Academic Freedom

‘The University Is a Site of Struggle’—A Roundtable with Faculty Organizers on Repression and Resistance on US Campuses

As part of MER issue 318, Campus Politics—Palestine and the New University Order, MERIP editor Lisa Hajjar organized a roundtable with faculty organizers and a legal advocate. Lara Deeb is professor of Anthropology and Middle East Studies at Scripps College and serves as co-chair of the Middle East Studies

Lisa Hajjar, Lara Deeb, Darryl Li, Andrew Ross, Meera Shah • 23 min read

Academic Freedom

Censorship and Surveillance at US Universities

The night before the start of the Fall 2025 semester, facilities workers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill quietly boarded up a pro-Palestine mural. The mural, created by art students, was composed of prints bearing slogans of solidarity such as “We keep us safe.” Its black and

Torin Monahan • 10 min read

MERIP updates

The MERIP Podcast Episode 18: The MERIP Roundtable, On The Iran War Part I

On the social impact and regional politics of the US-Israeli war on Iran

James Ryan, Ida Nikou, Arang Keshavarzian, Sean L. Yom • 2 min read

MERIP updates

The US and Israeli War on the Middle East

Our recent work understanding the dynamics

James Ryan • 3 min read

MER Article

Deportation as Punishment and the Everyday War on Migrants from Turkey to the United States

At dawn on December 9, 2024, hundreds of Syrian refugees gathered at Turkey's Cilvegözü and Öncüpınar border crossings into northern Syria to return home following the fall of Bashar al-Assad's government. Wrapped in blankets and clutching their children and possessions, they waited in anticipation, some having

Fulya Pınar • 13 min read

MER Article

The Political Logic Behind Iraq’s Fragmented Armed Forces

On the cusp of losing power following a poor performance in the October 2021 election, Iraq’s Fateh Alliance and its Popular Mobilization Forces—a coalition of armed factions under the umbrella of the Iraqi state—sent protesters to occupy parts of Baghdad’s heavily fortified Green Zone. The winner

Renad Mansour • 7 min read

MER Article

The Financial Ties that Bind the Arab Gulf Monarchies and the United States

In July 2021, former President Donald Trump’s son-in-law and advisor Jared Kushner obtained a $2 billion investment for his newly formed private equity firm, Affinity Partners, from Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund. Notably, the deal was approved despite opposition from the Saudi fund’s investme

David Wight • 12 min read

MER Article

BDS in a Time of Precarity

The University of Toronto is not known as a particularly progressive institution. Like many universities, it has adopted neoliberal thinking and practice, becoming part of Academia, Inc. But two seemingly unrelated events during the 2014-2015 academic year showcased the increasing political activity of the school’s graduate student body. In

Omar Sirri • 14 min read

MER Article

The Ties That Bind

Yemeni-American activist Rabyaah al-Thaibani was born in Ta‘izz, Yemen’s largest city, in 1977. She moved to the United States as a child to join her father, who was working nights cleaning office buildings in Manhattan. She grew up in Brooklyn, attended Columbia University and since has worked in c

Stacey Philbrick Yadav • 9 min read

Current Analysis

The Travel Ban and Iranian-Americans

By the end of his first few weeks in office, President Donald Trump had managed to rile up most everyone in the country who was not agitated already. Of the many unsettling Trump initiatives, one of the most contentious has been his effort to make good on campaign promises of

Semira Nikou • 15 min read

MER Article

From the Editor (Summer 2016)

[su_heading align="left"]The new American-Israeli military aid package, in short, is another grim reminder that US stewardship of the Israeli-Palestinian file has functioned not only to frustrate peace but also to consolidate the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and deepen its structural violence.[/su_heading] At

Chris Toensing • 3 min read

Current Analysis

The Palestine Exception to Free Speech in America

Omar Shakir and Megan Marzec came to northeastern Ohio last week to discuss the constraints on speech about research and activism with regard to Palestinian rights. Their host was the Northeast Ohio Consortium on Middle East Studies (NOCMES).

Joshua Stacher • 1 min read