A Guardian article by Chris McGreal (“Harvard blocks role for former Human Rights Watch head over Israel criticism”, Jan. 6) included the following, in an attempt to show examples of “anti-Israel” writers, artists or academics being ‘cancelled’.
Other major universities have also snubbed critics of Israel including the board of the City University of New York, which [in 2011] blocked an award to the award-winning Jewish playwright Tony Kushner after he was accused of being anti-Israel.
However, as we noted in a tweet, a post published yesterday, and in a complaint to Guardian editors, attempts to block Kushner’s honorary degree were not successful, and he received the award.
Tony #Kushner graciously receives honorary degree from @JohnJayCollege #CUNY – students respond enthusiastically to his address!
— PSC_CUNY (@PSC_CUNY) June 3, 2011
Our complaint was upheld, and editors added that sentence “The board later reversed the decision following widespread criticism” to the article, and also added the following Editor’s Note:
