Trustee Blasts CUNY Anti-Israel “Homonationalism and Pinkwashing” Conference
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Center for Lesbian and Gay Rights City University of New York CLAG CUNY CUNY Israel Gay Rights Homonationalism israel Israel Gay Rights Israel Gays Israel News Jeffrey Wiesenfeld CUNY Jewish Jewish News Jews pinkwashing
2010 Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem. Photo: wiki commons.
The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at City University of New York plans to hold a conference on “Homonationalism and Pinkwashing” next year, which intends to accuse Israel of using their strong record on gay rights to detract from the “oppression of Palestinians”, while ignoring “the existence of Palestinian gay-rights organizations”, according to a release from CLAGS.
Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, who sits on the Board of CUNY Trustees calls the conference “disgusting” and plans to bring the issue to the Chancellor’s office, which he believes may be unaware of the issue.
“It’s just amazing to me that one of the few free societies in the world like the state of Israel should be a target for people so stupid that they can’t recognize what their fate would be in any other nation in the Middle East,” Wiesenfeld told The Algemeiner.
The Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at CUNY has yet to respond for comment.
Wiesenfeld, who was adamant in his opposition to the conference, said the issue of pinkwashing and Israel is a made up phenomenon that has “nothing to do with academia” and is “intellectually dishonest”.
“This whole definition of pinkwashing – it’s a made up term,” he said. “No one is pinkwashing or whitewashing. Israel doesn’t need to pinkwash or whitewash anything, because they’ve always lived with the gay community in harmony. They don’t need a program of tolerance, it’s a made up term to further an anti-Israel bias.”
In a release related to the conference, CLAGS writes that Israel’s “campaign not only manipulates the hard-won gains of Israel’s gay rights movement, but it also ignores the existence of Palestinian gay-rights organizations.”
Wiesenfeld, who was a key figure in the opposition to grant Tony Kushner an honorary CUNY degree due to his anti-Israel statements, believes this situation is even more unacceptable than the Kushner award, and he questioned why LGBT activists would single out Israel of all the countries in the middle east.
“Let them try their luck, any of them – the members who are going to attend this conference and the participants – let them try their luck with the Islamists, with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, with Assad in Syria, with Hezbollah in Lebanon, in Saudi Arabia,” he said.
Sarah Schulman, a CUNY professor who is involved in putting the “Homonationalism and Pinkwashing” conference together, wrote an op-ed in the New York Times last year, accusing Israel and Western Europe of leveraging their support of gays to promote an anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim agenda.
“After generations of sacrifice and organization, gay people in parts of the world have won protection from discrimination and relationship recognition. But these changes have given rise to a nefarious phenomenon: the co-opting of white gay people by anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim political forces in Western Europe and Israel,” she wrote in Novemeber of 2011.
Noting the victims of Syria’s ongoing brutality, Wiesenfeld said the people involved in CLAGS’ conference would suffer a similar fate if they were to express their sexuality the way they do in the United States and Israel, in Syria.
“This is a continuation of idiocy by people, leftists, anti-Semites, and Islamists – not Muslims but political Islamists - to demonize Israel. For all the things they do freely in this country and Israel, they would end up like the victims of Bashar Assad if they were to do this in any other country in the middle east.”
At the time of publication, CUNY Chancellor Matthew Goldstein and the CUNY Office of Public Affairs had not responded to The Algemeiner’s request for comment.
1:50 pm
Ask the state of Israel who is king david but a son in law (1st Samuel 18:22), and his wife Michal, the church an image (1st Samuel 19:13). Matthew 9:5 equals John 5:9. Why did the state of Israel, make themselves god over Jesus Christ? Where is the God of Jacob, in heaven. Where is David? Grace and truth is salvation, God resists the proud *John 1:17
10:04 am
Liberals are saddled with a formula which dictates that they root for the perceived underdog. Gays and Muslims fall into their “underdog” status of protected classes. So, what are liberals to do about the fact that the seven nations which have a death penalty for homosexuals are all Muslim? It would be wiser to worry about who is righteous than to be concerned about underdog status.
9:53 am
This is a perfect example of the hatred of Israel that defines the left today. If not for such hatred, they could simply acknowledge Israel’s leadership on this issue in the Middle East, or simply acknowledge Israel’s place among nations that protect the rights of its gay and lesbian citizens. Instead, their instinct is to eliminate Israel from the coterie of nations that protect the civil rights of gays and others. By producing a conference on the subjects of “homonationalism” and “pinkwashing,” their aim is to elevate this form of hatred to something that is not just morally legitimate, but intellectually valid as well. The truth, however, is their actions serve only to further cement themselves into their house of hate.
9:35 am
At what point will our society decide that enough is enough? At what point will trustees like Wiesenfeld, who truly care about academic excellence, be recognized for the value of their advice and insight? Enough is enough. Academia has already been stretched to the breaking point. The value of a university education has already been deeply compromised because of the foolishness of the courses that are offered, the uselessness of those who “teach,” and the moral vacuousness of campus activities. This is a publicly funded university. The public should not be expected to pay for this garbage.
8:21 pm
Good point Jersey Dave. Arab societies have no tolerance for homosexuality.
1:39 pm
I bet if these Gay activists move to theose Palestinian Territories, Syria or Iran to live under the regimes they are flacking for they will see different.
1:16 pm
It never ceases to amaze me at the dishonesty among organizations where issues against Israel are being fabricated. As Mr Wiesenfeld wisely proclaims, the people who are free to identify themselves as LGBT could never do so in many of the Muslim countries and representative organizations they ally themselves with. It is incomprehensibe and delusional and anyone partipating in this type of conference should lose support from any backers who care about the existence of our one true ally in the middle east- Israel. Seems to me Christine Quinn should be outraged by this conference.
1:09 pm
The next time I get a request for money from my 2 alma maters, CCNY and Brooklyn College, I will send a copy of this article in lieu of a check. Hope other enlightened alums follow suit.
12:11 am
it’s embarrassing that I was every a member of the faculty of CUNY. In the last 10 years, the stupidity and deceit of the academic staff is outrageous and noctious.
12:12 am
what – except for typos are you discussing?