Museum flips on Israel slap
reverses ‘boycott’ amid call to ax boss
THE QUEENS Museum reversed its decision to refuse to rent space for an event honoring the UN resolution that led to Israel, after a day of complaints from Israeli and city officials.
“We welcome this step by the museum to rectify their earlier unfortunate decision,” Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement. “Any attempt to discriminate against Israel is completely unacceptable and we will continue to fight against such injustices. We look forward to proudly celebrating this historic UN decision.”
The Israeli Mission to the UN had blamed the cancellation — which came after the museum had previously agreed to host the celebration — on Executive Director Laura Raicovich’s connection to the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement that targets Israel. Danon had called on her to resign.
Raicovich edited a book called “Assuming Boycott: Resistance, Agency and Cultural Production,” which includes an essay on the BDS movement.
Before the site was the Queens Museum, the Flushing locale was where the United Nations met in 1947 to partition what was then the British territory of Palestine, leading to the birth of Israel the following year. The Israeli Mission had planned to hold a reenactment in the original space.
The museum was initially onboard, and told the Israeli Mission in June that it had reserved a hall for the 70th anniversary event.
It then became incommunicado until Monday, the mission said, when Raicovich told Danon she was reversing that decision and would no longer host the event. She said the museum’s board had decided not to host a “political event” due to museum policy, the mission said.
The museum said Wednesday afternoon it was reviewing its decision — after complaints from Danon and numerous city officials. “While the Queens Museum has specific policies regarding space rentals, given the history of the building in which the Queens Museum is located, the museum is reconsidering its decision and has reached out to the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations to further discuss the event later today,” the museum said in a statement.
A museum spokeswoman did not respond to questions about what, exactly, those policies were, what events it considered political, or whether there had been a vote of the board to decline hosting the event.
In a joint statement, City Councilman Rory Lancman and Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz (both D-Queens) called the museum’s actions “a disgrace and a violation of law.”
Mayor de Blasio, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, Cultural Affairs Commissioner Tom Finkelpearl and Borough President Melinda Katz are all ex officio board members — and Finkelpearl formerly ran the museum. Much of its funding comes from the city.
“The museum has said they are reconsidering their decision to not allow this event to take place. Good,” a mayoral spokesman said.
Katz told the Daily News the event focuses on a historical event that took place at the museum — a history, she said, that has benefited the borough and the museum. As the most diverse county in the country, she said, Queens was proud of playing in a role in the forming of Israel.
Mark-Viverito and city Controller Scott Stringer had also urged the museum to change course.