American universities have been at the forefront of the attack on Israel’s legitimacy, most notoriously through the BDS campaign to boycott, divest, and sanction the State of Israel. While supporters of Israel’s right to exist have utilized a variety of forums to push back on the anti-Semitic attacks on the Jewish state, it is essential that university campuses find room for such voices as well.

So it’s heartening to see the City University of New York (CUNY) doing just that. In response to a recent anti-Israel panel event held at the CUNY Graduate Center, tonight a group of experts will discuss “Israel in the Middle East.” As the organizers explain:

The story of Israel as a nation in the Middle East needs to be told. A recent panel at the CUNY Graduate Center entitled “BDS and Academic Freedom” stigmatized the only state in the Middle East that can properly be described as a liberal democracy and whose Arab citizens enjoy full democratic and civil rights as a racist, apartheid, pinkwashing state. (Pinkwashing means that Israel’s support for civil rights for all is merely a ploy to deceive the world about its true nature.) The panel will discuss the historic Jewish presence in and connection to Israel and its struggle for peace and security. Israel has been a refuge for Jews pushed to the edge in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and has much to contribute to the well-being of a Middle East at peace with itself.

Panelists include David Berger, Mark J. Mirsky, and recent COMMENTARY contributor KC Johnson. Here are the details:

May 8, 2014

6:00-8:00 PM

Graduate Center, City University of New York, 365 5th Avenue

Room C 203-205