Iranian President Ahmadinejad Can't Go to Ground Zero, But He Will Go to Columbia

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is getting a lot of ink in our newspapers today after it was revealed that (A) he had requested a visit to Ground Zero - to lay a wreath, no less - and then shortly later that (B) the city had denied the request. Way to work fast, city agencies!

Iranian mission to the United Nations says that Ahmadinejad still wants to go to Ground Zero, but the Daily News sends him a message on today's cover and with an editorial that starts off, "No. No. No. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad can not be allowed to defile Ground Zero, must be stopped from exploiting this hallowed landmark, this tragic product of a fanaticism cousin to the demons in Ahmadinejad's soul."

The NYPD explains that Ahmadinejad's request to visit Ground Zero and descend into the Pit came a month ago and that it was denied on grounds of security. The NYPD further stated that any visit to Ground Zero would be denied. In fact, the Iranian Mission met with the NYPD, Secret Service and Port Authority, which all explained that the site is a live construction zone weeks ago. But the news cycle was confused, because earlier yesterday, Police Commissioner Kelly seemed to imply that the discussions were still ongoing, only for the NYPD spokesperson to clear things up and shut down any speculation. The NY Times reminds us that though family members were eventually allowed to visit the Pit during the sixth anniversary events on September 11, no members of the public were allowed.

Politicians from both parties agreed that the Iranian leader should not be allowed to visit Ground Zero. The Sun tallied up the comments: Senator Hillary Clinton called it "unacceptable for Iranian President Ahmadinejad, who refuses to renounce and end his own country's support of terrorism, to visit the site of the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil in our nation's history," while Senator Barack Obama said Ahmadinejad not should be allowed to "posture" against the "backdrop" of Ground Zero. Fred Thompson's spokesperson said it was an "insult to the memory of those who died on 9/11 at the hands of terrorists" while Mitt Romney called the request "shockingly audacious," and Giuliani felt it was "outrageous."

One New York location Ahmadinejad is being welcomed at (other than the U.N. General Assembly) is Columbia University. He will be speaking at the World Leaders Forum. Last year, Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs had to uninvite Ahmadinejad, supposedly due to security, but some suspected it was because the school has been embroiled in some Middle East controversies. Anyway, Columbis President Lee Bollinger issued this statement about this year's invitation; here's an excerpt:

In order to have such a University-wide forum, we have insisted that a number of conditions be met, first and foremost that President Ahmadinejad agree to divide his time evenly between delivering remarks and responding to audience questions. I also wanted to be sure the Iranians understood that I would myself introduce the event with a series of sharp challenges to the president on issues including:

* the Iranian president’s denial of the Holocaust;
* his public call for the destruction of the State of Israel;
* his reported support for international terrorism that targets innocent civilians and American troops;
* Iran's pursuit of nuclear ambitions in opposition to international sanction;
* his government's widely documented suppression of civil society and particularly of women's rights; and
* his government's imprisoning of journalists and scholars, including one of Columbia’s own alumni, Dr. Kian Tajbakhsh.

I would like to add a few comments on the principles that underlie this event. Columbia, as a community dedicated to learning and scholarship, is committed to confronting ideas—to understand the world as it is and as it might be. To fulfill this mission we must respect and defend the rights of our schools, our deans and our faculty to create programming for academic purposes. Necessarily, on occasion this will bring us into contact with beliefs many, most or even all of us will find offensive and even odious. We trust our community, including our students, to be fully capable of dealing with these occasions, through the powers of dialogue and reason.

Bollinger, a First Amendment scholar, also added, "I would also like to invoke a major theme in the development of freedom of speech as a central value in our society. It should never be thought that merely to listen to ideas we deplore in any way implies our endorsement of those ideas, or the weakness of our resolve to resist those ideas or our naiveté about the very real dangers inherent in such ideas."

Bollinger is meeting with Columbia students today to discuss the student questions that will be asked. No word on whether security guards with Tasers will be present.

Ahmadinejad has also openly asked President Bush about the U.S. government's involvement in the September 11 attacks.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on September 20, 2007 12:31 PM

Comments [rss]

guest

i think we are idiots why don't we give him a key to the city

guest

Very mature, Daily News. Way to keep the bar high.

guest

if only bloomberg had some of rudy's balls he would deny this piece of shit entry, and that scumbag chavez too.

guest

Sunni and Shia are fighting each other because that is what the US and Britain aligned them to do.

Its exactly what Britain did in India with the Muslims, Hindu, and Sikhs.

guest

Israel = WMD's

see israeli airstrikes.

virgil

I've never heard him deny the existence of the holocaust. He's described it as having been turned into a myth that forestalls any criticism of israel. This has been misconstrued to mean that he believes it didn't happen.

He also said that he takes issue with israel being created on what he considers to be palestinian land, when it was perpetrated by europeans in europe.

He's a loudmouthed, attention seeking little dick, but let's see him for the dick he is, not the dick we mistake him for. His views and attitudes are part and parcel for that entire region, but we're being sold another "he's a monster" load of propoganda so that we'll nod our heads in appproval when we invade yet another country that has not attacked us.

guest

FYI, I spot a typo.

"Columbis President Lee Bollinger" should become "Columbia's President Lee Bollinger"

Just a heads-up!

TimSPC

Bollinger is meeting with Columbia students today to discuss the student questions that will be asked.

Questions I'd like to see asked:

A man decides to open a newspaper in Tehran that is highly critical of the mullahs and advocates secular democracy. How does your government respond?

An unmarried woman decides to take a stroll in a park and hold hands with an unmarried man. How does your government respond?

A man publicly declares that he is a homosexual. How does your government respond?

ed_Extinct

#34. I should have been more clear (typing fast here)

during his tenure as Mayor of Iran he never once extended his hand in regard of the 9/11 attacks.

Regardless of Bush, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is bad man. He is a Holocuast Denier, in fact he calls the Nazi Holocaust a myth.

He is quoted as saying "Thanks to the blood of the martyrs, a new Islamic revolution has arisen and the Islamic revolution of 1384 [the current Iranian year] will, if God wills, cut off the roots of injustice in the world." He said, that "the wave of the Islamic revolution" would soon "reach the entire world."

Mohammed Khatami was for peace in some ways, but more in an Islamic way. Iran as a whole, is an "Axis of Evil", ask anyone who has fled Iran living the West.

zodak

#34 is right & edex is wrong

iran = shia but al-Qaida = sunni

in case you haven't noticed the civil war in iraq is mostly sunnis fighting shias. in other words: they don't like each other.

let him go to ground zero like all the other tourists, if he did something stupid it would turn more people against him. not letting him go turns more people against u.s.

JRod5417

#29 - Huh?

guest

Ed, the president of Iran was Mohammed Khatami in 2001, she did offer support, and then Bush added him to the "Axis of Evil."No surprise when, four years later, radicals overwhelm moderates to elect a crazy hardliner.

guest

We live in a world full of Neville Chamberlains when we need more Winston Churchills

guest

We live in a word full of Neville Chamberlains when we need more Winston Churchills

guest

I hope you have your papers in order,

welcome to the United States and please don't bomb us.

guest

fuck you 29 !

guest

go back to Iran you republican tool.

take your Miami cubans with you.

guest

As an Iranian American who’s parents fled Iran because of people like this, let me just say that I don’t think it is right that this man be allowed to visit the World Trade Center site. He and the mullahs who control Iran have done more damage in the middle east and to his own people then we may ever know. He supports terrorism like all the other so called champions of Islam only for his gain.

They have a saying in the Middle East “ The Iranians and Syrians will fight to the last Palestinian in Israel.

guest

God Bless Columbia University!

guest

Israel = WMDs

guest

I bet Tony Soprano is rethinking that $50k gift he and Carm gave to Columbia right about now. Ahmadinejad is invited in the interest of free speech and open public discourse, yet the Minute Man guy can't come? The question is this, what the hell is the difference between the two?

guest

After what happened with the minutemen, I wouldnt exactly call Bollinger a First Amendment 'Scholar'

guest

Obama nailed about using ground zero as a backdrop for some sort of politcal rant. Fuck that noise.

That said, much like Iraq, Iran had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

I also agree with Comment #1 by saying that the Saudis would be welcome by the US, though. What kind of bullshit is that?

guest

Iran supports the Palestenians - thats why our goverment and media has turned him into a 'madman'

No, it's because Iran gives money and weapons to terrorists who think that lobbing rockets into Israel is a productive use of their time and resources. They know Israel will retaliate, Palestinians will get killed, the population gets outraged, and the terrorists keep their hold on power. Face facts: muslim leaders exploit anti-semitism to keep power just like American politicians exploit fear of everything. The Palestinians had plenty of chances to make peace with Israel before the settlements came about. Arafat and others blocked any chance at peace while also siphoning off most of the aid money.

And saying the holocaust didn't happen doesn't help one's credibility on the sanity scale.

guest

If you are an American who wants laws enforced, you are not welcome.

If you are killing Americans, then step on down because the price is right.

I really hope some family members of servicemen killed by Iran's IEDs show up at Columbia

ed_Extinct

Ahmadinejad is not only a terrorist supporter of the radical Palestinians, he also supports Al Qaeda, Hezbollah, Aden-Abyan Islamic Army, Armed Islamic Group, Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, Ansar al-Islam... the list goes on. He is prime evil not just because he hates Israel—he hates the West, period!

All the while last year, while making media headlines around the globe for allowing Nazi Holocaust art to be displayed in Iran for an "art show" and his bullshit plea of Freedom of Speech, he quietly and without regard of the people of Iran, forcibly closed over 100 newspapers in Iran—Freedom of speech?

Now, while he is the prseident, he does not have executive power over the military or any nuclear business. He is in fact the best definition of a puppet and a marionette at that.

He has no business being in the United States and thankfully has been denied access to the WTC. His visit to Columbia University should be of no surprise, next stop, Venezuela! What a fucking joke!

Where was his support post 9/11? Arafat aud he was giving support as well? Should we take it seriously? Of course not. They're all media whores looking for attention. A visit to the WTC would have been a global slap in the face...

MT

Does anyone know WHY he wants to visit Ground Zero? is it to make some whack speak about how America got what it deserves or is it to show that he understands something awful happened here and we should work toward not letting this sort of thing happen again. If he recognizes the horror of the situation and says so he could be a powerful voice to the Islamic world that maybe we really are all going way too far.

guest

Iran supports the Palestenians - thats why our goverment and media has turned him into a 'madman' - give me a break, just like Sadamm was right...yeah call them a madman and next thing go to war...wake up america - Israels enemies arent ours

guest

god bless america!!

guest

No wonder people hate us with our smug american attitudes. lame.

guest

I love how everybody's ignoring the fact that the actual reason he's not being allowed to go is because it's going to be a, you know, live construction zone...

guest

I'll be waiting for you in Hell. see you soon.

Tim N.

Ahmadinejad is an bad combination of evil ideas and media ho-ness, so no doubt he would have made his visit into some kind of miserable spectacle.

Having said that, not only should he be allowed to go, he should be compelled to go and stare at the hole and have someone whisper in his ear, "this is what supporting religious terrorism gets you." And we would also not lower our own standards because some guy in a bad windbreaker delights in ticking us off.

guest

they'll invite this asshole, but the minutemen are off limits - what a bunch of whackjobs we're growing to support us in the future. we're all going to hell.

guest

wait a sec? what did Iran have to do with 9/11?

How is hanging a wreath an insult to the memories of those who died? did those who died even know who Ahmadinejad is?

so he hangs a wreath on the chicken wire, no big deal.

guest

thank you, columbia. this should be interesting.

guest

he should be arrested on site for activities against US military personnel.

guest

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

he had nothing to do with 9/11

interlard

Just to get this clear, Ahmadinejad can't visit the site to, "exploit this hallowed landmark, this tragic product of a fanaticism," or "posture against the backdrop of Ground Zero", but all the other politicians can?

The guy's quite a nutcase, don't get me wrong, but I don't see how he could add any more nauseating posturing to the already over-"hallowed" ground.

guest

how can anyone not like this cherub faced lil guy?

he's like one of us blue collar guys, he hates wearing the neck noose and wears ill fitting poly suits.

guest

Giving him a platform to speak just gives nutcases a reason to celebrate. He's a insane madman, Columbia is truly sinking to a new low.

guest

This is exactly the kind of incendiary tripe that makes it so difficult to form understanding with heads of state that have ideologies contrary to what we purport ours to be.

What I see here is no different than the mobs of people in Arab countries burning american flags and effigies of western infidels.

C'mon America, wise up and act like civilized citizens of this planet we co-habitate.

lrnarabic

That Daily News cover won't do much to change Ahmadinejad's views of the US.

Ibrahim

www.BehindtheApprovalMatrix.co...

guest

its a perfect example of how 9/11 is being exploited by our leaders that they would refuse to let someone lay a wreath there - dont forget the iranians offered support after 9/11 - this whole the iranians are terrorists have everything to do with thier support of the palestenians and nothing to do with their supposed hatred of america