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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke Monday at a prestigious New York university, drawing criticisms from Americans ranging from students to White House hopefuls.
The man painted as one of America’s top enemies was invited to speak at Columbia University a day prior to his U.N. appearance on Tuesday. Ahmadinejad did not fail to rouse debate after making contentious claims such as women have great freedom in Iran and there are no homosexuals in his country, as well as questioning the reality of the Holocaust.
Critics rebuked Columbia for inviting a man who heads a state sponsoring terrorism.
“This man should not be allowed to leave his hotel room other than to go to the U.N. and deliver his speech,” said Arab Christian activist Brigitte Gabriel, founder and president of the American Congress for Truth, according to OneNewsNow. “We are not able to stop that because it is under U.N. sanctions, but we have the right to prevent him from going anywhere else on our soil, considering this man wants to destroy our country and wants to destroy the state of Israel.”
Ahmadinejad has publicly denied the Holocaust, called for the destruction of the state of Israel, been accused of arming Islamic militants in Iraq and building nuclear weapons.
Furthermore, Iran has one of the world’s worst religious freedom records. Ambassador John V. Hanford III, ambassador at large for international religious freedom, noted earlier this month that the regime in Iran has created a “threatening atmosphere” for nearly all non-Shia religious groups including some Christian groups.
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“This is like inviting Adolf junior to the United States and giving him a platform to basically look good in front of America’s enemies, to make fun of us in the state of the world’s eyes,” said Gabriel.
Columbia president Lee Bollinger has come under heavy criticism for not only inviting the Iranian president but also for his 10-minute verbal attack on Ahmadinejad during his introduction.
“Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Bollinger said. “You are either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.”
Some experts have commented that Bollinger’s verbal assault will likely help Ahmadinejad’s image back home in Iran. The president’s support in Iran has been declining, but Monday’s attacks could bolster his accusation of America’s disrespect for Iran and support his confrontation with the United States.
In Washington, President Bush responded that he is “OK” with Columbia inviting Ahmadinejad, which he said just shows the extent of how much America respects freedom of speech. But Bush said he personally would not have invited the Iranian president to the United States to speak.
Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, meanwhile, said he finds it “disturbing” Columbia invited Ahmadinejad to speak to its student. And former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney called on the United Nations Secretary General to rescind his decision to allow the Iranian president to speak before the body this week and called for stricter sanctions against Iran, according to CNN.
Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-NY) also said she would not have invited the Iranian leader to speak if she was president of Columbia. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), while saying he would not have invited Ahmadinejad to Columbia, affirmed his earlier statement that he was willing to meet with him for negotiations.
