Dear Friends and Comrades,

Today we’re publishing the first piece from our forthcoming issue on campus activism and repression since October 7, 2023. In “Censorship and Surveillance at US Universities,” Torin Monahan details the expansive apparatus used by university administrations, often following federal or state political pressures, to police pro-Palestine and progressive speech on campuses across the country. By now, the attacks on academic freedom in the United States have encompassed a wide range of conservative grievances, from “gender ideology” to “DEI” to “wokeness.” Monahan reminds us of the centrality of the Palestinian cause to this phenomena. Students and faculty who have stood up for Palestinian liberation since the onset of the genocide in Gaza were the first targets in this campaign, which began before US President Donald Trump’s second term. The easy willingness of academic institutions to concede to those attacks has only led, predictably, to a harsher oppression of speech on other issues.  

As Monahan describes, “Such surveillance has culminated in acts of terror against international Arab and Muslim students,” as witnessed in the cases of Mahmoud Khalil, Rümeysa Öztürk and others, which were “clearly intended to serve as a deterrent to pro-Palestinian speech at universities, but many students have suffered less-publicized acts of state reprisal, including the revocation of at least 300 student visas due to their participation in campus activism.” 

Our forthcoming issue delves deep into the struggle to defend academic freedom from the encampments to the Supreme Court, and from the United States to Turkey, Egypt and Germany. We are eager to release it later this month and hope that you find this preview enlightening.

We also hope you will join us in mourning Muzan Al Neel, the Sudanese writer and organizer whose untimely passing is a tragic moment for all of us at MERIP, and around the world, who have followed her groundbreaking work within the revolutionary movement in Sudan. Her 2021 essay, “The Evolution of Sudan’s Popular Political Forces” is a critical document of the 2019 revolution that we were honored to have published. Muzan remained an important voice throughout our coverage of Sudan’s counterrevolutionary war over the years.

As always, thank you for being with us and for your ongoing support. Let us know what you think of this and all of our publications by responding to this email. 

In Solidarity,

James Ryan
Executive Director

MERIP in Translation: South Lebanon Dispatch in Contretemps

Susann Kassem’s searing dispatch from South Lebanon in the wake of Israel’s renewed invasion and bombing campaign has now appeared in French thanks to our friends at Contretemps. Read and share with your francophone comrades!

Support MERIP during Delco Gives!

MERIP is participating in Delco Gives until May 7 – every donation of $10 or more helps us unlock bonus funds from the Foundation for Delaware County. We’ve raised over $3,000 from more than 45 donors so far! Please consider chipping in part of your tax refund to help us keep MERIP paywall free.