Obama pal, and Columbia University Professor of Arab Studies, Rashid Khalidi (details of Obama and Khalidi’s relationship HERE)……is keeping his fingers crossed that things go well, on July 18th, while Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is New York, to visit the UN…….
Ahmadinejad’s unfriendly reception, in the US, last year was soooo embarassing for Obama’s buddy……that he could not bare to see it happen again……
For those who do not remember, Rashid was instrumental in bringing Ahmadinejad to Columbia last year for an unforgettable speech, in which the President of Iran stated…….there were no homosexuals in Iran — not one — and that the Nazi slaughter of six million Jews should not be treated as fact, but theory, and therefore open to debate and more research.
After the speech, khalidi was outraged, embarrassed, and disappointed
…...not at Ahmadinejad (he didn’t say anything offensive, right?)….but at Columbia University President, Lee C. Bollinger, who introduced Ahmadinejad as a man who exhibited “all the signs of a petty and cruel dictator” and whose denial of the Holocaust was “either brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated.”….
While this introduction seems spot on to any rational observer…..
Khalidi publicly objected, stating (full NY Times story HERE):
“The tone from the host of an event was uncivil and uncalled for.
“The president of the university had every right to state his differences,” he said. “That was more than acceptable. But I believe it was embarrassing to the university, frankly, that they should decide to invite him and then treat him in this manner.”
As you can see….Khalidi, like his buddy Barry, embarrasses easily (about the wrong issues)…..
So, please…..please…….. remember….when Ahmadinejad arrives in NY, in four days, you must treat him with respect…..unless you want to piss off Obama’s good buddy…which I’m sure you don’t want to do…..
