As anyone who knows me well already knows, most of my father's family perished during the Holocaust and he was interred at Auschwitz, so I'm quite familiar with the potential consequences of letting Ahmadinejad speak unchallenged at my alma mater.New York, NY -- Lee Carroll Bollinger, the controversial president of Columbia University and a distinguished legal scholar, died yesterday afternoon of a massive coronary attack as he prepared to meet with the school's Board of Trustees.
Paramedics worked feverishly for more than one hour to resuscitate the 61-year-old educator, but he was pronounced dead on the scene before he could be transported to the nearby Columbia University Medical Center.
In a statement, William V. Campbell, chairman of the University's Board of Trustees, said that "all of us at Columbia have lost a great leader and friend in Lee." Campbell added that "although Lee's tenure here was enveloped in controversy and acrimony, the Board always supported him and felt he had his best interests at heart in all of the decisions he made."
Bollinger become president of Columbia in June 2002, after serving as president of the University of Michigan since 1996.
While the Santa Rosa, California native had been involved in various legal and policy controversies throughout his professional career -including standing at the center of two cases before the United States Supreme Court - Bollinger became a global figure only after he permitted Iranian Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on campus on September 24, 2007.
Ahmadinejad's speech, and Bollinger's biting introduction of him, made Bollinger the target of criticism from many quarters. Jewish groups and others felt Bollinger should not have permitted Ahmadinejad to speak on campus, given the Iranian's record of gross human rights violations and Holocaust denial.
Others were outraged by Bollinger's introduction, which they said was unbecoming, given that Ahmadinejad was speaking at the express invitation and with the approval of Columbia and Bollinger.
While others at the University also took heat for the Ahmadinejad-Bollinger speech, as it came to be known, Bollinger alone bore the brunt of the blame.
| Salah | Richard W. Bulliet | Iraq's Minister of Mis-Information |
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More than 2,000 people have requested Purim masks depicting Iranian Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and others involved in his speech last September 24 on the campus of Columbia University. Bnai Haman, which plans a Purim Ball on March 20 featuring modern Purim masks, says it has received requests from as far away as India, Japan and Kazakhstan.
Las Vegas (PRWEB) March 8, 2008 -- People from as far away as the Republic of Kazakhstan have written or called Bnai Haman seeking to obtain masks for this year's Purim celebration.
The requests began pouring in on February 19, when Bnai Haman, a not-for-profit volunteer group of Columbia University alumni and concerned citizens, announced that it is planning an Ahmadinejad-themed Purim party to mark the September 24, 2007 speech by Iranian Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on campus.
At modern Purim carnivals, it is customary for children and adults alike to dress up as characters from the biblical book of Esther. Purim commemorates the reversal of fortune for the Jews of 6th Century Persia, who were facing extermination at the hands of evil Haman, a trusted adviser to the King. Thanks to the intervention of Queen Esther and her cousin, Mordecai, the King protected the Jews and instead hung Haman on the gallows he, himself, had constructed to kill Jews.
Last month, Bnai Haman said at its 2008 Purim Ball, to be held the evening of March 20, 2008, revelers will have the opportunity to dress like the biblical Purim figures or to wear masks representing those Columbia University officials most closely involved in the Ahmadinejad speech. Like Haman of ancient times, Ahmadinejad has publicly called for Israel to be wiped off the map.
"No one was more surprised than us when the requests started arriving, because we aren't selling or giving away masks," says a spokeswoman for Bnai Haman. "Our members are making their own masks for their own personal use."
Among the most requested masks are those of Columbia University's President, Lee C. Bollinger, who introduced Ahmadinejad last September, and Richard W. Bulliet, the Columbia professor who first invited the dictator to campus. Many requests have also been received for Ahmadinejad masks.
Bnai Haman said about 80 percent of its 2,000-plus requests have come from the United States; 10 percent from Israel and the remainder from countries throughout the world, including Australia, India and Japan.
"The Ahmadinejad-Bollinger speech was broadcast around the globe and its lasting impact can't be overstated," the Bnai Haman spokeswoman said. "The fact that individuals in the former Soviet East Block want to share in our Purim festivities demonstrates that the fight against evil knows no boundaries."
Bnai Haman works to remind the world of the lessons learned by the Ahmadinejad-Bollinger speech and to forewarn other universities and academics about the price to be paid for permitting dictators, terrorists and other villains to use their institutions as a platform for promoting hate speech.
The group maintains various information websites, including www.september242007.com.
The problem for Columbia University and Lee C. Bollinger , who welcome Holocaust deniers and anti-Semites to speak on campus (and to teach there whenever possible), is that the Palestinians are comparing what is going on now in the Gaza Strip to an event that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tells the world never even happened.
Which terrorists should Columbia and Bollinger support going forward? Which terrorists should next be honored with a platform at the university?
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Costumes are a traditional part of the festivities that surround the annual Jewish holiday of Purim.
Purim commemorates the reversal of fortune for the Jews of 6th Century Persia, who were facing extermination at the hands of the evil Haman, a trusted adviser to the king. Thanks to the intervention of Queen Esther and her cousin, Mordecai, the king protected the Jews and instead hung Haman on the gallows he, himself, had constructed to kill Jews.

Purim revelers can dress as Ahmadinejad (l)
or Bollinger (r)
At modern Purim carnivals, it is customary for children and adults alike to dress up as Esther, Mordechai and other characters from the biblical story, including Haman.
This year, however, to mark the September 24, 2007 speech by Iranian Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at Columbia University, a group of Columbia alumni and concerned citizens - known as Bnai Haman - are planning an Ahmadinejad-themed Purim festival.
"Ahmadinejad and Haman have a lot in common in that both men plotted to exterminate all the Jews," says a spokeswoman for Bnai Haman, a not-for-profit group of volunteers. "And just as Haman found those in ancient Persia who would listen to his incitements, so too did Columbia University provide a platform for Ahmadinejad to espouse Israel's destruction to a global media audience."
At its 2008 Purim Ball, to be held the evening of March 20, 2008, revelers will have the opportunity to dress like the biblical Purim figures or to wear masks representing those who were most closely involved in the Ahmadinejad speech.
In addition to Ahmadinejad costumes, Bnai Haman said its members plan to dress as Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger, who introduced Ahmadinejad; Richard W. Bulliet, the Columbia University professor who first invited Ahmadinejad; and John H. Coatsworth, an acting Dean at the University who defended the Ahmadinejad speech, telling Fox News that he would have invited Hitler to speak on campus had the Nazi leader been available.
"Judaism often finds modern parallels to biblical stories," the Bnai Haman spokeswoman noted. "We believe that history will record the reign of Ahmadinejad on the same scale as that of Haman and others who have sworn to destroy the Jews over many, many centuries."
Bnai Haman works to remind the world of the lessons learned by the Ahmadinejad-Bollinger speech and to forewarn other universities and academics about the price to be paid for permitting dictators, terrorists and other villains to user their institutions as a platform for promoting hate speech.
The group maintains various informational websites, including www.september242007.com.
Bnai Haman, a group of Columbia University alumni and concerned citizens, has posted a new statement on its web sites condemning the assassination of Hizbullah’s special operations chief Imad Mughniyeh. Mughniyeh was killed by a car bomb that detonated in February 2008 in Syria, where he was in hiding.
Unlike Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who had the honor of speaking at Columbia University last September, Mughniyeh had not had the opportunity to address students and the media at a major American university before his death. Had he, Bnai Haman believes, the Hizbullah operative most certainly would have faced the same kinds of academic inquiries that Columbia’s students and faculty posed to Ahmadinejad.
“As Columbia made clear, students and faculty at democratic, free-speech schools can learn so much about the mind of terrorists by inviting them to speak on campus,” says Jed Christianson, a spokesperson for Bnai Haman. “Mughniyeh's credentials in this regard were impeccable and with his untimely death, Columbia and its community are robbed of the opportunity to hear from this influential Middle East leader.”
Phoenix, AZ -- Bnai Haman, a not-for-profit group of Columbia University alumni and concerned citizens, has posted its theory for why Robert Kraft (photo) and his New England Patriots came up short in their big game this past Sunday night.
Bnai Haman had publicly forecast the Patriots loss, even as the vast majority of sports commentators and odds makers were touting the Pats.
The group, which operates multiple web sites, is dedicated to reminding the world of the lessons to be learned by the speech on September 24, 2007 by Iranian Dictator Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the campus of Columbia University. Bnai Haman strives to forewarn other universities (and sports teams) about the price to be paid for permitting dictators, terrorists and other villains to use democratic forums as a platform for promoting hate speech.
The Patriot's owner, Kraft, is an alumnus and board member emeritus of Columbia University. Shortly after the infamous Ahmadinejad speech, he announced a $5 million donation to the university's sports program.
"Karma is a very powerful thing," says Jed Christianson, a volunteer with Bnai Haman. "Many, many sports celebrities are superstitious about remaining on the good side of luck - something that the Patriots may have overlooked."
Prior to the Super Bowl, Bnai Haman awarded Kraft its "Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial Acquiescence Award" in recognition of his recent contribution to Columbia.