NEW YORK CITY — A museum in Queens has backtracked after initially canceling an agreement with Israel’s U.N. mission to host an anniversary re-enactment of the vote on the resolution calling for the establishment of a Jewish state.
According to the Israeli mission, the Queens Museum reneged on an agreement to hold an event celebrating the historic 1947 resolution. The museum’s building served as U.N. headquarters from 1946-1950, and is thus the site where the resolution was formulated.
The mission said that a number of ambassadors and key dignitaries had been invited, while a number of groups had promised to partner with the mission in making it a success. In June, the mission was informed the hall was reserved.
However, the event was put on ice on Wednesday. The mission said that the museum, apparently under pressure from “Palestinian friends of the museum,” canceled the event. The move provoked a furious response from Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon, who also called for the museum’s director to be fired.
“We will not accept this blatant discrimination against the State of Israel and we will not let this decision stand,” Danon said. “It is unacceptable for BDS activists to single out Israel and ban our event.”
Danon also said the director who made the decision is the editor of a book that included an article titled “Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions: Reasons to Support BDS,” which justifies and endorses the worldwide BDS movement against Israel.
The mission announced later Wednesday that that decision had been reversed and the event would go ahead as planned.
“We welcome this step by the Museum to rectify their earlier unfortunate decision,” Danon 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 museum told Breitbart News in a statement that it had a “productive conversation” with Danon and was looking forward to the event.
“After a productive conversation with Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Danny Danon, the Queens Museum will work with the Israeli Mission on the proposed commemoration of the 1947 vote,” the museum said.
“We are deeply committed to all the communities we serve through our meaningful arts programming and we are looking forward to making this a successful event.”
Adam Shaw is a Breitbart News politics reporter based in New York. Follow Adam on Twitter: @AdamShawNY