Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s upcoming visit to New York City has sparked both protests and prestigious invitations. The visit surrounds his scheduled address before th United Nations General Assembly.

Columbia University has issued an invitation to the Iranian leader. The Dean of the university explained the decision by saying Hitler would also be invited to speak if he were alive today.

University officials say Ahmadinejad agreed to take questions in addition to his prepared address, something they say positively affected their decision to resist canceling the event. Ahmadinejad was slated to speak at Columbia last year, but his speech was cancelled after outrage was registered by student groups and Jewish organizations.

The Iranian President also said he plans to visit the crater where the World Trade Center once stood. New York’s police have refused to allow him to visit the crater itself, for which one needs a special pass, but it remains a possibility that Ahmadinejad will visit the area as a regular tourist.

Israeli UN Ambassador Dan Gillerman compared Ahmadinejad’s request to visit the site to Adolf Hitler paying a visit to Auschwitz.

Those calling for the cancellation of Ahmadinejad’s Columbia appearance include New York’s city council speaker and Republican presidential candidate John McCain. "A man who is directing the maiming and killing of Americans troops should not be given an invitation to speak at an American university," McCain said. "[Columbia should not be] rolling out the red carpet for the leader of a terrorist-sponsoring regime."

U.S. President George W. Bush, said of the decision not to let Ahmadinejad visit the site of the World Trade Center: "I can understand why they would not want somebody that's running a country who's a state sponsor of terror down there at the site."

Ahmadinejad is scheduled to be interviewed by many of the US's main media outlets. His appearance on the popular '60 Minutes' program is scheduled to be aired Sunday evening.

Lawyers Seeking His Arrest

A team of lawyers, led by Harvard Law School Professor Alan Dershowitz, are seeking to have Ahmadinejad arrested upon his arrival in NY. "He is an international war criminal," Dershowitz told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. "He has repeatedly violated the anti-genocide convention. He is as guilty as the Rwandans who are convicted and sentenced to years in prison for inciting genocide."

Protests Await Ahmadinejad in NY

On Monday, September 24th, a protest will be held outside Columbia University during Ahmadinejad’s address there. It is being organized by AMCHA-the Coalition for Jewish Concerns and rabbinical students at Yeshivat Chovevei Torah.

The protest, dubbed a “Counter-Vigil of Conscience” will begin at 12:30 PM on the corner of 115th street and Broadway, just outside the auditorium where Ahmadinejad is scheduled to appear. For more information call 718-796-4730.

Another protest organized by local New York politicians opposed to Ahmadinejad’s visit and honor at Columbia will take place simultaneously a block away at Columbia's main gate on 116th street.

Also on Monday, at noon, is a large protest opposite the UN at Dag Hammarskjold Plaza organized by Jewish establishment organizations such as the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations and the Jewish Community Relations Council.

The site of the protest is Second Avenue at 47th Street. Americans For a Safe Israel  will meet at the NW corner of First Avenue and 47th Street at noon and joining the rally as a group. There will be free buses from Baltimore sponsored by BZD. Call 410 356 1140 for more information and to reserve a spot.

For more information on the protest, email: info@jcrcny.org

Military Parade in Honor of Departure For UN

Iran held a huge military parade in Tehran Saturday as Ahmadinejad prepared to leave for New York.

The parade featured long-range missiles that can reach Israel, along with Iranian-made fighter jets designed to appear identical to F-15s.

Iranian General Mohammad-Reza Naqdi boasted that the Islamic Republic has produced Shihab-3 and Fateh-3 missiles as well as unmanned surveillance drones named Khazars. The missiles, with a range that could reach Israel, were emblazoned with “Down with Israel” and “Down with America.”

He also said, according to the state-run Islamic Republic News Agency, “that every country, including Iran, has some capabilities which are not usually displayed in such maneuvers and are used at time of war for ambushing purpose [sic].”

Ahmadinejad delivered a speech at the ceremony, marking “the heroic and religious triumph” in the Iran-Iraq war. "Those who prevented Iran, at the height of the war, from getting even barbed wire must see now that all the equipment on display today has been built by the mighty hands and brains of experts at Iran's armed forces," Ahmadinejad said.

Supreme Leader Warns of War in Response to Strikes

Iranian “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a warning against any strike on Iran. "Military aggression against Iran in the form of hit and run attack is not possible anymore," he told Iranian military chiefs, according to state-controlled TV. "Anybody attacking us will become entangled with grave consequences."