. West Bank Palestinians, moreover, are absent from the faculty and student body of the college. The establishment of an institution of higher learning in an illegal settlement thus creates an additional obstacle to Israel’s compliance with international law.
Indeed, the college to be upgraded lies in an area where the Israeli government is obliged to freeze all construction work under the “Roadmap” peace plan drafted by the United States, the European Union, Russia and the United Nations, endorsed by U.N. Security Council Resolution 1515 (2003), and accepted by the government of Israel.

MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom holds that the free exchange of ideas is among the human rights identified by the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and its Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. This spirit of freedom of inquiry and exchange is the essence of what higher education should embody. It is clear that such exchange cannot occur at an institution of higher learning built on confiscated land and in clear violation of international humanitarian law. Moreover, upgrading the College of Judea and Samaria to the status of university, on a par with Israel’s other universities inside its internationally-recognized borders, would demean the reputation of the latter by giving an illegal institution equal standing with the recognized high standards of Israel’s universities as a whole.

For these reasons, we strongly recommend that the Council for Higher Education reject the request of the government to accredit the College of Judea and Samaria as a university, and recommend that it be relocated inside Israel’s internationally recognized borders in order to provide educational opportunities to its present and prospective students. Israel must respect its obligations under international law and not tie legitimate educational requirements to its illegal settlement drive.

Sincerely,
Ali Banuazizi
President, Middle East Studies Association
Professor, Boston College

Reply received June 27, 2005
Professor Ali Banuazizi, President
Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc.
1219 N Santa Rita Ave.
The University of Arizona
Tucson AZ 85721

Dear Professor Banuazizi,

Thank you for your letter of June 14, 2005, concerning the proposed upgrading of the College of Judea and Samaria from a college to a university.

We greatly respect your association’s commitment to “the principles of academic freedom ad the free exchange of information and ideas”, as expressed in your letter to the AUT’s President, stating your “determined opposition” to its proposed boycott of Israel’s university and blacklisting of their faculties.

In that letter you also assert: We especially oppose penalizing entire segments of an academic community for any reason whatsoever.” The faculties and student bodies of all Israel’s higher education institutions are made up of people whose opinions and beliefs embrace the entire political spectrum.

This is true at the College of Judea and Samaria as well. Seventy percent of its students come from Tel Aviv and central Israel. Approximately 300 of its students are Arabs.The reasons given by Arab students for studying at the college are manifold. The courses offered by the college are not taught at every university. Some of the College’s departments have a national reputation for excellence.

Acceptance to the college is easier than to the universities, although its courses are difficult. To ensure that students succeed tutoring and English and Hebrew language instruction are available, which also eases their integration in to college life.

Hebrew is not studied in Palestinian universities. Arab students have found that studying in Hebrew and learning about Israeli culture opens more doors to them in the job market after graduation.

The College is convenient for students who commute, and for those who must work and study at the same time. Tuition fees at the College are half those of private colleges.

Research to be published shortly concludes that the College’s Arab students have a positive sense of belonging. Relations between Arab and Jewish students are good; the former are active in campus politics and members of the student union. In an interview, an Arab student said, “If we stay home and don’t go to university, will that help us or our society more?”

The College sponsors an outreach program to find more potential Arab students. Under its auspices, preparatory course for matriculation examinations are given in Arab cities and villages throughout the country.

Last month, the names of three prominent Arab local council heads appeared in an ad on the front page of one of Israel’s major newspaper, Ha’aretz. The ad congratulated the College on opening registration for the 2006 school year, and commended it for encouraging coexistence between the various sectors of Israeli society.

The administration and faculty of the College of Judea and Samaria is committed to providing its students-Jewish and Arab-with the finest higher education and training. We believe that, elevated to university status in accordance with the rigorous requirements of the council for Higher Education in Israel, the College can deepen its commitment to the future of our youth and society.

When asked what attracted him to teaching at the college, an engineering faculty member stated that it was “the thought of teaching at a college in which there is an encounter between Jews and Arabs, between Israelis and Palestinians. It was very appropriate for me to bring people closer together in teaching and in research.

Surely, these lessons in peace and understanding that the College’s students learn in and out of the classroom encourage the “spirit of freedom of inquiry and exchange [that] is the essence of what higher education should embody”.

Sincerely yours,
Limor Livnat
Minister of Education, Culture and Sports
State of Israel

January 21, 2003
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
3 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem, ISRAEL
By Facsimile: 
972 2 651 2631
972 2 566 4838
972 3 691 7915

Dear Prime Minister Sharon,

I write to you on behalf of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, and its Committee on Academic Freedom, in order to express our grave concern over your government’s closure of two Palestinian universities in the West Bank. The closure of these institutions is transparently punitive, and thus clearly constitutes collective punishment as well as a drastic and unwarranted denial of academic freedom. We ask that your government rescind this decision immediately.

[MESA is...]

The IDF statement of January 15, 2003 announcing the closure of Hebron Polytechnic University and the Islamic College of Hebron the previous day alleged that several students who had attended these institutions had been involved in armed attacks against Israeli targets. Some of these attacks targeted Israeli civilians while others were directed against military occupation forces.
 
While we appreciate that the State of Israel has the right to defend itself and its citizens, closing Palestinian universities is not a proper recourse. If Israel has evidence of wrongdoing on the part of individual students or other persons, the government should arrest those persons and prosecute them in a manner that meets international fair trial standards.
 
We further note that most of the attacks cited occurred in early 2002, while one dated from 1996. Thus it appears that these closures were instituted not for concrete and legitimate security purposes but as a form of punishment of the Palestinian community in the Hebron area.
 
As you know, collective punishment is forbidden under humanitarian international law. By closing the universities, your government is denying the right to education to over 6,000 current students because of the alleged deeds of a few. In addition to the collective punishment of thousands of students who have not been charged with any offense, your government’s action also adversely impacts the faculty and staff of these universities.

Press reports indicate that these may not be the only universities to be closed by Israel. Birzeit University and Al-Najah National University in Nablus have also been mentioned as candidates for closure. We urge that your government not make a bad situation worse by further closures of institutions of higher education. 

There is no evidence that university closures such as these will lead to a decrease in Palestinian violence against Israel. Indeed, Israel closed all Palestinian universities for years in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the first Intifada with no discernable drop in violence. We are thus skeptical that enhanced security is a plausible justification for the action.
On behalf of MESA, I ask that your government rescind immediately the decision to close Hebron Polytechnic University and the Islamic College of Hebron, and that no other closures be contemplated.
I look forward to your response.

Sincerely,

Amy W. Newhall
Executive Director 

July 22, 2002
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
3 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem, ISRAEL

By Facsimile: 972 2 651 2631
972 2 566 4838
972 3 691 7915

Dear Prime Minister Sharon,

We write to you today to convey our grave concern regarding Israel’s closure of the administrative offices of Al-Quds University in Jerusalem, and to urge the immediate reopening of those offices and the return of computer files and other materials confiscated by Israel.

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) comprises 2700 academics worldwide who teach and conduct research on the Middle East and North Africa, and is the preeminent professional association in the field. The association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies, and is committed to ensuring respect for the principles of academic freedom and freedom of expression in the region and in connection with the study of the Middle East and North Africa.

On 9 July 2002, according to numerous reports, Israeli soldiers and police surrounded the Al-Quds University offices and ordered all personnel to vacate the premises. Included in the closure was the office of the President of Al-Quds University, the renowned scholar and peace activist Dr. Sari Nusseibeh.

The closure of the university offices and seizure of documents was ordered by Uzi Landau, who holds the post of minister of internal security in your cabinet. The closure order reportedly states that the official reason for shutting the offices was that the building was being used for political activities on behalf of the Palestinian Authority. Dr. Nusseibeh, who is also the Jerusalem representative of the Palestine Liberation Organization, has spoken out prominently against Palestinian suicide bomb attacks against civilians, and publicly urged Palestinians to compromise regarding the right of Palestinian refugees and displaced persons to return to their homes. Israel’s action appears to be political in nature rather than related to genuine security matters, intended to disrupt and silence those Palestinians advocating a peaceful resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

We understand that the ultimate sovereignty of Jerusalem is to be decided through final status negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians. In the meantime, legitimate Palestinian educational facilities in Jerusalem should not be harmed in any way pending the outcome of negotiations. This includes most especially Al-Quds University, an accredited educational institution, founded in 1978, that educates over 6,000 students.

We urge the Government of Israel to rescind immediately the order closing Al-Quds University offices in Jerusalem, return all confiscated materials, and allow the university administration to resume its work without delay.

Thank you for your attention to this urgent matter. We look forward to your reply.

Sincerely,

Amy W. Newhall
Executive Director

cc:
Uzi Landau, Minister for Internal Security
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell

The following letter was received in response to the CAFMENA letter sent July 22, 2002, to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon of Israel regarding the closure of Al-Quds University.

August 6, 2002
Ms. Amy W. Newhall, Executive Director
Middle East Studies Association of North America, Inc.
The University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ 85721

Dear Ms. Newhall,

On behalf of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, we thank you for your fax of July 22, 2002. Every agreement signed with the Palestinians since the Oslo Accords of 1993 has included a Palestinian commitment to situate Palestinian Authority offices exclusively in areas under PA jurisdiction, and to refrain from exercising Palestinian authority outside said territory.

Accordingly, on July 7, 2002, after compelling evidence had indicated that Al-Quds University was operating as an arm of the Palestinian Council, and that the University’s activities in the State of Israel were in violation of these signed agreements, Minister of Public Security Dr. Uzi Landau ordered the closure of the offices of the President and administration of the University.

Information obtained by our security services substantiated that the University was being funded by the Palestinian Authority – which was paying the salaries of its employees – and that donations to the University were being transferred through the PA. Moreover, the PA had been actively involved in the financial, professional and administrative operations of the University, as well as the appointment of its senior officials.
After Prof. Nusseibeh declared, in writing, that his institution would operate without any connection to the Palestinian Authority, and that he personally would not perform his PA “Jerusalem portfolio” function on its grounds, the reopening of the above offices was facilitated.

Sincerely,
Shalom Tourgeman
Acting Foreign Policy Adviser to the Prime Minister

5 June 2002
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
3 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem, ISRAEL

Dear Prime Minister Sharon,

The Committee on Academic Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa (CAFMENA), of the Middle East Studies Association, is writing to express its grave concern over Israel’s recent and ongoing actions that threaten academic freedom and the right to education more broadly in the West Bank.

[MESA is...]

Israel’s Operation Defensive Shield, launched in March 2002, and Israel’s subsequent actions in the West Bank, have caused great and unwarranted harm to Palestinian educational institutions and educational opportunities. The harm falls under three categories: the physical destruction of educational property by soldiers in the Israel Defense Force (IDF), including vandalism; the theft of educational property, particularly hard drives from many computers and the loss of data bases; and the extension and intensification of checkpoints, roadblocks, and other physical impediments which prevent students and faculty from reaching their schools.

We join with all who condemn the savage attacks that have killed and maimed hundreds of civilians inside Israel. These outrages, however, cannot justify the violations of basic rights that your government has imposed on virtually the entire Palestinian Arab population of the occupied territories. These policies have had grave humanitarian consequences, including dire consequences for the right to education.

The destruction and theft of Palestinian educational property and material by IDF personnel during Operation Defensive Shield occurred at numerous Palestinian educational institutions, including at the Ministry of Education, the Palestinian Academy for Science and Technology, various educational nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and numerous Palestinian universities, colleges, and K-12 schools. Property damage can be replaced over time, but valuable information on computer hard disks and paper files cannot be replaced. These must be returned to their rightful owners without delay.

Israel has instituted a multitude of physical impediments to limit and restrict internal travel within the West Bank, thereby making transportation to and from universities and schools frequently difficult and sometimes impossible; Operation Defensive Shield effectively closed most Palestinian educational institutions for its duration. Since this Operation ceased, reports that we have received from numerous sources indicate that internal travel is considerably more difficult today than it was prior to March 2002. Israel’s policies are effectively preventing many students from attending university and many faculty from reaching their university classrooms and laboratories.

We therefore respectfully request that all computer hard drives and other material confiscated from Palestinian educational facilities be returned promptly, and that property damage done by IDF personnel to Palestinian educational facilities be repaired or compensated for in a timely manner. We also urge that any Israeli restrictions on freedom of movement be strictly limited to imperative and specific reasons of security, and that the government ensure that these restrictions are not excessive in impact or duration. This is essential in order to facilitate the access to educational institutions that is vital to thousands of students, faculty and administrators on the West Bank today.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter. 

Respectfully,

Anne H. Betteridge
Executive Director

March 16, 2001
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon
3 Kaplan Street
Kiryat Ben Gurion
Jerusalem ISRAEL

Dear Prime Minister Sharon:

The Committee on Academic Freedom in the Middle East and North Africa (CAFMENA) of the Middle East Studies Association of North America is writing to protest the serious disruption of higher education in the West Bank and Gaza caused by the Israeli government’s protracted restrictions on Palestinian freedom of movement. The government’s “closure” policy appears to constitute a form of collective punishment, forbidden under international humanitarian law. By preventing faculty and students from having access to university campuses and other educational facilities, it also represents a serious violation of academic freedom and the right to education.

The Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) comprises 2700 academics worldwide who teach and conduct research on the Middle East and North Africa, and is the preeminent professional association in the field. The association publishes the International Journal of Middle East Studies, and is committed to ensuring respect for the principles of academic freedom and the freedom of expression in the region in connection with the study of the Middle East and North Africa.

Under your government, Israel’s closure policy has intensified restrictions in the Ramallah area, with particular impact on Birzeit University. This important institution serves 5,000 undergraduate and graduate students and hosts numerous institutes of research, public policy, and community service. On the night of March 7, Israeli security forces destroyed portions of the only road linking Birzeit University to the city of Ramallah. This was accomplished by digging trenches across the road, destroying approximately 400 meters of asphalted road. According to an official statement of the university, no vehicular traffic, including ambulances or trucks carrying food and other civilian necessities, is able to pass. Most of Birzeit University’s faculty and students live in or near Ramallah, and now have effectively been denied access to the university. The trench digging also resulted in cutting phone lines to the university.

Israel’s stringent restrictions on Palestinian freedom of movement have also had the effect of stranding at Birzeit University some 300 students from Gaza. Due to the closure of the West Bank-Gaza “safe passage” in October, they have been unable to return home. In addition, their travel permits, which we understand are issued on a per semester basis, have lapsed and they been unable to renew them. Without updated permits they are unable to return to Gaza or to travel within the West Bank. They can be detained and/or fined for being in the West Bank “illegally,” and they can be forcibly returned to Gaza at the discretion of the authorities.

These policies of collective punishment and destruction of property appear to go beyond any reasonable understanding of military necessity. As such, they are in violation of international humanitarian law, in particular the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 governing the treatment of civilians in circumstances of military occupation. In this instance, these policies also constitute a serious breach of the principles of academic freedom and the right to education, a breach that would not be tolerated in Israel itself.

We therefore strongly urge your government to take immediate steps to allow for the free movement of students and faculty to and from their homes and respective universities, including travel in the West Bank and passage between the West Bank and Gaza. We also urge the government of Israel to repair the damage done to the Birzeit University access roads and telephone links.

We look forward to your prompt and positive response to this urgent and important matter.

Sincerely,

Anne H. Betteridge
Executive Director