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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (243194)	9/26/2007 6:24:33 PM
From: one_less	Respond to of 281500

Interesting perspective, presented in a scholarly manner ... and the beat goes on. I'll check back again tomorrow. Take care all, gem

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (243194)	9/26/2007 6:28:23 PM
From: Sdgla	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Clearly nothing in life is free... what the few on this thread do not understand is the price that we are now paying and will pay down the road for allowing this lunatic a platform at one of our most prestigious universities. So we have so called free speech... how many lives will be lost by giving the thug the illusion that this country is behind him and his Mahdi agenda ?

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (243194)	9/26/2007 7:03:36 PM
From: carranza2	Respond to of 281500

I have kept an open mind on your point, Nadine. I am now convinced you are correct. Big mistake. Bollinger, no fool, was had.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (243194)	9/26/2007 9:33:40 PM
From: SARMAN	Respond to of 281500

Nadine, is that sign correct

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (243194)	9/27/2007 12:43:23 AM
From: c.hinton	Respond to of 281500

Great! No name attached ..no support for his allegations...only that he is from a "Presitgious lawfirm". Why does he hide his name? Was he even present at the speech? What was the email he is replying to. How is it that he claims to knows so much about iranian reaction to the speech yet gives no support to his view Nadine surely you can do better than that.

To: Nadine Carroll who wrote (243194)	9/27/2007 12:50:57 AM
From: c.hinton	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Ben Widlanski, CC ’04 As an educated person, I am repulsed by Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s casual disregard for history, reason, and international diplomacy. As a Jew, and the grandson of a Holocaust survivor, I am horrified by his willingness to question the existence and extent of one of the worst tragedies in the history of our humanity. As a member of the Columbia community, I applaud the offer of a venue for this abhorrent man to make his first speech on an American university campus. Almost one year ago, I wrote an opinion piece in this newspaper expressing my disgust at the Columbia community as a result of two separate events, one being the retraction of an offer to President Ahmadinejad to speak at last year’s World Leaders Forum. The administration has, in my eyes, taken an enormous step in the right direction to rectify that error by allowing the Iranian president a pulpit. As I wrote last year, no matter what viewpoints a speaker may proffer, the violent suppression of speech has no place at an institution of higher learning—by the administration or the student body. The student body must take this opportunity to protest, paint banners, shout slogans; to make absolutely certain that the president of Iran understands our University’s disgust with his positions. But they must do so in a manner that does not disrupt the speech. Allow him to make clear his hateful rhetoric, and then challenge him on it. This is the greatest power an intellectual community has to effect change. Ahmadinejad’s speech will no doubt be riddled with falsity, hyperbole, and hate—let’s call him out. Let’s show the world that Columbia University is above base thuggery, and is the hallowed ground of sharp and eager minds unwilling to compromise their ideals—including the ideal that makes all academic discourse possible: That no idea, no matter how noxious, is too frightening to be heard—and challenged and disproven. Do not be swayed by the almost-certain public outcry that will accompany the speech. Only the worst kind of hypocrites can condemn the students who rushed the stage at the Gilchrist speech without praising Columbia’s brave decision to invite such an unpopular figure to speak. President Bollinger’s statement was pointed and well-crafted; Ahmadinejad will be forced to defend his regime’s human rights abuses and his personal stances on the existence of Israel and the historical fact of the Holocaust. This is exactly the sort of opportunity we should be rejoicing, not denouncing. I only hope that the Columbia community recognizes it for what it is, and does not bow to either the bluster of punditry or the urges of hoolganism. Good luck, Alma Mater—I can’t wait to see what you decide to do.