At the Annual Meeting of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) this past November 2014, the business meeting passed a resolution that affirmed the principles of freedom of speech and academic freedom, specifically condemned the intimidation and censuring of scholars who seek to discuss and/or endorse BDS, and called on the MESA leadership to create a transparent space for the discussion of what position MESA should take on the question of BDS. Click here to read the resolution.
This resolution is now up for a general membership vote, the ballot for which closes on Monday 9 February 2015.
The time has come for current, past, and future MESA members to vote "yes" on this resolution.
The resolution currently up for a membership vote is not a BDS resolution.
Rather, it is a resolution that does two things:
- It categorically condemns the range of attacks on individuals and institutions that have elected to comment on, debate, or endorse the call for BDS against Israel.
- It calls on the Board of Directors and the Program Committee to create formal space for the MESA membership to discuss the BDS campaign. Passage of the resolution will put MESA clearly on the record as an association that supports the legitimacy of open and transparent discussion of the academic boycott against Israel, a discussion which MESA members holding different views should be able to engage in without fear of sanctions.
To vote on the MESA resolution, please click here. It literally takes less than two minutes. You need to enter your full name. the email address linked to your MESA membership, and select "Yes" as your vote.
Only those with updated membeships (current for 2015) are eligible to vote.
To renew your MESA membership for 2015, please visit the MyMESA interface via http://mymesa.arizona.edu There, you can log in, and then click the "payment" button on the left-side menu. If you have forgotten your MESA login password, you can request a new one to best to you.