Let Ahmadinejad Speak
24 September 2007 8:33 am by Taylor Marsh
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| VIDEO: Lee Bollinger’s speech graphic via Ms. Internment |
What’s amazing is that someone at Columbia didn’t think to get permission from
AIPAC before inviting Mr. Ahmadinejad speak.
It doesn’t take a genius to understand why wingnuts don’t want Iran’s president
to speak at Columbia. He might show up looking and sounding human, instead of
the thugocrat he actually is, disguising his real thoughts about all things
we hold dear. Columbia made a daring, important decision to invite Mr. Ahmadinejad
to Columbia, and they should wear the outrage as a medal. Powerline is already
declaring it’s “Columbia’s Disgrace – Part 8.” What cowards.
This event raises deep and complicated issues about how best to express our
commitment to intellectual freedom, and to our free way of life. Although
we believe in free and open debate at Columbia and should never suppress points
of view, we are also committed to academic standards. A high-quality academic
discussion depends on intellectual honesty but, unfortunately, Mr. Ahmadinejad
has proven himself, time and again, to be uninterested in whether his words
are true. Therefore, my personal opinion is that he should not be invited
to speak. Mr. Ahmadinejad is a reprehensible and dangerous figure who presides
over a repressive regime, is responsible for the death of American soldiers,
denies the Holocaust, and calls for the destruction of Israel. It would be
deeply regrettable if some misread this invitation as lending prestige or
legitimacy to his views.Our university is a pluralistic place, and I recognize that others within
our community take a different view in good faith, and that they have the
right to extend invitations that I personally would not extend. I know that
we will learn from each other in discussing the difficult questions prompted
by this invitation. … ..STATEMENT
BY DAVID M.SCHIZER RE: SIPA INVITATION TO MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD
Mr. Ahmadinejad is unlikely to fall into any traps. Sociopaths rarely do, especially
if they’ve already got the limelight, and Mr. Bush has made sure that’s the
case. After all, Ahmadinejad is not O.J. But will this visit make it less likely
that the U.S. will go to war with Iran?
Zbig doesn’t
think so.
“When the president flatly asserts they are seeking nuclear weapons,
he’s overstating the facts,” he said. “We are suspicious. We have
strong suspicions, but we don’t have facts that they are.”Brzezinski, who served under President Jimmy Carter, said he is not sure
how to interpret Iran’s intentions. Iran has insisted its nuclear program
is intended solely for peaceful purposes.“I think it’s quite possible that they are seeking weapons or positioning
themselves to have them, but we have very scant evidence to support that,”
he said. “And the president of the United States, especially after Iraq,
should be very careful about the veracity of his public assertions.”
… ..
But Ahmadinejad showing up at a U.S. university is getting an interesting conversation
going. Another wingnut, Hugh Hewitt, also calls it “Columbia’s Complete
Disgrace.”
Our universities are to be free speech zones where all manner of discourse
is encouraged and all voices are given space. We stand by Israel at every turn
and certainly steadfastly on the incendiary comments Iran’s president makes
on wiping Israel out. However, nowhere in our Constitution does it say that
we should sacrifice our own beliefs for theirs.
After last week’s Republican MoveOn.org spectacle I find it chilling that everyone
who doesn’t agree with the right-wing is now subject to censorship. Ahmadinejad
is a thug, a suspected terrorist and an alleged madman. But we haven’t proven
a thing against him. Republicans evidently see no merit in exposing a man such
as Ahmadinejad, or maybe they’re just scared he’ll not bring his greatest anti
Semitic hits. Doesn’t change the fact that the man ignores history and the facts
and everyone knows it.
But from what I hear Mr. Ahmadinejad is going to show up and actually take
uncensored questions from students in the audience on any subject. Our president
won’t even do that.
