Alan Dershowitz is a renowned American lawyer, jurist, and political commentator. He is known as “Israel’s single most visible defender – the Jewish state’s lead attorney in the court of public opinion.” He has authored numerous books about politics and law, including The Case for Israel, The Case for Peace, and most recently, The Trials of Zion.

He will be speaking on the topic of “America, Israel, and the Palestinians: In Pursuit of Peace” on Sunday, October 16th. For more information, please view the event page.

This piece was featured in the Columbia Spectator on Tuesday, September 20, 2011.  It was written by the Columbia Spectator Editorial Board (Samuel E. Roth recused himself from the writing of this editorial because he previously served on CIRCA’s executive board).  It was not written by a LionPAC member.

Columbia International Relations Council and Association’s plan to dine with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad this Wednesday has raised a few eyebrows on campus and in national and international media. Given the implications of dining with a man accused of gross human rights violations, political repression, and hostility toward the United States, we urge CIRCA to reconsider its decision to participate.

Numerous media outlets­—American and Iranian alike—have inaccurately equated CIRCA’s acceptance of the invitation as from the University as a whole. National news outlets have demonstrated no more commitment to honest reporting than Iran’s, and we hope that the international community understands that CIRCA’s actions do not represent the University’s views as a whole. Fox News inaccurately claimed that President Bollinger was attending the dinner, a statement it later corrected.

While we uphold Columbia’s commitment to free speech, open dialogue, and freedom of association, CIRCA’s attendance at the dinner surpasses the bounds of responsible group behavior. We don’t doubt that the students involved in the dinner identify an opportunity to engage a world leader in a sincere gesture of diplomacy, but to do so with a leader like Ahmadinejad is not constructive.

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New York, NY - On Tuesday, United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI) President, Ambassador Mark D. Wallace, issued the following statement following reports that Columbia University President Lee Bollinger has arranged to attend a private dinner for Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with Columbia students.

UANI calls on Columbia University’s President Lee Bollinger to cancel this “dinner with Ahmadinejad” immediately. It is highly inappropriate for the leader of a prestigious U.S. University to meet with the head of a regime that is defying the international community by pursuing nuclear weapons, ruthlessly violating the human rights of its people, and sponsoring al-Qaeda and other terrorists. Would Mr. Bollinger attend an event with the leaders of al-Qaeda?

Four years ago, Bollinger hosted Ahmadinejad under the guise of “dialogue,” and Columbia was widely criticized for that irresponsible decision, particularly given the offensive theories and remarks Ahmadinejad stated that day. To repeat the same mistake this year would be a serious affront to New York City and America.

This is not a matter of dialogue or free speech, but of judgment. Providing Ahmadinejad with a forum to spread his vile and conspiratorial views regarding 9/11 and the Holocaust, among others matters, gives him the very platform and legitimacy he seeks, and will once again significantly harm Columbia University’s reputation.

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This piece was featured on Israel Campus Beat on Thursday, April 28, 2011.  It was written by Elianna Mintz.

Courtesy: Israel Campus Beat

When members of Columbia University’s pro-Israel and African American student groups accepted an invitation to hear two leaders of the Vanguard Leadership Group (VLG) speak on campus recently, they assumed it would be an interesting program, but they had no idea they would be a part of a groundbreaking event.

As they RSVP’d for the program, they could not have known that the event would herald significant change at Columbia. Once they arrived, however, they realized just how potent the unification of the campus’ African American and Jewish American students could be.

Most were unfamiliar with VLG, an Atlanta-based honor society for high-achieving African American students at the nation’s historically black colleges and universities. Established in 2003, VLG is committed to instilling a global mindset within their students and as such has had been engaging the pro-Israel community since 2007.

VLG founder and executive director Jarrod Jordan traced the history of the group’s strong embrace of Israel to the 2008 AIPAC Policy Conference, where members were in the audience when then-presidential candidate Barack Obama stressed the importance of the historic relationship between African Americans and Jewish Americans.

“Obama explained that together African Americans and Jewish Americans are pushing America forward,” Jarrod recalled. “He expressed gratitude to AIPAC for their continuance of that relationship, which inspired us to pursue that relationship as well.

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Congratulations to the new LionPAC Executive Board!!  Here’s the list:

President – Eric Schorr
Vice President – Rachael Schulder
Secretary/Treasurer – Ilana Yablonovich
Hillel Liason – Cory Doliner
Research & Response – Ron Shapiro
Public Relations – Jonathan Huberman
Campus Affairs – Seffi Kogen
Academic Affairs – Ari Brickman
Political Affairs - Seren Gedallovich
Cultural Affairs – Jill Meltzer
Marketing – Tamara Roth
Past President – Michael Shapiro

Deputy Director of Research & Response – Hanna Flesh
Deputy Director of Academic Affairs - Nikki Press
Deputy Director of Political Affairs – Yael Wilner
Deputy Director of Cultural Affairs – Zach Javitt

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