http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/30/education/30ARAB.html Invitation to Palestinian Draws Protest at Colorado College By MICHAEL JANOFSKY
COLORADO SPRINGS, Aug. 29 — Eager to find a provocative keynote speaker for a three-day symposium next month on world events, Colorado College, a small liberal arts institution here, invited Hanan Ashrawi, a Palestinian moderate well-known in the West as a forceful and articulate spokeswoman for Palestinian causes.
But the invitation and Ms. Ashrawi's acceptance have angered Jewish groups in Colorado and Jewish students at the school, who have accused the college of insensitivity for scheduling her to speak one day after the anniversary of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. ...
No such demonstrations have been planned for Ms. Ashrawi's other scheduled appearances in Colorado: a speech on Sept. 14 in Boulder, sponsored by several groups, including a student organization at the University of Colorado; and a private fund-raiser on Sept. 15, sponsored by another group at the university, the Coalition for Justice in Palestine. .... -------------- http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/national/AP-Attacks-Protest.html Colorado Reps. Dislike 9 - 11 Speaker By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS DENVER (AP) -- Conservative lawmakers are demanding that a college cancel the appearance of a Palestinian leader at conference marking the anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks, but the school has refused.
Colorado College invited Palestinian leader Hanan Ashrawi to debate Israeli political adviser Gideon Doron at the three-day conference beginning on the anniversary. The debate is scheduled for Sept. 12.
Three Republican state legislators -- Senate Minority Leader John Andrews, House Majority Leader Lola Spradley, and Rep. Debbie Stafford -- say allowing Asrawi to speak sends out a bad message about terrorism.
``To honor her as a keynoter is a slap in the face not only to Jews and friends of Israel, but really to all Americans who object to Islamic terrorism,'' they wrote this week in a letter to Colorado College President Richard Celeste.
College officials said they will proceed as planned.
``If we don't honor our constitutional freedoms, we won't be honoring those who were killed on Sept. 11,'' college spokeswoman Lisa Ellis said.
Calls Friday to Ashrawi, a member of the Palestinian Legislative Council and spokeswoman for Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, went unanswered. Doron, a one-time adviser to former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, was also unavailable for comment.
The two were invited to give back-to-back keynote speeches and debate the situation in the Middle East at the college in Colorado Springs, about 60 miles south of Denver.
The three-day conference, titled ``September 11: One Year Later,'' also includes panel discussions on ``The New International Disorder'' and ``Evaluating U.S. Responses to Terrorism.''