By Aliza Davidovit
© 2009
 Aliza Davidovit |
I was against him speaking. So in the name of the freedom of speech, I spoke up against it, in quite a benign manner I might add. I said Ahmadinejad shouldn't speak and tore my diploma. The end! I didn't call for the end of Islam nor of Ahmadinejad himself. That's all! But what followed was a stream of insults, threats and harassment which hasn't ended. In news years, this story should be older than the gramophone. But no, the warped music still plays on.
Some have called for my liquidation; others have said I was bereft of any proof of brains since tearing my diploma (the writer in me can appreciate a great line). Why are their guts and gall only manifested against such a fragile target? Why didn't the advocates of free speech storm the stage at Columbia University, as they did against then-Minuteman Project leader Jim Gilchrist, when Ahmadinejad said there are no homosexuals in his country? Where was the gay pride parade then? Why didn't they storm the stage when he questioned the Holocaust? Where were the good, home-baked pies they threw at Ann Coulter? Were these brave advocates of free speech afraid? Why should they be afraid? Do they know something about Ahmadinejad that we don't know?
As a result, I have been called a Zionist bitch at best, and, well, the rest I need not expound upon. However, I was asked a good question. How, as a journalist, can I not be in support of the freedom of speech? OK! But being an advocate of the freedom of speech doesn't preclude one from being an advocate of using your brains. The first question God ever asked mankind in the book of Genesis was, "Where art thou?" Biblical exegesis explains it as meaning, "Where art thou" in this world? Where do you stand?
If you stand for nothing, then you fall for everything.
Does being a journalist mean you can never use your brains again? (Well, there may be some proof that supports that point). But truly, is there ever a judge or a journalist that is entirely objective to all things? I don't know about you, but I would be terrified of anyone who abandoned their instincts, their beliefs and their brains because they assumed a title that demanded you dismiss everything you ever knew.
I stood that day outside of Columbia University in protest, as a journalist whose empirical evaluations led me to know, not to hypothesize, that Ahmadinejad is an enemy to this country. He, as we all well know by now, is supplying ammunition to insurgents in Iraq that is killing our citizens. He is a denier of the biggest tragedy that befell the Jewish people in the 20th century and a hater of democracy and Western culture. Did anyone notice that he never wears a tie? The reason is that ties represent Western culture, and, thusly, no Iranians wear them.
Let's not pretend that it's all about Israel. As former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu wisely pointed out, Israel in the Islamic world is but the small Satan; America is the big one.
It's quite amazing that Ahmadinejad calls for the end of Israel, and the liberal left say let him speak. He supplies our enemies with ammunition that kills our brothers, our sisters, our fathers, uncles and neighbors, and the left says, let him speak. He sponsors the terrorist organization Hezbollah; the left says let him speak. He burns the American flag; the left says let him speak. He kills more minors, women and gays than any other country in the world, and the left says let him speak. And yet, I simply say "don't let him speak" and tear no one's diploma but my own, and the vicious hate that has ensued – wow.
To add insult to injury, when I was interviewed by Alan Colmes of Fox News – who I regard as a good man in general but na?ve when it comes to important things – he offered me Scotch tape to repair my diploma and asked what I accomplished by tearing it up. Let's put aside the tremendous amount of support I got and the people I've inspired, but Scotch tape? Is that what the left thinks will this heal this country, appeasement and Scotch tape?
It is this same clueless view of the world that led Bollinger to invite Ahmadinejad to begin with. Someone once said that a desk is a very dangerous place from which to view the world.
Welcome to the worldview of these liberal-minded academics. From Bollinger's Ivy League desk, his view of the world is certainly tainted, ego-driven, extremely dangerous, and, at best, it's na?ve. Bollinger may be a great lawyer, but he's a terrible mathematician. If we are to add up what was gained and was lost by allowing Ahmadinejad to speak, the negatives certainly outweigh the positives, for the First Amendment was not about to fall before his pretense to uphold it.
He tore New York City in two. He tore the country in two. He insulted the vast number of Jewish denizens of New York. He allowed for the re-victimization of Holocaust survivors by accommodating a denier. He snubbed our greatest ally in the Middle East: Israel. He basically told the families of those with loved ones in Iraq, I don't give a hoot what you think. He spurned the memory of 9/11 only two weeks after commemorating it by hosting a terrorist and paying for his protection. And to top it all off, he insulted the very guest whom he hurt so many people by inviting. By doing so, he inflamed the sympathies of the Arab world that could only view such effrontery as an insult to Islam. In addition, by the mere invitation, he augmented Ahmadinejad's status in the extremist Arab world. Even back in Tehran, a leading Iranian reformer and Ahmadinejad opponent said that Bollinger's remarks only strengthened the Iranian president back home and made his radical supporters more determined.
If we are still doing math, after the whole "experiment" with freedom of speech – as Bollinger called it – Iran's parliament voted to designate the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Army as terrorist organizations. In the streets of Tehran, they once again called for the destruction of Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians and engaged in flag burnings of both Israeli and U.S. flags. Mr. Bollinger, as an alumna of Columbia, how can I thank you for upholding the First Amendment and the freedom of speech?
Bollinger said he wanted his students to learn about the real world. Let me ask, were his students so factually and historically equipped to listen to Ahmadinejad? How many of those students in all honesty know who the last president of Iran was? Did he perhaps expose unequipped students to Ahmadinejad's vitriolic agenda who wouldn't have a clue if he would make a fallacious but very convincing point?
When I was working at ABC News, I hired hundreds of very smart interns, students from Ivy League schools, but upon interviewing them would question them on world affairs: Who was the president here or there, and what year did this or that happen? Turns out there is an intellectual vacuum out there. Thank you Bollinger for inviting Ahmadinejad to fill in the blanks that the likes of you and your kind didn't get around to filling. In this country, we've raged against rap music because it might affect the way our youth think and behave. Just last week a college professor in Iowa was fired because he called the biblical story of Adam and Eve a "fairytale," but if you're a terrorist bent on my destruction, please, be my guest, speak your mind!
And then Bollinger's questions which he perhaps thought would realign world events. Were his brains on sabbatical? He asks Ahmadinejad why he supports terrorism, why he is supporting the insurgents against our troops, blah, blah. … Did he think those "tough questions" would have Ahmadinejad scratching his head in introspection and saying, "You know what, great questions. I never got around to those in therapy. Perhaps it all goes back to my mother. But then again, I wouldn't know, because I might have killed her along with the other women, minors and gays."
To Bollinger and the liberal-minded left: Scotch tape won't heal America. There is a war going on. It's a war between Western culture and extremist Muslims. Scotch tape, my dear Alan Colmes, won't help. What else do you have to offer?
Aliza Davidovit is a writer, author, journalist and former TV producer with a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University. She is currently contributing editor at Lifestyles magazine. She specializes in interviewing and writing about the world’s most famous and influential people for cover stories. She worked at ABC News "20/20" for six years with Connie Chung and in the ABC News Terrorism/Investigations Unit with John Miller. She was also an associate producer and booker at the Fox News Channel.
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