Columbia University’s Exchange With Ahmadinejad
Jodi at Webloggin on Sep 24 2007 at 3:35 pm | Filed under: Iran
Over the weekend many American’s, including me, were upset at Columbia University’s President Bollinger for inviting Iranian President Ahmadinejad to a question and answer on campus. I think what angered most Americans is that Columbia University will not let the military or their ROTC program on campus due to their alleged anti-homosexual stance, but they would allow Ahmadinejad, who publicly executes homosexuals in Iran.
In any event, I am pleasantly surprised. It seems that President Bollinger really did grill the Iranian president and he had a lot of applause while doing so. The AP is reporting that:
Ahmadinejad smiled at first but appeared increasingly agitated, decrying the “insults” and “unfriendly treatment.” Columbia President Lee Bollinger and audience members took him to task over Iran’s human-rights record and foreign policy, as well as Ahmadinejad’s statements denying the Holocaust and calling for the disappearance of Israel.
“Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Bollinger said, to loud applause.
He said Ahmadinejad’s denial of the Holocaust might fool the illiterate and ignorant.
“When you come to a place like this it makes you simply ridiculous,” Bollinger said. “The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history.”
Ahmadinejad rose, also to applause, and after a religious invocation, said Bollinger’s opening was “an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here.”
snip
Asked about executions of homosexuals in Iran, Ahmadinejad said the judiciary system executed violent criminals and high-level drug dealers, comparing them to microbes eliminated through medical treatment. Pressed specifically about punishment of homosexuals, he said: “In Iran we don’t have homosexuals like in your country.”
With the audience laughing derisively, he continued: “In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don’t know who’s told you that we have this.”
Bollinger was strongly criticized for inviting Ahmadinejad to Columbia, and had promised tough questions in his introduction to Ahmadinejad’s talk. But the strident and personal nature of his attack on the president of Iran was startling.
“You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated,” Bollinger told Ahmadinejad about the leader’s Holocaust denial.
I still would have preferred that Ahmadinejad been denied access into the United States, but I am glad to read that this question and answer forum at the University did not turn into a leftist love fest. Ahmadinejad was uncomfortable and I was happy to see that.
Others:
Washington Times Culture Blog has a rundown
Columbia University, President Bollinger, Ahmadinejad, Israel, Holocaust, United States
High security was the standard at Columbia University, as 750 students and faculty members listened. The guest of “honor” was the President of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Read my opinions on the Mahmoud Ahmadinejad visit to Columbia.
Is Ahmadinejad a dictator or is he being vilified as one.
http://www.hotconflict.com/blog/2007/09/ahmadinejad-say.html
http://www.hotconflict.com/blog/2007/09/columbia-univer.html
Regardless of what you believe, you do not invite someone into your home (in this case Columbia University) and attack them, not if you want to win friends and influence people in an Arab or Persian world where something like this would never happen. This just shows just how ignorant Americans are in general, and the President of Columbia University in particular, is when it comes to dealing with the world at large. This is something only Bush would stood too.
It is astonishing that Mr. Bollinger would treat a guest of this nation in such a rude and unfriendly manner. The point is not that Mr. Bollinger’s comments were accurate or not, but rather an exmaple of the pompous attitude that he shows to a foreign head of state. What a wasted opportunity for the students who attended the event. While I certainly do not agree with President Ahmadinejad’s political or religious views, he is a guest in this country and should be treated as such.
It’s a sad day for democracy when free speech cannot be maintained in the face of clearly opposing perspectives. Bollinger’s comments showed us to be more blindly biased than either sunnis or shiites. It’s an arrogant passion that will run roughshod over any basic sense of hospitality – not the best way to highlight our American ideals. One would hope that the rest of our American colleges and universities can maintain a better sense of integrity and adherence to its mission statement. Now matter how your “package” it, Ahmadinejad took the high road, and we took the low one. I wonder which will be remembered as more effective in the end?