18 November 2020 Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Fax: +972-2-5664838
[email protected] Minister of Education Yoav Galant Fax: +972-2-5602390
[email protected] Minister of Higher Education Ze’ev Elkin Fax: +972-2-2649438
[email protected] Minister of Justice Avi Nissenkorn Fax: +972-2-6285438
[email protected] Brigadier General Rasan Alian Gaza Coordination and Liaison Administration Fax: +972-2-6599133
[email protected] Chief Clerk Init Malul Supreme Court of the State of Israel Fax: +972-2-6759648
[email protected] Dear Prime Minister, Ministers, Brigadier-General, and Chief Clerk, We write to you on behalf of the Committee on Academic Freedom of the Middle East Studies Association of North America (MESA) to urge you to permit the student identified as S.O. in the 21 September Haaretz story entitled “Palestinian Student Wants a Visa to Europe? Let Him Do Research in Gaza” to take up their doctoral studies in Europe. They have already missed the start of the academic term that began 1 October. Hence, we urge you to expedite their passage to Europe. Moreover, we call on you to cease obstructing the departure and return home of Palestinian students who have been accepted to graduate programs abroad. 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 over 2800 members worldwide. MESA is committed to ensuring academic freedom of expression, both within the region and in connection with the study of the region in North America and elsewhere.