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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad at the UN Tuesday. (Reuters)
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Last update - 19:42 25/09/2007
Peres: Ahmadinejad at Columbia like talks with Hitler before WWII
By Agencies

President Shimon Peres on Tuesday criticized Columbia University for hosting Iran's president, comparing the event to attempts to engage Adolf Hitler in dialogue before World War Two.

During his speech at the university in New York on Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Amhadinejad attacked Israel's treatment of the Palestinians and denied his country's nuclear program was aimed at building atomic weapons.

Ahmadinejad has come under international criticism for saying that Israel should be "wiped off the map" and has questioned whether the Nazi Holocaust that killed 6 million Jews actually took place.

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Introducing the Iranian president, Columbia University President Lee Bollinger said Ahmadinejad behaved as a "petty and cruel dictator" and that his Holocaust denials suggested he was either "brazenly provocative or astonishingly uneducated".

Bollinger asked a string of pointed questions, most of which Ahmadinejad ignored in a speech that dwelt at length on science as a gift from God and the importance of using knowledge and learning purely and in a pious way.

But Peres said Columbia's invitation to the Iranian leader did not fall under the umbrella of free academic expression because Ahmadinejad "simply stood up and lied."

"I think that Columbia University made a mistake ... With Hitler there was a dialogue. [British Prime Minister Neville] Chamberlain went to talk to him. What did it help? It helped cover the fact that Hitler prepared concentration camps and death camps," Peres told Reuters.

"I don't accept the university's explanations, because if a university is a platform where lies are permissible, then it is not academic ... So all of yesterday's show was wretched," Peres said.

Iranians: Harsh words by Columbia president to Ahmadinejad unjustified
Iranians on Tuesday called Bollinger's combative introduction of Ahmadinejad shameful and said the harsh words only added to their image of the United States as a bully.

In a region where the tradition of hospitality outweighs personal opinions toward a person, many in Iran thought Bollinger's aggressive tone - including telling Ahmadinejad that he exhibited the signs of a petty and cruel dictator - was over the top.

"The surprising point of the meeting is the behavior of the university president. Before a speech by president Ahmadinejad the chancellor criticized President Ahmadinejad, resorting to a statement full of insult, which was mostly Zionists' propaganda against Iran," state-run radio reported.

The chancellors of seven Iranian universities issued a letter on Tuesday to Bollinger saying his statements were deeply shameful and invited him to come to Iran.

In the letter, they asked him to provide responses to 10 questions ranging from: "Why did the U.S. support the bloodthirsty dictator Saddam Hussein during the 1980-88 Iraqi-imposed war on Iran?" to "Why has the U.S. military failed to find al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden even with all its advanced equipment?"

In response to Bollinger's harsh words, Ahmadinejad smiled at first but then decried the insults and unfriendly treatment.

While Ahmadinejad likely expected at worst a hostile grilling by the audience, Bollinger's sardonic comments reflected a blatant disregard for the tradition of hospitality revered in the Middle East. His comments may deflect some of the U.S. criticism he got for issuing the invitation to the Iranian president, but it could also backfire by drawing sympathy for Ahmedinejad, even in quarters where he would normally be sharply criticized.

"I don't know why he (Ahmadinejad) stayed there and did not leave the meeting. Their attitude was an insult to the nature of the meeting. They should not treat him as a suspect," said Mahmoud Rouhi, a nurse, in Tehran. Though state media did not broadcast Monday's event live in Farsi, state-run TV showed a recorded version on Tuesday.

"The meeting and their approach showed that Americans, even in a cultural position, work as cowboy and nothing more," said Rasoul Qaresi, customer of a grocery in Tehran downtown.

Ahmadinejad's international allies have also taken his side. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who is expecting a visit from Ahmadinejad later this week, said he spoke by phone with the Iranian leader on Monday after his tense showdown at Columbia University in New York.

"I congratulate him, in the name of the Venezuelan people, before a new aggression of the U.S. empire," Chavez said, adding that it seemed Ahmadinejad was the subject of an ambush.

Ahmadinejad is set to address the U.N. General Assembly later Tuesday. Thousands of people protested Ahmadinejad's visit Monday and more were expected to rally in the streets Tuesday when the Iranian leader attends the meeting for the third time in three years.


For more on Ahmadinejad's speech at Columbia University:
Iranian President: If Holocaust happened, why must Palestinians pay?
ANALYSIS: The clear loser from Ahmadinejad's visit is Israel
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  1.   Peres just sounds senile, here, frankly 15:37  |  Rowan Berkeley 25/09/07
  2.   And Peres Like Chamberlain 15:38  |  ralphrant1 25/09/07
  3.   Pot and Kettle 15:49  |  Saba 25/09/07
  4.   Ahmadinejad 15:51  |  Shana 25/09/07
  5.   Hiltler twin 16:00  |  Danny 25/09/07
  6.   Hiltler twin 16:00  |  Danny 25/09/07
  7.   WHOES WORSE IRAN OR ISRAEL? 16:01  |  Joe 25/09/07
  8.   Mr.Peres is right: Ahmedinejad looks like reincarnated Hitler 16:04  |  Vittorio 25/09/07
  9.   Unlike Ahmadenijad, our President Peres spoke the truth! 16:07  |  Alice of Wonderland 25/09/07
  10.   Shana 16:09  |  Daniel W 25/09/07
  11.   On what Ahmadinejad actually said 16:09  |  Rowan Berkeley 25/09/07
  12.   Minimizing Hitler and Nazism 16:25  |  Jens 25/09/07
  13.   Peres tough on Columbia, lenient on terrorists 16:32  |  Chick 25/09/07
  14.   Using and abusing America and Israel 16:33  |  Brent 25/09/07
  15.   Ahamadinejad`s list of truths... does annoy some circles 16:39  |  Mark 25/09/07
  16.   Why have free speech? 16:49  |  Ethel 25/09/07
  17.   Rowan Berkeley 16:52  |  Sarah 25/09/07
  18.   Mark 16:56  |  Barry 25/09/07
  19.   SHANA 17:00  |  TOM 25/09/07
  20.   Maybe midway between anti-semite and Hitler? 17:00  |  Natallie Durson 25/09/07
  21.   Peres response to Ahmadinejad 17:01  |  Gary M. Cooperberg 25/09/07
  22.   JOE 17:05  |  DANNY. 25/09/07
  23.   Peres had to steal his lines from Bibi 17:13  |  Rowan Berkeley 25/09/07
  24.   Free SPEECH, a load of crap 17:19  |  FOX 25/09/07
  25.   no more Hitler analogies 17:22  |  leucippe 25/09/07
  26.   Natalie Durson is NOT a fEMINIST 17:26  |  FOX 25/09/07
  27.   #12 dear old jens and his lack of knowledge 17:36  |  victor hardman 25/09/07
  28.   Iran`s Israelite past 17:38  |  Yussef Gideon 25/09/07
  29.   Ethel #16 17:42  |  Daniel W 25/09/07
  30.   why? 17:46  |  alex 25/09/07
  31.   If Ahmadinejad were a palestinian 18:04  |  Chick 25/09/07
  32.   #19 18:10  |  Shana 25/09/07
  33.   ETHEL: why have free speech? 18:14  |  Alice of Wonderland 25/09/07
  34.   Re Natallie #20 18:15  |  Esther 25/09/07
  35.   Neville Chamberlain 18:21  |  Chris Linthwaite 25/09/07
  36.   #26 Durson And Ahmadinejad Suit Each Other 18:23  |  Bill Foonman 25/09/07
  37.   who`s worse iran or israel? 18:24  |  lauren 25/09/07
  38.   to all iranians 18:28  |  ross 25/09/07
  39.   Peres: Ahmadinejad at Columbia like talks with Hitler before WW2 18:33  |  Colin Wright 25/09/07
  40.   i do not understand 18:35  |  cool 25/09/07
  41.   Hate-drenched Ahmad. 18:39  |  Esther 25/09/07
  42.   President`s visit 18:52  |  YIDN 25/09/07
  43.   On Peres and his so-called Haaretz blog 18:57  |  Clickfool 25/09/07
  44.   It takes one to know one 18:59  |  Clickfool 25/09/07
  45.   jens @ 12-equating ahmadi with... 19:09  |  scanadu 25/09/07
  46.   Chris Linthwaite 19:11  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 25/09/07
  47.   Will Bollinger be as frank with other leaders and - yes - donors? 19:11  |  Sensible 25/09/07
  48.   Amazing to see all the spineless attacks on Bollinger here. 19:12  |  Jake 25/09/07
  49.   Naieve Jens 19:18  |  Jake 25/09/07
  50.   To Shana 19:26  |  Jake 25/09/07
  51.   Ahdaminejad 19:31  |  siegfried buchwalte 25/09/07
  52.   Ahdaminejad 19:34  |  siegfried buchwalte 25/09/07
  53.   I think the comparisson should be the Ayotollahs 19:38  |  The Director 25/09/07
  54.   ClickFOOL, Chris Linthwaite, Joe and Rowan 19:41  |  Dave from Chicago 25/09/07
  55.   Chancellors of Iranian universities issued a letter to Bollinger: 20:09  |  Mimi 25/09/07
  56.   Mark#15 20:37  |  Kapule David Mabuta 25/09/07
  57.   yussef gideon 20:49  |  maria 25/09/07
  58.   Peres` Remarks 20:51  |  gregdn 25/09/07
  59.   yussef gideon...whether you have a good... 20:54  |  maria 25/09/07
  60.   Which Iranians ??? 21:12  |  DP 25/09/07
  61.   To Mimi, Ahmedinejad should be wearing an orange jumpsuit 21:14  |  Jake 25/09/07
  62.   Shana 32 21:16  |  Bill H. 25/09/07
  63.   Iran & israel realationship 21:46  |  Farid 25/09/07
  64.   presidents in public 21:53  |  james phillips 25/09/07
  65.   How Ah-maddinejad could have avoided Bollinger`s wrath 21:56  |  Chick 25/09/07
  66.   55Mimi.Dr.A. has invited Bush for dialogue and I`m pretty sure he 21:58  |  lakshmi 25/09/07
  67.   Israeli - do you ever look in the mirror 21:59  |  Chris 25/09/07
  68.   There are No Gays or Nuclear Weapons Research In Iran ;) 22:13  |  Efox 25/09/07
  69.   Pal Mufti and WW2 Genocide 22:21  |  HonestAbe 25/09/07
  70.   Peres is making a mountain out of a molehill,,, 22:25  |  Dutch 25/09/07
  71.   Homosexuals? 22:46  |  David Goldberg 25/09/07
  72.   Click Fool are you MUSLIM? 22:46  |  Sherry 25/09/07
  73.   The Iranian Leader was invited to Columbia U. 23:02  |  Dagma 25/09/07
  74.   Bollinger is 1st amend. expert 23:11  |  Ethel 25/09/07
  75.   #63 Sherry 00:06  |  Alice of Wonderland 26/09/07
  76.   "Mr. Peace" Peres Wakes Up? 00:11  |  Yoram 26/09/07
  77.   Only one disgraceful fool here 00:13  |  Marlene N. 26/09/07
  78.   Rowan #1, to a senile he might have sounded senile 00:31  |  Johnny 26/09/07
  79.   Peres completely right 00:41  |  Doron