As we recently reported, on December 2, 2021, the business meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) voted in favor of a resolution endorsing Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) against Israel. The resolution will be forwarded to the full MESA membership in mid-to-late January 2022 for a ratification vote.
If ratified, MESA would be committed to widespread discrimination against Israelis and people interested in Israeli and Jewish Studies, and would violate the academic freedom of American students and faculty. MESA has 54 institutional members, including major public universities, such as Florida State University and the University of Arkansas, and likely operates at or through many additional universities and colleges. The operation of such a systematic academic boycott would violate anti-discrimination and academic freedom protections.
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