The case of Tony Kushner

I first saw something about this Tony Kushner business in an email to the Just Peace UK group from Roland Rance.

Academic freedom and open debate should apply to everyone on campus, not just defenders of Israel's government. CUNY's [City University of New York] Board of Trustees recently violated these values when they made the unprecedented decision to block an honorary degree for Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Tony Kushner, solely because of his criticism of Israel. They did so based on the last minute objections of Board of Trustees member Jeffrey Wiesenfeld, who has a history of opposing open debate. He opposed the first Arabic dual language public school in the country, opposed the rights of Muslims to build a mosque in Lower Manhattan, and tried to block Kristofer Petersen-Overton’s appointment as an adjunct lecturer at Brooklyn College because of his political opinions about Palestine and Israel. But he said that Glenn Beck should not be criticized for anti-Semitism. 

If you are outraged by this hypocrisy like me, please join me in signing this petition athttp://bit.ly/tonyatcuny to overturn this unjust decision and support a free and open debate at this public university.

Now Magnes Zionist has two posts on the same issue here and here.