Our man in Morningside Heights

The lovely SIPA student/roomate extrodinaire weighs on the her experience at the Ahmadinejad extravaganza yesterday:


You’ve all heard about Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia. For what
it’s worth, here’s my take on the day. Sorry this is long. I need
an editor.

I got into line for the event, standing behind white barriers that
separated us from pedestrians and the media zoo. A man with an
Israeli flag was yelling at people in line. He was ranting and
raving and every journalist in the area circled around him, shoving
mics in his face. I thought of Ahmadinejad and how the loudest and
craziest person in the crowd always seems to always get the
microphone.

A Columbia alumnus walked by with a sign that said, “A man of lies
does not belong in a place of truth.” A girl standing next to me
asked out loud, “What’s a place of truth?” Then it occurred to
her,
“Oh, the university? Is a university a place of truth? What does
that mean? I thought he meant heaven.” The protester stopped to
tell us how dismayed he was with his alma mater.

A black guy in a dapper pin stripe suit told a Jewish student near
me that he had taken the day off from work because he thought the
plight of the Jews was his plight and that a denial of the
Holocaust was the equivalent of a denial of slavery. He seemed
eager to attract a journalist’s attention, which he quickly did.

I’ve never seen so many journalists in one place. I swear every
other person had a reporter’s notebook, mic or camera. Students
were lining up for their chance for a sound bite. I saw reporters
from Le Monde, NY1 (including J-School’s Lily Jamali), Telemundo,
Fox, BBC, the major local networks and Al Jazeera.

The guy with the Israeli flag came by and shouted at us, “You guys
gotta be brave and say something. If you go in there, say
something!”

I met two undergrad students while standing in line. Ron and Jordan,
both Jewish, helped organize the campus protests and were wearing
black anti-Ahmadinejad t-shirts. Jordan was vehemently opposed to
the event and yet seemed excited to be there and welcomed the
opportunity to talk to journalists. Ron was more conflicted over
it. The two of us debated the many issues surrounding the day as we
waited for the big guys to take the stage. Once we took our seats,
Ron and Jordan started working on their questions.

“What do you ask this guy?” asked one of their friends, throwing
his
arms up in the air.

“I don’t know,” said Jordan. “I’m stumped.” The young
student
protesters started to talk about what they’d do when the talk got
underway. Would they clap? Boo? Walk out?

I brought a copy of last spring’s Journal of International Affairs
and read articles from it to pass the time. In an article about
Ahmadinejad this quote stood out, “The spectacle seemed to matter
more than the substance.”

Finally, a group of 20 male, Iranian delegates walked out from
behind the stage and took their seats in the front row. They were
wearing matching gray suits and no neckties. Then, Ahmadinejad came
out. People in the crowd cheered and a group of five students in the
front stood and clapped for him. Ron and Jordan were disgusted. Ron
turned to me and said, “I don’t know if it’s different for you
because you’re not Jewish, but at times like these I just want to
move to Israel. You?” While surprised by the support for
Ahmadinejad, I told Ron that no, I didn’t want to move to Israel.

The stage looked stark with a black backdrop. No one shook hands.
Ahmadinejad sat down on stage left under a spotlight. He looked
smug, small and alone. Around the auditorium, shoulder-to-shoulder,
stood American secret service and Iranian security. A lot of men
with guns were required to conduct this “free exchange of ideas.”

Bollinger’s words are now famous. He apologized to those for whom
this day caused pain, but he said, “We need to understand the world
we live in. We need to know our enemies.”

“You exhibit all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator. Do you
plan on wiping us off the map too?”

Ahmadinejad smiled throughout. He seemed itching to jump off of his
seat and respond to Bollinger.

“I doubt that you will have the courage to answer these questions,
but your avoidance of them will serve us too,” said Presbo.

In that moment, I was proud. I was proud of the university, of
President Bollinger, of being an American student and of the School
of International and Public Affairs. I thought he stood up to a
tyrant. I don’t think civil discourse has to be unemotional or
impassionate.

I found it bizarre that it fell upon a university president to do so
and I also wondered why invite someone to campus just to slam them?
But, in my gut, I felt like Bollinger had just done something
heroic. Once I got back to school, I found that most SIPA students
thought Bollinger had been uncivil and rude. They thought he had
overcompensated, worried about his critics and funds being
withdrawn from the school.

Ahmadinejad began his talk. The rhythm of his speech was sort of
hypnotic. It seemed like nonsensical babble. Education is light and
enlightenment and neglecting it will leave you stranded in the
desert in the shadow of darkness without the angels and prophets.
But then his vague, rambling speech took a turn and he began to say
that scientific method, when in the wrong hands, threatened
cultures. He seemed to be saying that the United States is tearing
the Iranian people from their roots and their culture. His tone
became emotional as he attacked the US for its own nuclear
ambitions.

I thought this man has zero diplomatic finesse. He was a bully. The
atmosphere was tense. I thought he exposed his own stupidity, lack
of intellectual reasoning and hatred.

At the end of the hour, he invited a delegation of Columbia students
and professors to come to Iran. “You can go to ANY university you
like. I’ll give you a list.”

For me, the day was enormously valuable. My time spent talking with
Ron and Jordan was interesting and informative. After classes, Bill
Wheeler (friend and fellow J-School/SIPA student) and I tried to
wrap our heads around the day and our talk left me with lots to
think about.

The protests seemed to invigorate the campus. Students were
thinking, talking, feeling and interacting with each other. I think
a lot of people met yesterday over discussing what had happened. I
also learned plenty about Ahmadinejad. But it was really the
conversations I had with other students that made the day unique
and memorable.

Le fin.