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NEW YORK-Columbia University said {{{it does not plan to call off a speech by Iran's president despite pressure from critics including the City Council speaker}}}, who said the Ivy League school was providing a forum for "hate-mongering vitriol."Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is traveling to New York to address the United Nations' General Assembly(sigh....). He was to appear Monday at a question-and- answer session with Columbia faculty and students as part of the school's World Leaders Forum.The State Department calls Iran a state sponsor of terror, and {{Ahmadinejad has called the Holocaust """"a myth" and urged for Israel to be destroyed"""}}.City Council speaker Christine Quinn called Thursday for the university to rescind the invitation, saying {{{"the idea of Ahmadinejad as an honored guest anywhere in our city is offensive to all New Yorkers.}}}"Quinn, a Democrat, said {{{Ahmadinejad was coming to the city "for one reason—to spread his hate-mongering vitriol on the world stage}}}."His planned appearance at Columbia also was condemned by Jewish groups including the Jewish Defense Organization, which described """Ahmadinejad as "the Hitler of Iran.""""Columbia spokesman Robert Hornsby said Thursday there was no plan to cancel the appearance, though the university dropped plans for an Ahmadinejad speech last year because of security and logistical problems. The decision came after a Jewish activist group expressed outrage over the invitation.Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Friday that the university was free to invite Ahmadinejad to speak, but "personally, I wouldn't go to listen to him—I don't care about what he says."White House deputy press secretary Tony Fratto said Friday that the Bush administration had no involvement with Columbia's decision.{{{"This is a country where people can come and speak their minds," he said, adding,"It would be wonderful if some of the countries that take advantage of that here allowed it for their own citizens there."}}}(but that won't happen wiht the loving and peaceful religion of Islam in control of those countries....)))Columbia President Lee Bollinger, in announcing Ahmadinejad's upcoming appearance, described the event as part of "Columbia's long-standing tradition of serving as a major forum for robust debate."He said the Iranian president had agreed to answer questions on Israel and the Holocaust.Ahmadinejad's trip to New York also ignited a debate this week over his rejected request to lay a wreath at ground zero.Politicians and families of Sept. 11 victims were outraged that Iran's president might visit the site.Police rejected Ahmadinejad's request, citing construction and security concerns. In an interview scheduled to air Sunday on CBS' "60 Minutes," Ahmadinejad indicated he would not press the issue but expressed """disbelief that the visit would offend Americans. """"On the Net:
Columbia:
City Council:
PS:IT IS A DISGRACE AS A NATION THAT WE ALLOW A MURDERER,A LIL HITLER,SOMEONE THAT HAS AMERICANS IMPRISONED IN IRAN AND THAT SPONSORS TERRORISM TO SET HIS NASTY FEET IN OUR SOIL AND LESS TO GO TO GROUND ZERO TO"DESECRATE" THE MEMORY OF OUR DEAD AND TO MAKE MOCKERY OF OUR SUFFERINGS.....
IT'S A SHAME FOR COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TO INVITE SUCH AN "ELEMENT"
THAT SHOWS YOU RIGHT THERE WHAT KIND OF "AUTHORITIES ' THEY HAVE AT THAT UNIVERSITY.....
As in the days of Noah...
