Pictured Above: The Queens Museum. Credit: Leo Chiou via Wikimedia Commons.

(JNS.org) New York’s Queens Museum has reversed its decision to cancel an event to be hosted by Israel’s Mission to the United Nations, following the advocacy of pro-Israel groups, local politicians and the Israeli government.

Amid pressure from BDS movement supporters and Palestinian officials, the museum had initially rescinded its agreement to host a reenactment of the 1947 U.N. partition vote, which paved the way for the state of Israel’s establishment.

“The Queens Museum will work with the Israeli Mission on the proposed commemoration of the 1947 vote,” a spokesperson for the museum said in a statement Thursday. “We are deeply committed to all the communities we serve through our meaningful arts programming and we are looking forward to making this a successful event.”

Earlier this week, Israeli Ambassador to the U.N. Danny Danon called for the director of the Queens Museum, Laura Raicovich, to be dismissed over her cancellation of the event. Raicovich, who has authored books and articles supporting the BDS movement, had told Danon that the museum’s board of directors decided not to hold a “political event.”

“We will not accept this blatant discrimination against the state of Israel and we will not let this decision stand,” Danon had said in a statement Wednesday. 

The Israeli Mission had decided to host the event in the original U.N. hall where the 1947 vote took place. The hall is now owned by the City of New York and houses the Queens Museum.

Sephardic News

http://sephardic.org/

editor@sephardic.org