Columbia's Selective Open Arms

Today, Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to speak at a conference at Columbia University. The university has defended its decision to allow Ahmadinejad to speak on campus saying that it would have invited Hitler to speak.

It's an apt comparison considering that Ahmadinejad has repeatedly made statements that Hitler would find comforting - namely the destruction of Israel and the annihilation of Jews living there. Ahmadinejad takes that a step further, demanding that the West submit to Islam or face consequences.

He's going to speak of root causes, finding common cause with leftists here in the US who find fault with everything that the US does around the world, ignoring all the evil wrought by totalitarian dictatorships, theocracies, and thugocracies around the world, including in Iran.

These academics speak as though Ahmadinejad is here to engage in dialog. They couldn't be more hopelessly wrong. Ahmadinejad is here to proseletyze. Columbia decided in its infinite wisdom to allow Ahmadinejad to speak claiming that it would open dialog. Ahmadinejad isn't interested in dialog. He's interested solely in furthering his agenda. He wants people to submit to Islam - to convert to his way of life. That is the salvation that he seeks for us. If we choose not to submit and stand in opposition to his worldview, he will bring nothing but pain and misery.

These academics ignore this or worse, they have no problem with Ahmadinejad's statements since they mesh well with their own worldview on American hegemony.

Columbia students are mixed on whether this is a good idea or not, but that there are so many who think that Ahmadinejad speaking on campus is a good idea suggests that something is rotten to the core in academia - good and evil are no longer distinctions worthy of being taught and that extending the invite to Ahmadinejad allows evil to speak on campus.

That there are groups that are arranging to protest Ahmadinejad's visit is admirable, as are those alumni opposed to the visit, but the University has made its decision, and will have to live with the foul stench of knowing that the University played host to a Holocaust denier and a leader who seeks to destroy Israel and the West unless it heels to his version of Islam.

I can recall that more than a decade ago my alma mater sought to bring a Turkish leader to speak at commencement. Such a holy stink was raised about the fact that he denied the existence and/or extent of the Armenian genocide, that the university thought twice and changed its mind - avoiding a messy situation. Is not Holocaust denial in the same league? You can argue that my alma mater chose poorly and should have extended the invitation to speak, but by doing so, they would have provided a prominent platform to speak. The invitation to speak at a university is an honor that should not be doled out lightly or to someone whose worldview is an anathema to the facts and historical record.

UPDATE:
Rudy Giuliani has issued a statement condemning Ahmadinejad's visit and goes through a litany of reasons why we must stand opposed to his very presence. Don Surber has the details. Don notes that Ahmadinejad has a right to speak. I disagree. Ahmadinejad's regime has no problem cracking down on its opponents - shuttering newspapers and media outlets. It arrests people on political crimes and executes those that engage in unIslamic acts.

However, Ahmadinejad will be exposed to a very real demonstration of the right of free speech that many Americans take for granted. I expect a very vociferous crowd to engage in the kind of activities that Ahmadinejad would seek to squelch had this occurred in Tehran and not New York City. It will be a very real demonstration of the power of free speech in shouting down this Holocaust denier and genuine threat to national security and regional stability in the Middle East as a supplier to terrorists around the world.

UPDATE:
One of Ace's readers points out that Columbia University did extend an invitation to Hitler's ambassador to the US to speak in 1933. 1933 was also the year that the Dachau concentration camp opened for business.

UPDATE:
The so called exchange of ideas is going to be something less than spontaneous. It's going to be a closely monitored and tightly controlled affair.

Closed to the public, no protest signs allowed, questions to be asked via index card with no back-and-forth between the students and honored guest. A “free exchange of ideas” indeed. In a way I’m glad, though: this puts all the pressure on Bollinger to grill him. If he softballs him — which he probably won’t lest the few remaining scraps of his credibility end up in the toilet — he’ll never hear the end of it.

Bollinger will simply move on to the next issue within a week, regardless of what happens. He will have the backing of much of the faculty, even though the dean of the law school came out in opposition of the visit. Kudos for him. Now, if only more had the courage of their convictions to speak out against this travesty.

Protestors are out in large numbers around the campus. Kudos to them to show Ahmadinejad that he's not welcome here. Welcome to free speech Mahmoud. Pam at Atlas Shrugs has more, including a list of rallies and ways to protest.

Lee Bollinger, Columbia's President still frames this as a matter of free speech and academic freedom. No word on whether he'll ask Ahmadinejad about all the political prisoners held in Iranian jails or executed for violating the tenets of Islam. No word on whether he'll ask about the curriculum taught in Iranian schools, or the rampant anti-Semitism broadcast on Iranian television that indoctrinates still another generation of Iranians to hate Israel, Jews, and the West.