Kushner Affair Puts Israel Dissent At Center Stage

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One is the child of Holocaust survivors who grew up in the South Bronx. The other is the son of professional musicians who spent most of his childhood in Lake Charles, La.

One started out in law enforcement, working in counter-intelligence for the FBI, and eventually entered politics, becoming an operative for two New York Republicans, U.S. Sen. Alfonse D’Amato and Gov. George Pataki. The other became an award-winning playwright, looking with an artist’s sensibility at the experiences of minorities, including Jews, gays and blacks, as well as such themes as human imperfection.

One, now working for a wealth-management firm and living in Great Neck, L.I., speaks in blunt, forceful terms and attends an Orthodox shul mostly to avoid the liberal politics associated with other synagogues. The other may be the epitome of the classic urban intellectual — gifted, intense, voluble and engaged in a permanent wrestling match over what it means to be gay, Jewish and American.

In many ways, Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, the former political operative, and Tony Kushner, the playwright two years his senior, are polar opposites, sharing little in common outside their passion and Jewishness. And so, too, are the outlooks they represent on Israel.

http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new_york/kushner_affair_puts_israel_dissent_center_stage

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1. The Tony Kushner flap: What does it say about the discourse on Israel in America?

WASHINGTON (JTA) -- It was the latest dustup over what constitutes acceptable discourse in the American Jewish community when it comes to Israel.

Except this time the battle wasn’t contained within the community, but began at a university board meeting and spilled over onto the front page of The New York Times.

When the dust had settled, the City University of New York had reversed its decision to withhold an honorary degree from the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Tony Kushner over his views on Israel.

What was less clear was what the victory for Kushner and his supporters meant for the pro-Israel wars in America.

http://www.jta.org/news/article/2011/05/10/3087646/in-kushner-kayo-at-cuny-who-emerges-as-the-real-champ

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2. The Playwright and the CUNY Trustee: Act II

The calls for Jeffrey S. Wiesenfeld’s ouster or forced resignation from the City University of New York board of trustees are as misguided as the board’s original decision to deny the playwright Tony Kushner an honorary degree.

Mr. Wiesenfeld is entitled to his views, however much many of us, myself included, may disagree with him, and he is entitled to be wrong. The fault in this debacle lies not with Mr. Wiesenfeld but with those members of the CUNY board who went along with him in the first place. Mr. Wiesenfeld was motivated by his ideological convictions. What was the other members’ excuse?

Barbara Bowen, president of the CUNY faculty and staff union, is on shaky ground in drawing the conclusion that Mr. Wiesenfeld’s expression of his views, however ill advised in retrospect, renders him ineligible to continue serving on the CUNY board.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/12/opinion/l12cuny.html