Ariel Shaeban, right, an Iranian immigrant now living in New York, yells at pro-Iranian protesters near the campus of Columbia University during a speech by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)

Should U.S. University Have Invited Iranian President to Speak?

Colleges and universities are places where people talk about ideas.

Some of those ideas may be true and help people. Other ideas may be false or harmful.

Should people learn about bad ideas? Should people with bad ideas speak at colleges and universities? Americans argued about these issues in September.

Why? The president of Iran gave a speech at Columbia University in New York on September 25. He was in New York to attend a meeting of the United Nations (U.N.).

Iran and the United States have been enemies since 1979. That is when Iran broke into the U.S. Embassy there. Fifty-two Americans were held hostage for 444 days.

Now, most of the world worries that Iran is trying to build nuclear bombs.

Americans have more concerns. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad threatens Israel. The Jewish state is a friend of the United States.

Says Holocaust never happened
Ahmadinejad says the Holocaust never happened. The Holocaust was the Nazis' murder of six million Jews during World War II.

Some Americans worry about these issues. They say that Ahmadinejad should not speak at any U.S. university.
Malcolm Hoenlein is the leader of a group of U.S. Jewish organizations. He sent a letter of protest to Lee Bollinger, the president of Columbia University.

Hoenlein wrote that colleges and universities should teach "diverse views." Still, Columbia should not invite "...someone who persecutes his people, denies freedom of speech in his own country...and is the leading state sponsor of terror."

Hundreds protested
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside Columbia before Ahmadinejad's speech. Christine C. Quinn is president of the New York City Council. She said that Ahmadinejad would spread more hatred in the world. Hamid Dabashi said the invitation was "misguided." He is a professor of Iranian studies at Columbia.

Bollinger said that listening "to ideas we deplore (hate)" does not mean we agree with them.

The U.S. government stayed out of the conflict. President George Bush told Fox News that Columbia's invitation was "O.K. with me."

Bush said the invitation is proof of the freedoms we have in the U.S., because the nation lets anyone express their point of view. "I'm not sure I'd have offered the same invitation," he said.

Bollinger introduced Ahmadinejad to Columbia students and teachers as a "petty and cruel dictator." Bollinger said Ahmadinejad was "ridiculous" to deny the Holocaust.

Ahmadinejad replied that Bollinger was rude and wrong.

Iran aiding terror in Iraq
U.S. leaders say that Shiite Muslim fighters in Iraq are using weapons from Iran against U.S. troops. Bollinger asked Ahmadinejad why Iran is "providing aid to terrorists?"

Ahmadinejad said that he did not think the Shiites were terrorists. "If someone comes and explodes bombs around youÉ how would you treat them? Would you reward them, or would you name them a terrorist group? Well, it is clear. You would call them a terrorist," he said.

Ahmadinejad said, too, "Women in Iran enjoy the highest levels of freedom." He also said, "We don't have homosexuals, like in your country."

Was Columbia right or wrong to invite Ahmadinejad? You decide.