伊朗總統的美國校園巡禮

前幾個月挾持英國水兵聲名大噪的伊朗總統，Mahmoud Ahmadinejad因聯合國大會前進紐約，並應邀至哥倫比亞大學演講。

哥大校長Lee C. Bollinger簡介來賓來頭時，一反盛讚講者成就開幕詞，提到今日來賓是個氣量狹小又殘忍的獨裁者(a petty and cruel dictator)。

校園擠滿抗議人潮，高舉告示，認伊朗總統是希特勒第二，竟想以色列從地圖上消失，而且有大量製造毀滅性核子武器意圖，而邀請伊朗總統入校演說，是發揚恐怖主義，讓暴君有發聲舞台。有反諷標語寫著：Lee Bollinger Too Bad that Bin Laden Is Not Available for Tough Questions.

也有少數伊朗裔美人，高舉伊朗國旗，希望大家看見伊朗政府好的一面。

校長Bollinger雖不認同伊朗總統意識形態，但他認為，邀請伊朗總統發表談話，是一個公共論壇、自由言論的開始。

伊朗總統對哥大校長，長達十分鐘的質詢詰問開幕詞，保持風度，但他隨後說：「在伊朗，如果邀請別人演講，該給予尊重而不是攻擊，我相信再美國也是一樣。」

Ahmadinejad先生說伊朗是愛好和平的國家，發展核子科技為和平用途，不明白為何屢遭杯葛及國際制裁。他更說明自己並不憎恨猶太人，只是為何六十多年來，巴勒斯坦地區無辜人民需為猶太屠殺負責，烽火連天，動盪不安？

被問及，為何判同性戀死刑，為何壓抑女性權利，伊朗總統回答語出驚人，引起現場噓聲及笑聲，他說，在伊朗，我們不像這裡(指美國)有同性戀，伊朗沒有這種現象。他對女權問題避重就輕，說女性是美麗的象徵，伊朗人很尊敬母親，另許多伊朗官員、科學家也是女性。

另，Ahmadinejad總統此行，不同2001年來訪的婉拒，表示願到9-11世貿遺址，向罹難者致意。不過，他反覆問著，誰該為9-11負責，是誰導致9-11的悲劇，是誰訓練了伊拉克的獨裁者薩拉姆‧海珊？暗指美國須負最大責任。

伊朗總統表示願與美國對談，並對美國總統布希提出辯論邀請，也邀請哥大師生到伊朗，交流分享。

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看著CNN現場直播，我認此論壇有其必要，先不論伊朗總統意識形態、所作所為，是否可議，美國媒體需給伊斯蘭領袖一個機會，至少讓觀眾直接聽到伊斯蘭領袖的談話，進而有比較分析平台，開啟對話可能，而非只是一面倒報導恐怖主義、或指其為恐怖主義，而伊朗也藉此發聲機會，直接交流，而非一味用憤怒、不理解和殘忍來解決問題。

伊朗總統許多言論似是而非，但這些似是而非言論須被聽到而判定為似是而非，須與他真實執政行為比較後判為似是而非，卻不能冠上先入為主的恐怖主義大帽。

以下是伊朗總統的QUOTES，

On a toughly worded criticism in the introduction by Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, who called him a "petty and cruel dictator":

I think the text read by the dear gentleman here, more than addressing me, was an insult to information and the knowledge of the audience here, present here. In a university environment we must allow people to speak their mind, to allow everyone to talk so that the truth is eventually revealed by all.

On the Holocaust:

Why is it that the Palestinian people are paying the price for an event they had nothing to do with?

On Holocaust deniers:

My question was simple: There are researchers who want to approach the topic from a different perspective. Why are they put into prison? Right now, there are a number of European academics who have been sent to prison because they attempted to write about the Holocaust or research it from a different perspective, questioning certain aspects of it. My question is: Why isn't it open to all forms of research?

On Israel as a Jewish state:

We love all nations. We are friends with the Jewish people. There are many Jews living in Iran with security. You must understand that in our constitution and our laws and the parliamentary elections for every 150,000 people we get one representative in the parliament. For the Jewish community one-fifth of this number they still get one independent representative in the parliament. Our proposal to the Palestinian plight is a humanitarian and a democratic proposal. What we say is that to solve this 60-year problem, we must allow the Palestinian people to decide about its future for itself.

On nuclear research:

Some big powers create a monopoly over science and prevent other nations in achieving scientific development as well. This, too, is one of the surprises of our time. Some big powers do not want to see the progress of other societies and nations. They turn to thousands of reasons, make allegations, place economic sanctions to prevent other nations from developing and advancing, all resulting from their distance from human values and the teachings of the divine prophets. Regretfully, they have not been trained to serve mankind.

On 9/11:

Why did this happen? What caused it? What conditions led to it? .. Who truly was involved? Who was really involved and put it all together?

On executions of homosexuals in Iran:

In Iran we don't have homosexuals like in your country. We don't have that like in your country. ... In Iran we do not have this phenomenon. I don't know who's told you that we have this.

Source: Associated Press

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