Queens Museum reconsidering letting Israeli Mission rent space

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The Queens Museum is reconsidering a decision to refuse to rent space for an event honoring the UN’s recognition of Israel following complaints from Israeli officials.

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 connect to the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement that targets Israel.

“It is unacceptable for BDS activists to single out Israel and ban our event,” said Danny Danon, Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, in a statement. “I call on the Board of Directors of the Queens Museum to dismiss Ms. Raicovich from her position immediately and honor their commitment to hold this important event.”

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 70 years ago to formally recognize the Jewish state. The Israeli mission to the UN had planned to hold a re-enactment in the original space.

The museum was initially on board, and told the Israeli Mission in June that it had reserved a hall for the 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.

Now — days after anti-Semitism got a national spotlight from neo-Nazis and white supremacists marching in Virginia — the museum is considering reversing its reversal.

“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 its considered political or whether there had been a vote of the board to decline hosting the event.

In a joint statement, Councilman Rory Lancman (D-Queens) and Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz (D-Queens) called the museum’s actions “a disgrace and a violation of law.”

Executive Director Laura Raicovich has connections to the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement that targets Israel.
Executive Director Laura Raicovich has connections to the Boycott, Divest and Sanctions movement that targets Israel.IMAGE BY: TIMOTHY GREENFIELD-SANDERS/QUEENS MUSEUM

“It is a clear example of anti-Semitism, and we will not stand for it. We demand the Queens Museum board reinstate this important ceremony,” they said. They also called for the museum to boot Raicovich and for the city’s Human Rights Commission to investigate.

Controller Scott Stringer said the re-enactment should take place in the spot where the original vote did.

“At a time when we literally have neo-Nazis marching in American streets, when bigotry is on the rise, the Queens Museum has sent a disappointing message to New York City and the world,” he said.

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 spokesperson said.

Katz told the News the event focuses on a historical event that took place at the museum — a history that, she said she’s reminded interested parties, has benefited the borough and the museum. As the most diverse area in the country, she said Queens was proud of playing in a role in the forming of Israel.

“I expect to partake in all celebrations of its creation on the 70-year mark,” she said. “We hope that we reach a solution that allows us to do it on the site.”

“We’re the most diverse area in the nation,” Katz told the News. “We take pride in all our history we have but we take particular pride in the fact that the UN did indeed have the vote for the partition that created Israel here in the borough of Queens and in fact at the Queens Museum.”

The decision comes just days after neo-Nazis and white supremacists descended on Charlottesville, and a day after President Trump argued some of them were “fine people” — leading to plenty of outrage in New York.

Queens Museum reconsidering letting Israeli Mission rent space

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