MLA Statement on Restricted Entry and Presence of Foreign Nationals Serving Palestinian Universities
The Executive Council approved the following statement in October 2018.
The MLA condemns Israeli restrictions on the entry and presence of foreign nationals serving Palestinian universities. Such restrictions disrupt academic programs, undermine the teaching of foreign languages, and limit the internationalizing of the curriculum.
As a scholarly association, we are committed to the principles of academic freedom, opportunities for international academic travel and exchange, and the development of global academic perspectives. Restrictions on the entry and presence of foreign nationals serving Palestinian universities represent an assault on these principles. For example, on 8 June 2018, seven international faculty members at Birzeit University (BZU), one-third of the university’s international staff, were refused visa extensions. A number of these faculty members had taught at BZU for a decade or more and played key roles in many areas of the curriculum.
In response to this and similar restrictions imposed on other Palestinian universities, the MLA calls for freedom of entry and presence of international faculty members at all Palestinian universities. We call on Israeli education authorities to ensure that professors at Palestinian universities can renew their visas. We ask that Israel discontinue random denials of entry to foreign nationals traveling to the West Bank and Gaza and ensure that academics who have been unjustly denied entry will be allowed to reenter the West Bank and Gaza.