Israeli Lobby mobilizes to close down Columbia University

Well, here we go again. The Israeli Lobby is mobilizing to shut down Columbia University for allowing Ahmadinejad to speak at its World Leaders' Forum:

In an interview with The New York Sun, the speaker of the Assembly, Sheldon Silver, said lawmakers, outraged over Columbia's insistence on allowing the Iranian president to speak at its World Leaders Forum, would consider reducing capital aid and other financial assistance to the school.

Lawmakers warned about other consequences for Columbia and its president, Lee Bollinger, who has resisted campus and public pressure to cancel Mr. Ahmadinejad's appearance today, arguing that Columbia's commitment to scholarship requires the school to directly confront offensive ideas.

Sheldon Silver, by the way, is a Democrat and an orthodox Jew, as are many of the other lawmakers calling for sanctions on Columbia.

It's funny that these people are always strongly in favor of free speech rights for themselves, but move to block almost any speech they don't like. As it turned out, Ahmadinejad made a total ass of himself today. The more you let this guy speak the more of a buffoon he becomes. But, unfortunately, as in most other cases where the Israeli lobby gets mobilized, it will probably win.