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Columbia University panned for hosting Iran's Ahmadinejad

Columbia University is providing Iran's president with a forum for his "hate speech" and should withdraw its invitation to have Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speak at the prestigious university, the head of New York City Council said on Thursday.

"The idea of Ahmadinejad as an honored guest anywhere in our city is offensive to all New Yorkers," Council speaker Christine Quinn wrote. "Ahmadinejad is a Holocaust denier, here for one reason -- to spread his hate-mongering vitriol on the world stage."

Ahmadinejad was scheduled to appear tomorrow at a question and answer session with university faculty and students as part of the school's World Leaders Forum. Columbia spokesman Robert Hornsby said on Thursday that there was no plan to cancel the appearance.

Quinn's call came a day after New York City police officials rejected Ahmadinejad's request to visit lay a wreath at the World Trade Center, citing security concerns and ongoing construction at the site of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

US diplomats had blasted the request as an attempt to turn ground zero into a "photo op."

Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the city would provide protection for all guests of the UN without requiring that they pass a "litmus test for views."

He said of Ahmadinejad: "I personally find what this guy has said abhorrent, and I think it would be inappropriate to have him visit."

The Iranian president, who was scheduled to arrive yesterday for the UN General Assembly, has run into difficulties before when planning talks at Columbia.

Last year, the Ivy League university dropped plans for a speech by Ahmadinejad because of security and logistical problems. But the decision also came after a Jewish activist group blasted the university over its invitation to the Iranian president, who has called the Holocaust a "myth" and said Israel should be destroyed.

The Jewish Defense Organization called on Thursday for cancelation of the speech, calling Ahmadinejad "the Hitler of Iran."
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