THE LATEST MISHEGOS AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

After Israeli boycott, Columbia U. cancels meet on Mideast
By Shlomo Shamir, Haaretz Correspondent

Columbia University President Lee Bollinger informed Israel's consul general in New York, Arie Meckel, on Wednesday that a university-sponsored conference, "Revisiting the Middle East Peace Process," scheduled to have taken place on Thursday, was postponed indefinitely.

The conference was postponed due to heavy pressure by Jewish groups, who claim the motives for hosting the conference were questionable. The groups said the university decided to hold the conference a month ahead of the publication of a report on a wave of recent complaints targeting Arab faculty members and their attitude toward Jewish students. "Holding the conference while a committee is still investigating complaints against the university is an obvious ploy to divert attention from the severity of the allegations," the head of a Jewish organization in New York said.

University officials denied any correlation between the probe and the conference, saying the seminar had been planned months ago.

Israel's Ambassador the United States Danny Ayalon, who was supposed to participate in the conference said he would boycott the meeting. Also set to speak were former consul general Alon Pinkas, columnist Tom Segev, Professor Rashid Khalidi, Egyptian Ambassador to the U.S. Nabil Ismae Fahmy, and Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for Near East Affairs William Burns.

Barenboim speech sparks outrage
As a documentary film’s accusations of anti-Israel bias roil Columbia University, conductor Daniel Barenboim sparked outrage with a campus speech bashing Israel and drawing parallels between the founder of Zionism and Hitler’s favorite composer.