Ahmadinejad gets rough welcome
NAHAL TOOSI
Associated Press
September 24, 2007 at 5:29 PM EDT
New York — Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad took the stage at Columbia University to a blistering welcome from the president of the school, who said the hard-line leader behaved like “a petty and cruel dictator.”
Mr. Ahmadinejad smiled as Columbia President Lee Bollinger took him to task over Iran's human-rights record and foreign policy, and Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements denying the Holocaust and calling for the disappearance of Israel.
“Mr. President, you exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator,” Mr. Bollinger said, to loud applause.
He said Mr. Ahmadinejad's denial of the Holocaust might fool the illiterate and ignorant.
“When you come to a place like this it makes you simply ridiculous,” Mr. Bollinger said. “The truth is that the Holocaust is the most documented event in human history.”
Mr. Ahmadinejad rose, also to applause, and after a religious invocation, said Mr. Bollinger's opening was “an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here.”
“There were insults and claims that were incorrect, regretfully,” Mr. Ahmadinejad said, accusing Mr. Bollinger of offering “unfriendly treatment” under the influence of the U.S. press and politicians.
The Iranian president is in New York to attend the UN General Assembly. Protesters gathered outside the United Nations and Columbia University to protest his appearance.
Earlier Monday, Mr. Ahmadinejad defended the policies of his government before a National Press Club audience.
“People in Iran are very joyous, happy people,” he said when questioned about the arrests of students, journalists and women. “They're very free in expressing what they think.”
He said women in Iran were “the freest women in the world ... They're active in every level of society.”
Human rights activists inside and outside Iran have decried a recent wave of arrests of people calling for political and legal reforms of the Iranian theocratic system. Mr. Ahmadinejad said those complaints were baseless, and denied knowing about any detention or harsh punishments of reformists.
“The people who give this information should see what is the truth and disseminate what is correct,” he said. “I invite everyone in this session to come and visit Iran for themselves.”
Tensions are high between Washington and Tehran over U.S. accusations that Iran is secretly trying to develop nuclear weapons, as well as helping Shiite militias in Iraq that target U.S. troops — claims Iran denies.
Thousands of people jammed two blocks across from the United Nations to protest Mr. Ahmadinejad's visit to New York. Organizers claimed a turnout of tens of thousands. Police did not immediately have a crowd estimate.
The speakers, most of them politicians and officials from Jewish organizations, proclaimed their support for Israel and criticized the Iranian leader for his remarks questioning the Holocaust.
“We're here today to send a message that there is never a reason to give a hatemonger an open stage,” New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn said.
The Iranian leader has previously called the Holocaust “a myth” and called for Israel to be “wiped off the map.”
Mr. Ahmadinejad told the National Press Club that his questioning of the Holocaust was based on his concern that it was used to justify Israeli oppression of the Palestinians.
“Granted that the Holocaust is a reality ... Why is it that the Palestinian people should be displaced?” he said. “Why are they paying the damage by giving up their land?”
Before leaving Iran, Mr. Ahmadinejad said the American people have been denied “correct information,” and his visit would give them a chance to hear a different voice, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Mr. Ahmadinejad has appealed to the American people before, distinguishing between the population and their government. Recently, he told a television show that Iran wants peace and friendship with America. Since coming to power in 2005, Mr. Ahmadinejad also has sent letters to the American people criticizing President George W. Bush's Mideast policies.
