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Ahmadinejad v. Bollinger: Words Were Spoken, But What Was Said?
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, began his two hours at Columbia University with these words. "In Iran, tradition requires when you invite a person to be a speaker, we actually respect our students enough to allow them to make their own judgment, and don't think it's necessary before the speech is even given to come in with a series of complaints to provide vaccination to the students and faculty."
Nobody can argue that the Iranian President is controversial. Nobody can argue that there are large numbers of Americans who harbor a feeling of intense hatred for the man although, given the fact that a large number of American harbor hatreds for all manner of species with no apparent reason, it is a little difficult to imagine that their animosity towards this particular human being is based on any well-researched facts.
Nonetheless, we can, I think, agree that Mr. Ahmadinejad is not particularly loved, certainly not as much as America's favorite blue-collar champion, Bruce Springsteen whose concert tickets only sold out, according to the New York Times, marginally faster than those for the Columbia event.
In other words, people turned out in droves to execute the verbal equivalent of the kind of hideous injustices we are all told are practiced in "backward" places, stoning to death, for example, at Columbia University. In Iran, as in most other nations and even, I've heard, in some of the more civilized parts of the United States, it is customary to honor a guest with common courtesy if that is all one can muster.
A guest comes in the guise of a speaker, a performer, a diner, or numerous other permutations that embody him or her with special status, but one thing is always true: a guest is invited. An invitation is a communication, expressed both formally and politely, to an individual, asking that they attend a festivity or event of ones own creation. In this case, Columbia University's president, Lee C. Bollinger, chose to ask a visiting foreign dignitary to grace his campus with his presence. A guest who accepts such an invitation does not envision that they will be publicly humiliated and attacked by their host for the amusement of other attendees.
How embarrassing then that such a thing could occur, at so prestigious a venue as Columbia University, so publicly and at the center of such media attention. How much worse, however, is that not one newspaper in this country chose to point out that Lee C. Bollinger acted appallingly and disgracefully? It is admirable that he chose to invite President Ahmadinejad to speak at his campus, to give a man excoriated by the American government and its oddly un-free press, a chance to state his case. But it is unforgivable that he would choose to backtrack on his initial gesture at the sad expense of his guest, and to the everlasting shame of his country.
I, for one, looked on with disgust. I also took away from the fiasco one new and not surprising bit of information: the President of Iran possesses a grace that neither his host nor the hecklers at Columbia University nor the press in this country nor, I might as well state the obvious, the president of this country can claim. Chalk one up, once again, for Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Ru Freeman is a writer and activist. She may be contacted at rfreeman@colby.edu. This article also appeared in The Island, Sri Lanka.
187 Comments so far
Show AllLee C. Bollinger, comments were a digusting display, of what i feel ails this country most.
An arrogance born of chosen ignorance, which is defined as U.S. exceptionalism.
In the words of Eric Hoffer "we lie loudest, when we lie to ourselves".
Iran... home to a people who were building cities when the majority of our northern European ancestors thought fire was pretty neat thing....
Bollinger was doing bad Vaudeville, in a truly bizarre spectacle. Laughable strangeness: "Here's the microphone you miserable wretch." wtf!?
Bollinger did indeed act disgracefully and showed his ignorance in calling the Iranian President a "dictator." Apparently he isnt aware that Ahmadinejad is an elected leader who weilds far less power in Iran than Bush does here.
Bollinger showed the world what and it means to be an ugly American. If he thought he scored points by being aggressive and rude, I think he is sadly mistaken. He came out looking like an unruly, uneducated fool. And the sad part is that he is the president of that school. The only person he impressed is probably his Zionist masters as the audience were mostly made up of Jews.
I watched the speech with others last night and we all shared Mr. Freeman's thorough disgust. Nothing academic about inviting Ahmadinejad here only to tar-and-feather him before he's even stood up. The fact that the president of the university did it is especially rotten. Some professors are like that, completely sure of themselves, standing in front of the subject of study in order to tell all about it (but not willing to give the students any real chance to scrutinize on their own). You saw the spirit of that when they asked questions of the Iranian president that they already had their answers to. Where was the spirit of open exchange? And now I see that it's not just some professors, but also some university presidents. Pathetic. Ahmadinejad came off as balanced, highly intelligent, and infinitely better mannered than his "hosts." The sad event was one more shameful American misstep. The whole fiasco says so much more about this country than about Iran and its leader.
I'm sure that it made Bollinger feel good to spew out his hate. This country used to be based on freedom. Now that the religious have taken over, it's based on hate. Hate for Islam. Hate for homosexuals. Hate for abortionists. Hate for Iraqis. Hate for ANYONE or ANYTHING that doesn't think like you, act like you, or believe like you. I saw the faces of the people outside the building holding their "Go To Hell" signs. The hatred in their eyes mimiced the Nazi's perfectly. Fascism is here and it's source is the church.
I am sending him a letter telling him how badly he embarrassed CU, the academic world, and viewers and listeners to the pillory, excuse me, forum. We all ought to send him letters.
Dr. Lee Bollinger
President
Columbia University
535 W. 116th St.
202 Low Library
Mail Code 4309
New York, NY 10027
I find it unfortunate that Ahmadinejad was willing to stand up in front of a group of educated and articulte college students and have to try to defend his positions, as controversial as most of them are, BUT our own President Bush has NEVER been willing to do the same. Bush has addressed students at the Military academies, but has NEVER done what Ahmadinejad did at Columbia, and that is stand up in front of Amercian college students, with NO SCRIPT, and NO "handlers" and defend his positions. I don't think he EVER will either.
Ru, you say not one newspaper in the country chose to point out that Lee Bollinger acted disgracefully. This morning the Seattle Post-intelligencer attempted that in their editorial section. Granted, I would have liked their comments to be much stronger, but at least they did write this:
"First he got an inflammatory intro from Lee Bollinger, in which the university president called Ahmadinejad a 'petty, cruel dictator,' accusing him of being either 'brazenly provacative or astonishingly uneducated.' Imagine President Bush standing on a stage at Tehran University and getting dressed down by the university president for 14 minutes before speaking. Riveting stuff."
I can not believe that Lee C. Bollinger is the President of an Ivy League University. He does not have the class to be in a community college. But neither do most other Americans including the media. Even HuffingtonPost reported the ill-mannered and rude stuff that Bollinger said like he had done a great thing.
The immediate impression I had of Bollinger's speeech was one of 'Okay, now we have made the case for bombing Iran. Let's get started.'
Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes.
Although I do not agree with some points of Ahmadinejad's speech, which is understandable since he is a President of the Islamic Republic of Iran not USA, I have more respect for him now than before his speech at the Columbia University. The hateful introduction speech given by the Columbia University's President was extremely disrespectful and embarrassment for the entire nation. He just repeated the accusations of Bush administration and necons. I demand Mr. Bollinger to proof his accusations about Iran to American public, since what he said and done might affect all of us.
Freeman says very well what should be said by all of the MSM (Main Stream Media), but the fact that it is not being said speaks volumes about what the USA is and isn't. It is on the "slippery slope" to fascism, and it is not a freedom loving society that seeks the truth and justice.
I have no problem with Bollinger's boorish rudeness. I think speaking truth to power is a good habit to develop. Make sure you practice it at home. Extend it to all leaders of all states. Criticism and protest is our duty.
dmia: You are engaging in the rhetoric to amp up war talk. Don't fall for it. Can you think?
This event certainly sounds like a President of a prominent University looking out for the endowment of his school by catering to its donor base. Very simple.
The leader of a University is a political, not an academic, agent. His or her job is to raise the performance of the school, with a special eye to fund-raising.
I am with a lot of the posters here in that I sympathize with those that are under the boot. The boot is on the face of anyone who is not receiving marching orders from Washington and who resides in an area of the world that is of strategic interest.
Though my instinct is sympathy for these hapless people, I also try to keep an open mind. Maybe the President of Iran is, in fact, somewhat of a hazard. If he is, of course, it might also be an inevitability based on our aggressive stance in the region and our over-reaching imperial disrespect for the sovereignty of all other countries.
The Columbia event could have been a chance to gather some meaningful information on the man. As it was, he just showed himself to possess dignity in the face of baseness. That is, in my experience, a characteristic of a devout Muslim -- and of a legitimate Christian.
Yesterday morning a question was called in on Cspan: Would the president of Columbia University invite President Bush to speak as President Ahmadinejad has been invited? The assistant Dean replied, of course. I would wonder what type of introduction President Bollinger would offer given the track record of President Bush.
Everett Murphy M.D.
Given the outcry from our right-wing government officials via the media they own, coupled with the tantrums of their devotees, it's no wonder Bollinger caved to the pressure and threw red meat to them. Bollinger's entire diatribe against Ahmadinejad was a carefully crafted appeasment gesture to our Imperlistic corporate establishment. The voice of MONEY, the mega weapon of Capitalism, as usual, dominated triumphantly over all other voices.
Bollinger proved that he was the petty, cruel president at the forum. How embarrassing for Columbia University and for the USA. How come Bollinger never managed the courage to direct those words towards our own petty, cruel dictator?
Bollinger is a coward. His character assassination of President Ahmadinejad is typical of AIPAC and the swift boat neocon mob. They are thugs dressed in suits, but even more important, they are liars. Ahmadinejad never called for the destruction of Israel or denied the holocaust. These are two hot buttons that are being manipulated by Israel, AIPAC, and the neocons to set us up for an attack on Iran. And judging from the number of NY protesters, once again the people are drinking the kool aid!
I hope Lee Bollinger watched Charlie Rose's interview with President Ahmadinejad last night to learn a little about the man and his country.
I do not agree with many of Iran's policies but I cannot agree with any of the shameful words that were used to introduce the guest from Iran. Even George Bush has used more diplomatic language.
To paraphrase the old Chinese observation: These men from America are apes wearing hats.
I came away from viewing this embarrassing spectacle convinced that Bollinger is a first class asshole. What a fucking turd! I'm sure that anyone with an ounce of intelligence saw the same thing.
A view of things to come... chillingly prescient.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw2nkoGLhrE
I know it was meant as satire... but view of Bollinger and the rest of the MSM, I think it's now VERY accurate.
Persian hospitality is world renowned and goes back to ancient traditions. You never ever ever insult a guest even if that guest is your bitter enemy in Persian culture. Shame on Bollinger. I am against a lot of Ahmedinijad's views and his oppression of his own people as I am a big supporter of Shirin Ebadi. However, freedom of speech means freedom of speech even when we are against the message. We can learn alot from this experience always treat a guest with honor and respect and freedom of speech means a person has the right to express thier views.
Of course its blatantly obvious who Bollinger was pandering to.
Somewhere I heard it was the Dean who did the actual inviting and the President was the one who bowed to Israeli firsters howling at the gates.
They certainly have any trouble getting media coverage.
Bollinger made a MAJOR mistake by allowing Ahmadinejad to speak at Columbia. Bollinger's rude introduction was an attempt on Bollinger's part to backpedal and make amends with the millions of people in the US that wonder wtf he was doing. Too late. Bollinger should be removed for allowing this freak show to take place.
Exposure to differing opinions is important as is meaningful conversation. However, anyone who has listened to Ahmadinejad knows that he is not capable of such a conversation. No holocaust? No gays in Iran? Yeah right.
He thinks we're stupid and those of you who are willing to listen to the foul offal that spews from his lips are merely validating his belief. Get a clue.
Conversations with Ahmadinejad are a good idea when he realizes that we will not accept his misinformation and deception.
Gees that sounds like a good reason for other countries to keep our little Dictator decider away from their shores too.
What do you want to bet the above poster has an agenda? And can you guess what it might be?
Sorry, Vern. You're wrong again. I don't listen to Bush either. I just count the days until he's gone.
dmia, this is me laughing in your face for the sheer stupidity of everything you just said and how you chose to say it.
Defending My Ignorance Aggressively. Wow. Seriously. Good job.
Why don't you get a clue, dmia, instead of gobbling up Neocon charges to make the attack on Iran? How long do you think the Goyum army will fight these wars for oil and Israel before the blowback starts?
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article12790.htm
The verbal equivalent of a stoning? Please. Just tell me when you'd prefer to be stoned rather than embarrassed.
Jaded Prole, perhaps he meant that he has a secretary, who takes dictation? :)
Vern: The troops will fight right until they realize that their route home through the Straights of Hormuz is blocked by sunken oil tankers and they have to go overland to Israel and Syria. Or Afghanistan.
"attempt on Bollinger's part to backpedal and make amends"
dmia
Apparently the school is to be disciplined anyway by the powers that be, sort of reinforces that old saw that goes "It doesn't matter how you kiss their ass they will still shit right in your face".
"No holocaust? No gays in Iran?"
dmia
Who cares about gays, besides other gays and their families? No wars will be fought on their behalf. The holocaust is fast fading in light of the aggressions against the Palestinians. When the whole world finally figures out what has been going on what will be made of the holocaust then?
The man also makes a good point about the events of 9/11, particularly as this is perceived as an event for animosity towards Iran. Ahmadinejad also is correct in pointing out the breach of protocol and manners to his hosts. What buffoons!
Great article, Ru thank-you for most eloquently describing what happened.
Ru Freeman states "…a large number of American harbor hatreds for all manner of species with no apparent reason, it is a little difficult to imagine that their animosity towards this particular human being is based on any well-researched facts."
No apparent reason you say. Research might tell you that about half of all Americans are women and they might just not like his saying that "The freest women in the world are women in Iran" while he and his mullah colleagues institute such lovely reforms as:
• Enforcement of compulsory hejab (or veil) or the Islamic code of dress, which deprived women of the right to choose their own attire;
• Repeal of reforms in family laws;
• A ban on appointment of women as judges and expulsion or change of the employment status of female judges;
• Forbidding women employed by the armed forces from receiving military ranks and reducing their employment status to that of office employees;
• Stoppage of the family planning and population control policy;
• Legislation of the Islamic Penal Code according to which women's right to live is not protected as the right of a full human being and in which young girls of nine years of age (but not boys) are considered of age of criminal responsibility, and the decision that testimony of women is not the equivalent of the testimony of men;
• Emphasis on the absolute right of custody for the father or the paternal grandfather in the matter of matrimony of female children to the extent that the father or the grandfather can marry a child of nine years of age to any man he intends.
You might have a problem imagining how in the world they could be justified in harboring animosity towards this man, but gee, I think I can see how some well-researched facts about women and how they're treated in Iran could peeve them off just a bit- especially if they have a nine year old daughter!
Homosexuals might harbor some animosity when they hear him say ""In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have this." And if you can't understand why that might create some animosity in the 10% plus of Americans who are Gay, perhaps the fact that this fellow supports laws stoning them to death for loving one another- does that help you to understand?
And of course Jews and all those who helped fight and defeat the horror that was the Third Reich, quite a few Americans, know the well researched fact that this man denies the existence of the Holacaust- people such as David Duke just attended his conference in Iran on this subject.
You think he has grace. I think you're and idiot.
Right on, Clarity. I think they're idiots too. They allow themselves to be manipulated by this little tyrant. Apparently they have lost ability to think for themselves.
What's all this hysteria about the Holocaust about? I've heard that people are imprisoned for denying the Holocaust took place. Jews aren't the only people in history who have been killed in war.
Right-wing Christians should be happy about Iran's policy towards homosexuals as they hate gays. Some people are never satisfied; they've just got to complain about everything.
Ahmadinejad comes across as intelligent and dignified.
Why don't we just get rid of "Old Glory" and replace it with the Israeli flag/Star of David and get it over with.
You are the idiot for jumping on board to pound those war drums!
So you think we should bomb regions of the South for their pockets of ignorant Racism? How about evangelical churches? How about the women in Saudi Arabia who can't drive? How about Jewish orthodox women with their ridiculous hats?
You are the idiot to think we should invade and bomb another country obviously, as made obvious by you amped up speech, as if we are so perfect by comparison.
December 11, 2000
UNITED WE MUST STAND! LET US NEVER FORGET
Vern, can you read?
Who said anything about war with Iran? I didn't. You're the one talking about war. I think we should stay as far away from Iran as we can. Can you read?
"dmia September 25th, 2007 12:51 pm
Right on, Clarity. I think..."
Do you? The results are not immediately apparent.
Stinger_28: Can YOU read?
I had to chuckle to myself when Ahmedinejad said there were no gays in Iran... and I thought to my self... just like there are no gays in the Senate prowling public washrooms, or gay televangelists, or gay prositutes masquerading as journalists staying overnight in the Whitehouse.
Once I was called into the dean's office at Columbia for violating another rule, throwing fire crackers or climbing out on a roof. The Dean, while threatening me with expulsion leaned across his desk reasoning with me on the importance of completing my degree, "columbia is about money," he said. I was still young enough to be completely astounded that a college dean would suggest something like this to me. My reply was, "I thought it was about getting an education." I was living in Mark Rudd's former room in Furnald Hall and felt the vibes.
While I was a student there you could see the divide and the brewing civil war that exists in this country between those who chose a lucrative life in the corporate world, and those of us who selected a different path.
The thing is both the media and all institutions in this country are not going to print or say the truth because they are facing several nightmarish and radical scenarios, one of which is that their entire reality is false and based on a fabrications and lies.
No one wants to find out that they have been living a delusion. I believe Ahmadinejad spoke about that yesterday when he commented that one of the goals of the human being was to uncover the truth. I think this is true for those of us struggling to become better informed and enlightened. But not so much for those who are about money.
The Columbia University President, Mr Bullying-ger, instead of conducting a civilized discussion managed to create a circus in which he ended as the clown.
Yes, dmia. I can. Let's have a look and see if you can keep up.
In your earlier post, you presume to know what millions of others are thinking.
Why? Can you not stand to sustain your arguments by yourself without this grandiose claim?
'Bollinger should be removed...' True, but for his ridiculous treatment of a foreign dignitary, invited to make a speech at his university. If it was a mistake, it was his, not Dr. Ahmadinejad's. His total lack of any appropriate class or decorum was shameful in the extreme.
Should Iran's president be chastised by those who disagree with him? Of course he should, and he stepped forward and provided an opportunity that left him open to this as well, but the character assassination that took place before he was even allowed to speak bears no excuse for someone who hold Mr. Bollinger's station.
'anyone who has listened to Ahmadinejad knows that he is not capable of such a conversation.'
Again, you assume to speak for 'anyone who has listened' and have decided for yourself what they do or do not know about what they heard?
You don't find that at all pretentious?
'He thinks we're stupid' You know this for a fact do you? You read minds?
'and those of you who are willing to listen to the foul offal that spews from his lips are merely validating his belief. Get a clue.'
Really? This 'we you're referring to is so stupid for listening and obviously must also be so stupid that they can not determine what is 'foul offal' or not for themselves.
They need you to this decide for them, do they?
'Conversations with Ahmadinejad are a good idea when he realizes that we will not accept his misinformation and deception.'
Again, who is 'we'? How many do you speak for and do you do so with their consent? 'Misinformation and deception?' Given the churning of the propaganda machine to vilify him as some kind of maniac, as a pretext to waging a 'just war' if there is such a thing, that sounds like hypocrisy of the highest order.
But that's just my opinion. Me. On my own. No nameless millions backing me up. Shut me up dmia. Try it.
geoff29: What truth do you need to discover about the Holocaust? This is one of the most documented events in history. Have you ever been to Germany or Poland to visit one of the concentration camps? I guarantee such a trip would be a learning experience for you.
But Ahmadinejad tells us the Holocaust is a myth. And you're suggesting we have something to learn from him?
I believe that we should be open minded and tolerant if we hope to live in a civilized world. But there is a line that must be drawn between alternative points of view and BS.
I realize Bush is no better than Ahmadinejad. That's why we must be willing to draw a line and take a stand once in a while.