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2911
CUNY Chairman:
Reconsider Kushner
NEW YORK (JTA) — The City
University of New York's board
of trustees should reconsider its
decision not to grant Pulitzer Prize-
winning playwright Tony Kushner an
honorary degree over his views about
Israel, its board
chairman said.
"I would not
ordinarily ask for
reconsideration of a
decision so recently
taken: Benno
Schmidt said in a
statement posted
Tony Kushner
May 6 on the CUNY
website."But when the board has
made a mistake of principle, and not
merely of policy, review is appropriate
and, indeed, mandatory."
CUNY's board on May 2 struck the
playright's name from a list of those
scheduled to receive honorary degrees
at CUNY's John Jay College of Criminal
Justice after a university trustee, Jeffrey
Wiesenfeld, attacked Kushner as
anti-Israel. Wiesenfeld, a Republican
appointee to the board, quoted from
several Kushner statements in his
appeal to the CUNY board to remove
the playwright's name.
The board's decision to exclude
Kushner has drawn an outpouring of
public criticism.
Kushner later said the statements
were taken out of context, wrongly
casting him as opposing Israel's exis-
tence and supporting boycotts, and he
objected to not having been given the
opportunity to defend himself before
the decision was taken.
Schmidt said he would ask the
board's secretary to convene its smaller
executive committee so it could recon-
sider the matter. The board otherwise
would not have met until after the col-
lege's June 3 graduation ceremonies.
"If it were appropriate for us to
take politics into account in decid-
ing whether to approve an honorary
degree, I might agree with Trustee
Wiesenfeld, whose political views on
the matters in controversy are not far
distant from my own;' Schmidt said.
"But it is not right for the board to
consider politics in connection with
the award of honorary degrees except
in extreme cases not presented by the
facts here. The proposed honorary
degree for Mr. Kushner would recog-
nize him for his extraordinary talent
and contribution to the American
theater.
"The objection arose at the eleventh
hour without any opportunity for
research and preparation necessary for
the presentation of a full and balanced
appraisal: he added. "Accordingly, the
chancellor and I agree that recon-
sideration of the motion to table the
honorary degree for Mr. Kushner is not
only the right thing to do, but is our
obligation:
Matthew Goldstein is CUNY's chan-
cellor.
Earlier, former New York City Mayor
Ed Koch had called for CUNY to termi-
nate its relationship with Wiesenfeld.
"I can't think of a dumber academic
action': Koch, one of Israel's most
ardent supporters, said in a letter May
5 to Schmidt. "What does Kushner
receiving an award have to do with
criticism of the State of Israel? I am a
well-known supporter of that nation.
What if I were denied an honorary
degree because of my strong support
for that state? That would make as
much sense as denying Mr. Kushner a
degree:
He concluded, "I consider Mr.
Wiesenfeld's action so outrageous as
to be an abuse of power on his part
requiring his resignation or removal
from the Board of Trustees."
The New York Times reported that
Ellen Schrecker, a Yeshiva University
history professor, planned to return
her 2008 honorary degree in solidarity
with Kushner.
Kushner has said that Israel was
"founded in a program that, if you
really want to be blunt about it, was
ethnic cleansing." Kushner also has
said that "it would have been better"
had the Jewish state never been cre-
ated.
Wiesenfeld told the Israeli newspa-
per Haaretz that he would be willing to
vote for giving Kushner an honorary
degree if he repudiates his past state-
ments about Israel.
EU Covers PA
Tax Money
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The European
Union approved an extra $124 million
in emergency aid to the Palestinians
to supplement tax monies frozen by
Israel.
"It is important that access to essen-
tial public services remains uninter-
rupted and the right to social services
is respected': said Catherine Ashton,
the EU foreign policy chief.
Israel stopped payment recently on
$105 million it owes the Palestinian
Authority on customs' duties and other
taxes because of the unity agreement
that Fatah signed with Hamas.
The EU money would go to essen-
tial employees and to families in
need, Ashton said.
EMMELLE
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1
ON THE
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Roundup on page 6
iN
May 12 2011
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