Ahmadinejad at Columbia

Reuters article - Iranian students call president "dictator"

2007-10-08T09:28:00.000-04:00

TEHRAN (Reuters) - More than 100 students scuffled with police and hardline supporters of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Monday on Tehran University campus and chanted "Death to the dictator" outside a hall where the Iranian president spoke.

for full story click here.

Pseudo-event?

2007-10-02T17:42:00.000-04:00

J-school professor Stephen Isaacs slammed Ahmadinejad's visit as a publicity stunt for Columbia. He said the speech matched the four criteria for a "pseudo-event," as described in Daniel Boorstin's "The Image: A Guide to Pseudo-Events in America." A "pseudo-event" is:

Not spontaneous
Planned for the purpose of being reported
Ambiguous
and a Self-fulfilling prophecy

He said the real story is the story behind the story.

Iranian Blogs

2007-09-30T23:33:00.000-04:00

To read selected posts from Iranian blogs on about the event, click here for the New York Times roundup.

Reflections on the speech, the media, why the event was blocked from Iranian television, and more.

Iranian Academic Leaders Question Bollinger

2007-09-27T15:58:00.000-04:00

In a letter to Columbia University President Lee Bollinger, the chancellors of Iranian universities criticize Bollinger's treatment of democratically-elected Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

They write that the introductory remarks were filled with "hate and disgust" as well as "unsubstantiated allegations."

Also in the letter, they ask several questions of Bollinger to "help clear the atmosphere of misunderstanding and distrust between our two countries and reveal the truth."

The full letter with one question about the US media's handling of Ahmadinejad's appearance and nine questions about US foreign policy is available here.

Perhaps the Iranian university chancellors will also address a letter to 60 Minutes. At the end of the interview that aired on Sunday, September 23, Ahmadinejad responded to reporter Scott Pelley's repeated demands for a yes or no answer on nuclear testing, "This is not Guantanamo Bay. This is not a Baghdad prison. Please, this is not a secret prison in Europe. This is not Abu Ghraib. This is Iran. I'm the president of this country!"

Ahmadinejad Invites U.N. Inspectors to Search for Homosexuals

2007-09-27T13:28:00.000-04:00

From the borowitzreport.com (note this article had no permanent link and might move to a different location later on).

Hillel prepped for Iranian president's visit

2007-09-27T09:05:00.000-04:00

On Sunday evening, Hillel, the Jewish student group on campus, organized several training sessions to get Jewish students ready to rally. One session, called "Making Monday Matter!" crystallized a particular message for students to spread at the anti-Ahmadinejad protest:

“The goal … is not necessarily to educate your peers but to control the contours of the debate or conversation that plays out tomorrow on your campus,” said Natalie Menaged, managing director of Hasbara Fellowships, a pro-Israel group. “What we’re really doing in a way is we’re practicing public relations. We’re projecting a certain image.”

Menaged boiled down the basics: Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier who has called for Israel to be wiped off the map and is part of a government that supports terrorism and abuses human rights.

“You want to send a message to the world that Ahmadinejad’s destructive views need to be taken seriously,” she said.

To bolster these points, Menaged threw out a few facts: In 2005, Ahmadinejad called for Israel to be destroyed. Last year, his country supplied arms to Lebanon’s terrorist group, Hezbollah. His government still stones Iranian prisoners to death as a means of capital punishment and he touts a double standard on free speech.

“The Iranian president approached Columbia about being given this platform to speak freely,” Menaged said, “when he wouldn’t allow students or anybody to speak freely in Iran.”

“Won’t people argue that it would be dropping to his level if we were not to give him a platform to speak?” asked Ben Ludman, a lean 21-year-old freshman who lived in Israel before coming to Columbia.

Menaged paused for a second.

“We’re not saying he should be denied,” she said. “We’re saying it’s interesting how he has a double standard. You make a good point though.”

She moved on.

“If somebody asks you about Israel, you might want to say something like: ‘That’s not the issue, the issue is,’ or, ‘what you really need to keep in mind is’,” she said. “Pivot away from anyone who’s criticizing the U.S. or Israel because the facts here show the entire world is united in its trepidation over [Iran].”

The next day at the rally, few students said they'd actually used the talking points. But Amital Isaac, 18, had an interesting take on the training:

"I haven’t really used the talking points,” she said. "I think the advice was better for a more confrontational setting. But this is pretty peaceful."

She continued: "We might not have used the public relations skills, but we were composed and we were together. We should be proud."

The Security of Free Speech

2007-09-27T08:12:00.000-04:00

Almost one year ago, student protesters stormed the stage in Columbia’s Roone Arledge Auditorium when controversial Minuteman founder Jim Gilchrist took the podium to speak.

When Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the even more controversial president of Iran, took the same stage Monday, Columbia was better prepared. Uniformed police officers, intelligence officers, Secret Service, and the FBI monitored campus and the surrounding streets. Silver barriers lined Broadway Avenue between 113th and 116th streets, and 114th Street was closed to cars.

The protesters—police estimated 1,000 total—clustered at Columbia’s main gate on 116th Street and Broadway Avenue. A man flew Israel’s flag on his back. Taxis and a Fresh Direct truck beeped as they drove slowly by a “Honk if you hate terrorists” sign. Police officers stood ready with billy clubs tucked into their belts

Students approaching the main gate had to elbow their way through a forest of signs and dodge the pamphlets thrust at them. An officer with a bullhorn bellowed, “Show your ID card.” Associate Vice President for Public Safety Jim McShane sent a campus-wide e-mail last Friday warning that entry would be restricted to those with a Columbia ID.

Raphael Levy, a junior, said the event was more exciting than annoying. “I tried to stay away from the mob,” he said. But he did join other students who packed the ledge overlooking 116th street, staring at the protesters below. “I heard people got into fights,” he said, although he hadn’t seen any himself. Police said there were no arrests.

Ahmadinejad’s visit was notable not just for what he said but also for the ease with which he said it. The wheels of free speech were oiled by NYPD Intel and Secret Service in their shiny black suits, by police officers with billy clubs, and by Columbia officials shutting the gates to anyone without a University ID.

Campus protests: an audio slide show

2007-09-26T23:32:00.000-04:00

I got caught up in other things, but finally managed to finish the promised audio slide show with Betwa:

Meet Josef, Mikki, Matthew and Fatemeh, four different faces of students protesting, and listen to some Hebrew singing and accordion and banjo playing.

IMPORTANT: this was made in Flash, which YouTube kind of distorts, so I posted the much snazzier original version to my website - you should check it out.

By Mathilde Piard and Betwa Sharma

More protest photos

2007-09-26T17:44:00.000-04:00

Here are the rest of my photos

What Did the Students Make of Monday's Event?

2007-09-26T08:11:00.003-04:00

Monday is not quite over at Columbia University, but to many students, it might as well be. The main event of the day, and possibly of the year, has passed through campus without leaving a visible trace. After days of protests from students, activists, religious organizations and others, the controversial leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, addressed hundreds of students during his first visit to the university. A few hours after his speech, attendees were left to wonder if the event had been worth all the fuss.

Last Saturday evening Columbia University's Morningside Heights campus was eerily quiet. The moon shed its light on the school's imposing Bartle Library as a few lingering students enjoyed the mild September weather; they conversed cheerfully, seemingly unaware of the chaos that threatened to unravel two days later.

Sunday came and something in the air felt different in the area around 116th Street and Broadway. Music could be heard everywhere - an Armenian festival was taking place - but what caught every student's attention were the unrelated protest posters that had been taped all over campus: images of executions and tortured men accompanied by alarming quotes, such as “we did not have a revolution in order to have a democracy.”

In the afternoon, television crews began to prepare their cameras for what some students felt would be a big day. "I have an impending sense of doom and badness about today and I don't wanna be anywhere near but I have to," said Sarah Rivette, a journalism student who had to cover the event for a class.

And so the time has come. Ajmadinejad has set foot on this leading institution's campus and was confronted by a number of questions from opinionated scholars. Despite all the clamor leading to this day, he has arrived, spoken, and moved on to the next event in his agenda: the United Nations General Assembly. But the students remain on campus, discussing the wide spectrum of views expressed today.

Some students believed that by visiting Columbia, the Holocaust denier only gained airtime, and not additional supporters of his questionable views. According to a biomedicine student, Ahmadinejad would have “come out clean” and “been able to manipulate, kind of, the general liberal views of a lot of the people on campus” had he avoided his denial of homosexuals in Iran and of the Holocaust.

Others focused on the Iranian leader's ability to answer evasively. “He skirted a lot of the questions, but he did what every politician does so I don’t have less or more respect than I would for Bush or Cheney,” said Mehmet Bozatli, a twenty-nine-year-old student from Turkey.

But despite the harsh criticism and blatant laughter that was heard during the speech, students were happy to hear the statements from “the mouth of the beast” and not from “the propaganda machine,” in the words of Bozatli.

Ahmadinejad did speak his mind on a number of issues, ranging from women’s rights in Iran to the nation’s nuclear activity to the prosecution of homosexuals, but not necessarily answering what the moderator had asked him. Today was “an awesome opportunity to find out what he actually believes from himself because in the media you only get the bits and pieces,” said Dueaa Elzin, who is seventeen years old and expects to graduate from Columbia in 2011.

As revealed during today’s forum, the president of Iran believes that there are no gay people in his country. “In Iran, we don’t have homosexuals like in your country,” he said, eliciting both laughter and gasps from the audience. To Nina Cohen, a history and religion student at Columbia, Ahmadinejad’s speech “said nothing. Some of his comments elicited laughter from the audience they were so ridiculous,” said the twenty-one-year-old student. “If anything, they de-legitimized him and his opinions and it also brought the Columbia community together in defiance of his beliefs, so I do think that this was a good step for the university.”

Now that most students have gone home, leaving the Morningside campus as desolate as it was last Saturday, one idea prevails: neither the event nor the infamous leader were as bad as they promised to be. “It wasn’t as earthshaking as people wanted,” said Gazelle Javantash, an Iranian student at Columbia’s School of International Affairs. “They were expecting some crazy, fire-y speech, a reason to hate him more than they already do.”

Click here to view a slideshow of protest images.

Ahmadinewhaaa???!!

2007-09-26T02:08:00.000-04:00

Alum story in Lebanon Daily Star

2007-09-26T01:36:00.000-04:00

William G. Wheeler, who graduated from the J-school in May, reported for the Daily Star (Lebanon):

Bollinger highlighted the imprisonment - and recent release - of several Iranian-American scholars, including Kian Tajbaksh, a Columbia alumnus, whom Bollinger said was still under house arrest.
"The arrest and imprisonment of these Iranian-Americans for no good reason is not only unjustified, it runs completely counter to the very values that allow today's speaker to even appear on this campus," Bollinger said.
He then offered Tajbaksh a position teaching at Columbia and called on Ahmadinejad to assure his freedom and to return Columbia's favor by inviting Bollinger and others from the school to speak about free speech at Iran's universities.

Full transcript

2007-09-25T12:14:00.000-04:00

Coming from, oddly, the Arizona Daily Star.

Reaction from local rabbis

2007-09-25T09:57:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I spoke with a number of rabbis about Ahmadinejad’s speech and their opinion of Columbia University. These are some quotes that didn’t make it into my story.

The University’s very provision of a platform for the Iranian president angered leaders across many Jewish sects. Robert Levine, Senior Rabbi at the Reform synagogue Congregation Rodeph Sholom and a 1973 graduate of Columbia, said, “I’m not particularly proud of my alma mater.”

“Bollinger has done good and courageous things,” said Levine, “but this is a colossal mistake.”

A rabbi at an Orthodox Synagogue four blocks south of Columbia said it “takes a little arrogance on President Bollinger’s part to give [Ahmadinejad] this forum.” His congregents, who he claimed were mostly liberals, were all “outraged.”

Conservative Rabbi Jeremy Kalmonofsky, who leads Ansche Chesed on W. 100th St., was more diplomatic, saying he could understand “both sides” of the free speech argument.

Kalmonofsky supported the protests at Columbia and the U.N. Headquarters. “The policies of [Ahmadinejad’s] government are tremendously destructive,” he said.

“What are you going to learn,” from Ahmadinejad’s speech, asked Levine. “You learn about monstrous barbarity, that’s what you learn.”

Listen to Bollinger on WNYC

2007-09-25T08:25:00.000-04:00

He'll be a guest on the public radio station's The Brian Lehrer Show this morning at 10, the station announced. Presidential hopeful Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and CNN commentator Jack Cafferty will also be on the show.

::Direct link to stream here

Ahmadinejad's visit

2007-09-25T00:03:00.000-04:00

Slide Show

Angry Students Still Angry

2007-09-24T23:54:00.000-04:00

After hearing Ahmadinejad say gays don't exist in Iran, and that he needed to do more research on the holocaust because he questions whether or not it happened, protesting students have not changed their opinions of the controversial leader.

Audio: sexual preference and women

2007-09-24T23:43:00.000-04:00

Audio from the "we don't have that in our country" remark, again thanks to ace mp3 converter Kim Thorpe.

Audio: petty and cruel dictator

2007-09-24T23:38:00.000-04:00

The "petty and cruel dictator" remark in a bite-sized mp3, thanks to intrepid reporter Kim Thorpe.

President Bollinger's Office Was Closed For The Day

2007-09-24T23:13:00.000-04:00

The Throng

2007-09-24T23:11:00.000-04:00

"Down by the Riverside"

2007-09-24T23:06:00.000-04:00

A Jewish Group Sing and Dance Defiantly

2007-09-24T23:04:00.000-04:00

Bollinger attacks, students applaud

2007-09-24T22:58:00.000-04:00

Bollinger attacks, students applaud

By JAMI MAKAN with Jeremy Jacobs, Sushma Subramanian and Laurence Witherington

Sept. 24 – The president of Columbia University, widely accused of being too generous to Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad after he invited the controversial leader to address students on campus, swept away such concerns by opening today’s event with fierce challenges that drew enthusiastic applause.

Students across campus were energized by his 15-minute attack on Ahmadinejad, when he posed a series of questions addressing abuses of human rights by the Iranian government, as well as its nuclear aspirations and alleged aid to insurgent terrorists in Iraq.

“It was one of the best speeches about freedom of speech I have ever heard, and in the most exciting of contexts,” said Sophie Brill, a 22-year-old senior at Columbia College who was one of hundreds of students who watched the event on a giant screen set up in the quad of the Morningside Heights campus.

“It was important for Bollinger not to be such a pushover,” said Marc Braunst, a 23-year-old medical student from Brooklyn. “He unleashed everything he had.”

The 19th president of Columbia University and an expert in legal issues relating to free speech and the First Amendment, Bollinger has a reputation for outspokenness. He arrived here in 2002 from the University of Michigan, where he publicly defended the affirmative action policies of the school.

“He has a track record of controversy,” said Micah Resnick, a 23-year-old pre-medical student at Columbia.

At Michigan, Bollinger introduced an admissions system in which more “points” were awarded to ethnic minorities in order to achieve racial diversity, sparking protests and sending Bollinger to court to defend the policy. In Grutter vs. Bollinger (2003) the United States Supreme Court upheld the affirmative action admissions policy of the school, but in Gratz vs. Bollinger (2003) the same court ruled the university’s point system unconstitutional in that it gave too much preference to minorities.

After today’s event, Katie Lihn, a 22-year-old former student of Bollinger’s at Columbia, praised his performance. “I thought it was a great thing when he invited Ahmadinejad,” she said. “It is consistent with university principles.”

Not all students and university faculty supported his decision. Noah Liven, a 24-year-old alumnus of Columbia College, said that he was upset by the school’s offer to host Ahmadinejad. “I’m all for freedom of speech,” he said, “but had this invitation never been extended, his freedom would never have been curtailed.”

Judith Jacobson, a professor in the school’s Department of Epidemiology, said she felt confident about Bollinger’s presidency at first. This past summer, she supported his public disagreement with a boycott against Israeli academic institutions by the University and College Union, a British association of colleges. But his recent decision to host Ahmadinejad made her feel differently.

“This administration has lost its moral compass,” she said. Ahmadinejad, she said, “is a murderer. What can we learn from this speech?”

Radio coverage of protests outside UN

2007-09-24T22:37:00.000-04:00

http://www.archive.org/download/ProtestsOverVisitingIranianPresidentAhmadinejad/ProtestsOverVisitingIranianPresidentAhmadinejad_vbr.m3u

Adam Hirsch and Yaldaz Sadakova covered the noon demonstration at Dag Hammarskjöld Plaza, just outside the UN headquarters in New York City.

Iranian President's Volatile Visit

2007-09-24T22:10:00.000-04:00

News report written by a Columbia student for the Register Pajaronian, a daily newspaper in Watsonville, California
BY: AMY LARSON

Manhattan NY—Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said at Columbia University Monday that the United States is a sponsor of terrorism, that homosexuality does not exist in Iran, and that women are treated better than anyone.
The conservative Iranian leader, who has denied the existence of the Holocaust and called for the destruction of Israel, was escorted onto the Ivy League campus as NYPD helicopters flew overhead and secret service agents slipped through the crowds.
Ahmadinejad originally planned to visit Ground Zero the day before a United Nations conference, and requested to lay a wreath on the former site of the World Trade Centers. But when NYPD barred entry to Ground Zero for security concerns, Columbia President Lee C. Bollinger offered his university as a host.
Bollinger withstood opposition by civic groups and politicians representing the large Jewish community living in New York City, and defended his decision in the name of freedom of speech.
Yesterday, Bollinger’s welcome speech introducing Ahmadinejad surprised the audience when he launched into a scathing critique on the Iranian regime.
“You have all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Bollinger said, “You are either blazingly provocative or uneducated.”
Since his election in June 2005, Ahmadinejad has been criticized by the international community for attempting to develop nuclear weapons, suppressing women and gays, harboring terrorists, and for his hostile stance on Israel.
Ahmadinejad said he also believed in finding truth through open discussion, but Bollinger’s speech was disrespectful and made several accusations against Iran which were untrue.
“In Iran, when you invite a guest you respect them,” he said.
The question and answer session was moderated by Dean of the Columbia School of International Public Affairs John Coatsworth:
Q) Do you or your government seek the destruction of Israel as a Jewish State?
A) We love all nations; we are friends with the Jews. We must allow the Palestinian people to decide for its future through a free referendum.
Q) Why is your government giving aid to terrorists?
A) The Iranian nation is a victim of terrorism, carried out by one single terrorist group now working under the US government. We were the first nation to reject terrorism.
Q) (On the Holocaust) aren’t you denying that something happened in those terrible years?
A) I’m not saying it didn’t happen at all. We should encourage more research on a historical act that is the cause of many catastrophes.
Q) How do you justify denying rights to women and homosexuals?
A) Women in Iran enjoy the highest levels of freedoms. We don’t have homosexuals in our country, we don’t have this phenomenon.
Q) Is Iran prepared to open discussion with the United States?
A) We are willing to negotiate with all countries. We don’t need to get into conflict if we talk; we have solutions based on humane values.

Throughout the day, political passions flared as protests ignited on and off campus.
“I agree with him speaking but we are against what he says,” said Jewish Columbia student Sam Franco. “We embrace freedom of speech but we have to make sure our voices are louder then his.”
Demonstrator Sunsara Taylor, a member of a communist student group, stood on top Columbia’s Alma Mater statue shouting for the crowd to reject the policies of both the American and Iranian governments.
“Humanity should not be stuck choosing between Islamic fundamentalism and American Imperialism,” Taylor said. “If the US invades (Iran) it’s going to strengthen the fundamentalists.”
Despite his icy reception, the Iranian President said farewell by inviting Columbia’s students and faculty to visit Iran’s universities.

2007-09-24T21:52:00.000-04:00

Photos Before, During and After

2007-09-24T21:33:00.000-04:00

Photos of media coverage, spectators, posters, a soda machine and a petite news correspondent available here.

by Sydney Beveridge

After the speech

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AP article

2007-09-24T21:05:00.001-04:00

AP article

NEW YORK - Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad defended Holocaust deniers and raised questions about who carried out the Sept. 11 attacks in a tense showdown Monday at Columbia University where the school's head introduced the visitor by calling him a "petty and cruel dictator."

REUTERS video

Sep 23 - Demonstrators gather outside Columbia University ahead of Ahmadinejad speech.

Ahmadinejad who arrived Sunday in New York for the annual UN General Assembly will address not only Columbia University but also the Washington DC press corps via satellite.

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Poll: hot or not?

2007-09-24T20:44:00.000-04:00

Celebrity/gossip blog Jezebel poses the question: So Is Ahmadinejad Kind Of Hot?

So far, a little over a third of respondents say he's hot.

2007-09-24T20:39:00.000-04:00

Iranian Expatriate protesting Ahmadinejad's visit to Columbia University

2007-09-24T20:34:00.000-04:00

Gravel: Ahmadinejad & Ground Zero

2007-09-24T20:31:00.000-04:00

Sen. Mike Gravel, presidential hopeful, blogs at Huffington Post on why he thinks Ahmadinejad should be allowed to visit Ground Zero:

But Ahmadinejad is Iran's elected head of state and by snubbing him, we snub the Iranian government and its people. Right now, such a snub is not only wrong-headed, it's dangerous.

And then the juicy stuff...

Despite what the Bush administration claims, Iran was a great enemy of the perpetrators of 9/11 long before 2001. In the 1990s Iran waged a covert war against the Taliban and Wahabi-Sunni terrorist networks like Al-Qaeda. While Bush gave economic aid to the repressive Taliban in early 2001, Iran was funding the Taliban's bitter enemies, the Northern Alliance. Immediately after 9/11, Iran provided us with key intelligence about Afghanistan and helped us establish ties with the Northern Alliance, which drove the Taliban from Kabul two months later.

And so on.

Bwog: aftermath

2007-09-24T20:29:00.000-04:00

Bwog on the aftermath, with photos:

After what was, after all, a rather tame event, the hordes receded from campus. Garbage drifted across South Lawn, a few verbal skirmishes broke out, reporters dragooned passersby for reactions, and it became pretty clear that a post-speech timeslot with the Columbia Coalition's mike wasn't worth much. Via Spec (which seems to be linking to the blog now?), PrezBo's numbers are on the upswing again as people burned up the phone lines in Low to congratulate him.

View from above

2007-09-24T20:28:00.000-04:00

J-Schoolers' photos on WNBC

2007-09-24T19:52:00.000-04:00

Some of Lam Thuy Vo's and my photos have been published on WNBC. (Right now you can find it from the front page too, in the first tab click on Campus Protests)

Text of Bollinger's speech, law dean statement available

2007-09-24T18:59:00.000-04:00

The university posted a full copy of Bollinger's prepared remarks, complete with at least one correction (law professor Michael Dorf recently spoke to Voice of America, not Radio Free Europe), the correct spelling of imprisoned alumnus Kian Tajbakhsh's name and the promise that a complete video of Ahmadinejad's visit will be available on the World Leaders Forum's site.

Also available is the statement the dean of Columbia Law School released yesterday, which is circulating among media outlets today. From Dean David Schizer:

[M]y personal opinion is that he should not be invited to speak. Mr. Ahmadinejad is a reprehensible and dangerous figure who presides over a repressive regime, is responsible for the death of American soldiers, denies the Holocaust and calls for the destruction of Israel. It would be deeply regrettable if some misread this invitation as lending prestige or legitimacy to his views.

Accordions and banjoes entertain the crowd

2007-09-24T18:33:00.000-04:00

Here are some photos of freshmen Tomas Majcherski and Alexander Lewis, who decided to entertain the crowds with songs like Down by the Riverside, You Are My Sunshine, and This Land is My Land, first by Low Library and then by the sundial with more friends. With no political stance or affiliation to any group, Alexander says he "just wants to play". He said he doesn't like Ahmadinejad but believes people should hear him out. I have some audio and will hopefully make an audio slide show soon.

If you are interested in any of these photos, see mathildepiard.com for contact details.

Free Speech and Free Music

2007-09-24T18:30:00.000-04:00

A young, new band tried to take center stage, even briefly, amid the protests today - without a political motive.

Members of "The Well Dressed Party Band" said that while each of the members has their own political views, none reflect the group as a whole.

As Alexander Wolf Lewis, 18, a freshman at Columbia University, said, the group came out to play because "there's a lot of people, an audience, and they have stuff to play for the President of Iran."
Instrumentation includes a trumpet, an accordion, a harmonica, a banjo, and a handful of makeshift drums made out of garbage cans. Members noted they are also affiliated with the group, "The Party Poopers."

Full audio of the speech

2007-09-24T18:00:00.000-04:00

An mp3 of today's event at Columbia, start to finish.

Lions Roar at Ahmadinejad visit

2007-09-24T17:47:00.000-04:00

Reporting...

2007-09-24T17:46:00.001-04:00

Student Protesters

2007-09-24T17:46:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad at Columbia

2007-09-24T17:42:00.000-04:00

CLICK HERE to see more photos from today.

Some more pictures

2007-09-24T17:30:00.000-04:00

NYPD controls traffic flow

2007-09-24T17:27:00.000-04:00

NYPD directed students covering and making their way around protesters, and the barricades surrounding, them outside the campus.

Articles on the speech

2007-09-24T17:21:00.000-04:00

digg.com rating of the speech coverage so far.

Other coverage:
Bloomberg

Will keep adding as more crops up, feel free to do the same, contributors

Holocaust survivor protests Ahmadinejad's invitation

2007-09-24T17:06:00.000-04:00

Holocaust survivor, Mrs. Hizmy, spoke at the protest led by New York Assemblyman Dov Hikind outside the gate at 116 & Broadway. She opposed Iranian President Ahmadinejad's invitation to speak and called him "the Hitler of the 21st century."

Other coverage

2007-09-24T16:53:00.000-04:00

Lots of other folks covering this, of course. Just a few...

NYT City Room blog: their liveblog post
AP: continually updated story on the talk
Gothamist: a summary
NY Daily News
NY Post: largest headline on the net
Bwog: this is their liveblog post of the event
Kishkushim: more coverage of the event at this blog, including some from J-school student Jennie Cohen
The Economist's preview
CNN with some video

More pictures of the protests and the speech

2007-09-24T16:39:00.001-04:00

Pictures are flickr links, where more will be displayed.

View from J-School Window

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Live radio stream

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Live radio stream from J-school students...

2007-09-24T15:07:00.000-04:00

That's a wrap

2007-09-24T15:06:00.000-04:00

That's it. Coatsworth wrapped by apologizing that there wasn't time for Ahmadinejad to answer all questions that students submitted or even, cheekily, all questions posed to him during the session.

I'm out of here for now. More media coming soon... if anybody would like to research any of the topics in quotes below, post sources in comments (or email me for access and make new posts).

Closing, inviting

2007-09-24T14:58:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad is wrapping up. He invites Columbia faculty members and students to visit Iran too speak with university faculty and students there.

Nukes

2007-09-24T14:55:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad responds to questions about Iran's nuclear program. He says that his country has never deviated from its peaceful nuclear program.

"We do not believe in nuclear weapons, period. It goes against the whole grain of humanity."

Ground Zero

2007-09-24T14:50:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad responds to a question about what he'd have said if he had been given access to Ground Zero.

"I wanted to speak with the press, the Sepembert 11 tragic event was a huge event. It led to a lot of other events after that. After 9/11, Afghanistan was occupied and then Iraq was occupied."

He says that he wants to investigate who was truly involved and what the causes were, given the six years of subsequent turmoil in his region.

Columbia students watching Ahmadinejad

2007-09-24T14:49:00.000-04:00

Women and homosexuals

2007-09-24T14:45:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad responds to a question about womens' and homosexuals' rights beginning, "Freedoms in Iran are genuine, true freedoms."

He cites various women in positions of relative power.

He also addresses a question about public execution of people of different sexual preferences or orientations, first by talking about the fact that in Iran they execute drug traffickers, murderers and so on. Pressed by Coatsworth to address the question about homosexuals, Ahmadinejad responds, "In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. We don't have that in our country. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who has told you that we have it."

Appearances

2007-09-24T14:43:00.000-04:00

Coatsworth and Ahmadinejad -- I should note that Coatsworth is at a low podium on the left side of the stage. He is bespectacled, poorly lit and not particularly charismatic on the video stream. Ahmadinejad, a comfortable speaker, is at a much larger podium.

Columbia appears to have given Ahmadinejad a real advantage in the layout of the stage.

Holocaust

2007-09-24T14:40:00.000-04:00

Coatsworth asks why Ahmadinejad calls for more research into the Holocaust. Suggests that the only reason one would want more research would be to dispute its factual existence.

Ahmadinejad: "Can you argue that researching a phenomenon is finished forever, done? Can we close the books for good on a historical event? There are different perspectives that come to light after every research is done."

Terrorism

2007-09-24T14:38:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad is now asking rhetorical questions in the time allotted for answering Coatsworth's question about terrorism and why Iran supports terrorist organizations. Ahmadinejad is telling stories about persecution of Iran by "terrorists." Refers to a "single terrorist group" at fault. Apparently referring to CIA or another U.S. agency.

Feisty

2007-09-24T14:35:00.001-04:00

Ahmadinejad: "Nobody should interfere with the Palestinian nation ... Nobody should spend 10s of millions of dollars equipping one group there."

Some applause.

Coatsworth: "I think many members of our audience would like a clearer answer to that. [Big applause] Do you or your government seek the destruction of the state of Israel? ... I think you could answer that question with a simple yes or no."

Ahmadinejad dodges, complains that he's being told how to answer and that that's not a free flow of information.

Questions segment starts

2007-09-24T14:32:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad closes with: "We are a peaceful, loving nation. We love all nations."

The audience boos. The stream cuts out. It comes back with Coatsworth preparing to ask questions of Ahmadinejad.

"It is one by one. One by one," Ahmadinejad insists. Coatsworth reassures him.

... missed the question, but Ahmadinejad starts the answer, "We love the Jews."

Chuckles

2007-09-24T14:31:00.002-04:00

At the one-minute warning. Ahmadinejad stops and smiles. He and the translator chuckle. Applause. He continues where he left off, talking about Iran's cooperation with nuclear watchdogs....

Impressions from Columbia campus

2007-09-24T14:31:00.001-04:00

photos from protest before and crowds during the speech

Rebuttal revisited

2007-09-24T14:21:00.000-04:00

Addressing the questions raised by Bollinger, Ahmadinejad rebuts, referring to a time "two years ago, maybe:"

"I raised two questions. You know that my main job is a university instructor but right now as president of Iran, I still continue teach graduate and Ph.d level courses on a weekly basis. My students are working with me in scientific fields. I believe that I am an academic myself so I speak from an academic point of view. I raised 2 questionss but instead of academic response I received a wave of insults...."

He talks about how for 60 years Palestinians have been injured -- daily. By war around them, over them, by continual conflict.

His questions, he says:

"Given that the holocaust is a present reality of our time ... why is there not sufficient research that can approach the topic from different perspectives?"

Talks about researchers that have been sent to prison for researching "from different perspectives."

"Given this historical event if it is a reality we need to still questions whether the Palestinian people should be paying for it ... why is it the Palestinian people are paying the price of an event they had nothing to do with?"

Underscores the 60 year-long conflict.

WMDs

2007-09-24T14:20:00.001-04:00

Ahmadinejad says that WMDs "are another example of misuse of science and research by the big powers."

More science

2007-09-24T14:16:00.000-04:00

"Scientists and scholars are misused for personal ... and group purposes."

Ahmadinejad is now condemning the U.S. government, though I didn't catch if it was directly. Saying that "they" -- again, apparently the U.S. government -- are using science to fabricate non-existent enemies and create an atmosphere of insecurity.

Friends

2007-09-24T14:15:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad is addressing the audience as "my friends" and "my dear friends."

Science

2007-09-24T14:13:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejd warns against limiting science to experimental and physical sciences...

"Science is a divine gift, and the heart is where it resides."

"Realities of the world are not limited to the physical realities...."

Also, re: questions

2007-09-24T14:11:00.000-04:00

I should mention that Ahmadinejad also began by saying that he would address any questions Bollinger may have asked during the question portion.

More religion, academics

2007-09-24T14:09:00.000-04:00

Ahmadinejad continues about the value of religious and academic teachings:

"If it were not for the human instinct which tends toward the continual discovery of the truth, humans would have been stranded in ignorance, and no one would have discovered how to improve the life that we are given."

Leaders

2007-09-24T14:08:00.001-04:00

Ahmadinejad talks about how valuable religious and academic leaders are.

CNN Live Feed

2007-09-24T14:07:00.001-04:00

http://www.cnn.com/video/live/live.html?stream=stream1