Schools

Bloomberg Defends Anti-Israel Forum at Brooklyn College

Mayor lashes out at elected officials who threatened to cut off funding to the college if the event proceeds

Mayor Bloomberg spoke out on Wednesday in defense of Brooklyn College’s sponsorship of an anti-Israel forum, despite a pushback from some local elected officials who have threatened to cut the college’s public funding if the event proceeds, reported the New York Daily News.

The Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) forum, scheduled for today, calls for “nonviolent punitive measures" against Israel to push the Jewish state to change its policy toward Palestinians. The organization also opposes a two-state solution, demanding Palestinian refugees be allowed to return to their homes.

Bloomberg said controversial ideas deserve a platform on college campuses, and the university has the right to sponsor forums on any topic, even BDS.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“As you know I'm a big supporter of Israel, as big a one as I think you can find in the city,” said Bloomberg. But he added, a university should be free to sponsor a forum on any topic, “including ideas that people find repugnant.”

The controversy first sparked last week when ten members of the City Council, led by Lewis A. Fidler of Brooklyn, signed a letter to the college president, Karen Gould, demanding either that the event be canceled or that the university revoke its sponsorship.

Find out what's happening in Bed-Stuywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

In response, Bloomberg said yesterday, “The last thing we need is for members of our City Council or state legislature to micromanage the kinds of programs that our public universities run and to base funding decisions on the political views of professors.”

State Assemblyman Dov Hikind, a leading critic of the BDF forum, said the mayor was "out of his mind" for saying the forum should be allowed. 

However, Bloomberg been a longtime and vocal advocate of free speech. He also supported the 2010 proposed mosque and community center near the World Trade Center site.

“If you want to go to a university where the government decides what kinds of subjects are fit for discussion, I suggest you apply to a school in North Korea," he said.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here