Dear Chancellor Wise, Please accept my apologies for misspelling your name in my last letter; my wires got crossed, as I was jet-lagged when I wrote it. I am now back at Al-Quds University in Abu Dis, having survived a grueling and humiliating day re-entering the West Bank at Allenby. You may have seen the link I posted as an update on the online Change.org petition leading to a copy of Professor Salaita’s signed offer letter that was published online a couple of days ago by The News-Gazette as a pdf file. It’s been removed for some reason, but not before many people had a chance to read for themselves the clear-cut offer and the signature of Professor Salaita accepting the offer in good faith. What struck me and others, in particular, was the third paragraph of the letter, in which "academic freedom" and AAUP are invoked. An ironic paragraph, if ever there was one, given your subsequent actions in revoking this offer and given the August 6th statement by the Illinois AAUP Committee A on the case, which concludes: “As a professor who was proffered an appointment in American Indian Studies, we are particularly concerned if a university would void a contract of a professor exercising a right of citizenship in protesting actions of another country that much of the global community including the U.N. Secretary General and even the U.S. State Department have found “disgraceful.” I may have already quoted this to you, but it bears repeating. Back to news of the petition. As I write, there are now 15, 041 signatures. When you read their comments, you get a sense that people’s faith in the American higher education system, and indeed in the United States in general, is being shaken, but they want to believe otherwise: Marcelo Tomas MANILA, PHILIPPINES I always have great faith on the American educational system to be free from political influence. Christopher Merron PRESTON, UNITED KINGDOM I hate injustice wherever it occurs but in "The Land of the free and the home of the Brave" it stands out as a beacon of hypocrisy. Carrol Cox BLOOMINGTON, IL I have a faint hope that something like democracy will again come to the U.S. This sort of behavior by an allegedly respectable university makes that hope fainter yet. The decision is beneath contempt. Much has been published about Professor Salaita’s case by now. The situation is clear-cut, as the following journalist commented upon signing the petition: Kelley Macek PITTSBURG, KS I am a journalist, and supporter of unrestricted free speech and feel Dr. Salaita's rights have been violated due to bias of the school administrator and influence of anti-Palestinian persons. There you have it in a nutshell. I think more people will continue to be educated about this unjust case that has brought to light long-standing activities in the United States by “anti-Palestinian persons” designed to silence Palestinian voices for justice and freedom. It’s time to say no to such practices, Chancellor Wise. It's time to help people believe in the values for which your institution supposedly stands. Please wise up and correct your mistake; we are waiting to hear such good news from you. Sincerely. -- Rima Najjar Merriman, Ph.D. English Department Al Quds University, oPt