The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) has condemned Columbia University for inviting anti-Semitic "Israelophobic" Malaysian Prime Minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to address the University’s World Leaders Forum this week.
ZOA noted that "other enemies of the Jewish people, like Iran’s former president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have been welcomed by Columbia, giving it the perverse distinction of being a pioneer in the Western hemisphere in seeking out and honoring vicious anti-Semitic leaders."
Dr. Mahathir also proclaimed that he is "glad to be labeled anti-Semitic."
The ZOA has strongly criticized Dr. Mahathir’s statements on several previous occasions, in which he frequently compares Israel to the Nazis and "makes offensive stereotypical statements about Jews, ad nauseaum."
"By inviting Mahathir to address the University’s forum this week, Columbia granted a podium and, no less worrying, bestowed an aura of respectability, upon a Jew-baiting, Israel-hating anti-Semite.
"Are David Dukes’ racist views on African- Americans reasonable subjects for debate at Columbia University? Of course not. Yet Columbia lost little time in inviting Mahathir to speak.
"Columbia’s donors and alumni, who might once have understandably felt inclined to bestow gifts upon the university that once gave them a superb education, should cease writing checks to Columbia University until it apologizes for its conduct and comprehensively stops enabling Jew-haters and advocates of Israel’s destruction."