Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza Receives MESA’s 2025 Academic Freedom Award
24 November 2025
At its 2025 annual meeting, held between November 22-25, the Middle East Studies Association (MESA) named the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza and the Isnad program of the Welfare Association(Taawon) as recipients of the 2025 MESA Academic Freedom Award, recognising their essential role in defending the right to education for Palestinians amid the destruction of Gaza’s higher education sector.
MESA’s annual meeting brings together scholars from around the world to share research and engage in discussions on Middle East studies. Each year the organisation honours sustained contributions to academic freedom in the Middle East, North Africa, or North America. Recipients of the prize are nominated by MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom and approved by the Board of Directors.
Established last year by formal mandate from Gaza’s three non-profit universities, as the education sector across Gaza faced unprecedented devastation, the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza has become a crucial collective body coordinating efforts to sustain higher education under extreme circumstances. Its work has included supporting the resumption of online learning, advocating on behalf of Gaza’s academic community and mobilising international cooperation in partnership with its institutions, and working with Taawon to establish the Isnad scholarship programme – which has delivered vital financial support to Gaza’s non-profit universities.
Responding to MESA’s announcement, Dr Ahmed Abu Shabaan, Dean of the Faculty of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine at Al-Azhar University, Gaza and Al-Azhar University representative on the Emergency Committee, commented on the significance of this recognition:
“The Emergency Committee reflects the collective voice and determination of Gaza’s universities. In the face of attempts to erase Gaza’s higher education sector, MESA’s recognition reinforces the urgency of safeguarding academic freedom and affirms a principle we hold strongly: nothing about Palestine without Palestinians.”
In response to the decision, Chair of MESA’s Committee on Academic Freedom, Professor Laurie Brand, noted that this year’s award was intended to draw urgent attention to the condition of Gaza’s educational sector and to recognise the extraordinary perseverance of those sustaining academic life under devastation.
“By honouring the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza and the Isnad programme, we salute the steadfastness of faculty, students and staff; we commend their heroic efforts amid scholasticide and genocide; and we seek to raise broader awareness of the Palestinian commitment to rebuild vibrant centres of scholarship and learning in their homeland.“
Since its establishment, the Emergency Committee of Universities in Gaza has tasked Friends of Palestinian Universities with facilitating its international engagement, supporting coordination, partnership-building, and resource mobilisation for the benefit of Gaza’s universities. Through this role, we are committed to ensuring that support reaches the academic communities working to rebuild Gaza’s educational infrastructure, and to helping ensure that their universities live on.
