2006: Columbia withdraws invitation to Ahmadinejad
UPDATE: It's come to my attention that this NY Sun article is from 2006.
If that's the case and they did not rescind the invitation to speak for today, then what is Scott Adams referring to in his blog?
"And I was happy that Columbia University is rescinding the offer to let him speak. "
Maybe Scott was referring to the same 2006 article?
Does anybody have a recent article that confirms whether or not Ahmadinejad is speaking today?
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That was quick.
So much for free speech in academia - Columbia just tossed out its reputation for independent scholarship for fear of zionist backlash.
Overruling a prominent dean, the president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, yesterday withdrew an invitation to the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.The dean of Columbia's school of international and public affairs, Lisa Anderson, had independently invited Mr. Ahmadinejad to speak at the World Leader's Forum, a year-long program that aims to unite "renowned intellectuals and cultural icons from many nations to examine global challenges and explore cultural perspectives."
In a statement issued yesterday afternoon, Mr. Bollinger said he canceled Mr. Ahmadinejad's invitation because he couldn't be certain it would "reflect the academic values that are the hallmark of a University event such as our World Leaders Forum." He told Ms. Anderson that Mr. Ahmadinejad could speak at the school of international and public affairs, just not as a part of the university-wide leader's forum.
Ms. Anderson's assistant cited an inability to arrange for proper security as the reason for the cancellation.
Mr. Bollinger told Ms. Anderson that while he finds Mr. Ahmadinejad's views "repugnant," she has the "right and responsibility to invite speakers whom she believes will add to the academic experience of our students."
Provided they do not interfere with our zionist agenda.
The invitation sparked heated debate and outrage on campus and elsewhere because Mr. Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier and the head of a state that sponsors terrorism. The brouhaha over Mr. Ahmadenijad's invitation has also spotlighted the confusion of many regarding if and how standards should be applied when universities decide whom to welcome to their campuses.A professor at the school of public health, Judy Jacobson, said Ms. Anderson "didn't see what line she was crossing." When asked to clarify the substance of that line, Ms. Jacobson paused. "Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier and inciter and I think that causes him to go far over the line," she said.
A Columbia sophomore who is a reporter for the Columbia Spectator, Mark Holden, said that while he personally does not like Mr. Ahmadinejad, he thought he should have a fair hearing. "It's a tough call," Mr. Holden said. "If given the choice to protest for him or against him I certainly would protest against him."
Ms. Jacobson, the leader of Columbia's chapter of Scholars for Peace in the Middle East, a nonprofit group that aims to combat anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism on college campuses, sent a letter to Mr. Bollinger attacking the university's standards on such invitations. The letter, signed by numerous professors from all parts of the university, states, "Neither academic freedom nor the First Amendment requires Columbia University to give a podium to academic freedom to anyone who wants it, let alone a Hitler wannabe who has actively suppressed academic freedom in his own country."
A Harvard professor of law, Alan Dershowitz, said universities must either declare that they will serve as open platforms or articulate clear standards regarding who is welcome to speak on their campuses.
"Bollinger should have said that anybody can speak at Columbia period, but he would never say that. This was an educational moment missed by the university to articulate what its standards are," Mr. Dershowitz said.
What a hypocritical, opportunistic weasel.
Dershowitz is a rabid zionist who doesn't know the first thing about academic freedom. He just wants to take a crack at a leading rival university.
I hope the reputations of both Columbia and Harvard go up in flames over this.
For that is what we have become; a nation of goosestepping Zionists, ready to beat down any vocal oppostion or thoughts that don't agree with our mandate for Eretz Israel.
Dershowitz and his minions must be having a good laugh about now, cheering the fact that they have managed to subvert another person's voice and opinions that just might run contrary to their fascist views.
God forbid if we actully get to hear another side of the complex ME story, instead of the one that is crammed down our throats and into our brain daily by the Zionazi's.
...but even two of the most prestigious universities in the world surrender to Zionist demand to block the opportunity to provide the Arab-Persian voice on the crucial issues of the present-day world and challenge Zio-Elite lies and defamation in the controlled media.
Zionist hardliners have run 'reason' into the ground in their quest to keep their evil plans under the wrap by forbidding the truth through suppression of free discussion at the forums.
First Blackwater being allowed to operate in Iraq with absolute impunity and now this.
Iran and Syria will answer the Zionist regime and U.S.'s foolish action of attack with brute force. I could care less when Blackwater security contractors are massacred. Bringing home the troops continue to fail thanks to the treasonous acts of the majority of the Congressmembership despite the 2006 vote mandate.
Late author Henry Miller opined U.S. is the "very incarnation of doom and will drag the world to the bottomless pit". He was right.
"We are not afraid to entrust the American people with unpleasant facts, foreign ideas, alien philosophies, and competitive values. For a nation that is afraid to let its people judge the truth and falsehood in an open market is a nation that is afraid of its people." -- JFK
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My blog Last Throes of US Empire
The "war on terror" is over!
There is no more freedom to hate!
The terrorists have won!
A shame that only now we realize who the terrorists are!
that this NY Sun article is from 2006.
If that's the case and they did not rescind the invitation to speak for tomorrow, then what is Scott Adams referring to in his blog?
"And I was happy that Columbia University is rescinding the offer to let him speak. "
Maybe Scott was referring to the same 2006 article?
Does anybody have a recent article that confirms whether or not Ahmadinejad is speaking today?
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"Money" has no value - people do.
Once again we have Orwell's prophecies coming true here in America.
We see 'Newspeak' at work as 'political correctness'. We have zio-cons running every form of media outlet to the masses (via TV), completely filtered and arranged so as to give the best light on the so-called Israeli state.
I'm amazed at just how far the Animal Farm will go until the animals realize they are actually complete slaves to the pigs?
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"Hey you, Whitehouse. Ha ha,.. charade you are" Pigs/Animals/Pink Floyd
Qrs post: "So much for free speech in academia - Columbia just tossed out its reputation for independent scholarship for fear of zionist backlash."
Hehehe...free speech?! Independent scholarship?!
When was this ever a fact in our western history? East is not much better in this regard but I bet you have more freedom of speech and independence in one Al-Jazeera than in all western media and universities combined. Its sad that we are discovering this ugly truth about illusion of freedom at the beginning of new millennium but better now than never. Media and educational system has been controlled from the time of dark ages in Europe, there was no free speech and no independent scholarship just an illusion of it.
"Let there be Light!"