Bnai Haman

Bnai Haman, Hebrew for ‘children of Haman’, is a not-for-profit activist group formed in September 2007 in response to the appearance of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on the campus of Columbia University.
Bnai Haman was founded by Columbia University School of Journalism alumnus Dean Rotbart. The group’s mission is to educate other universities and academic institutions about the serious price to be paid for providing a platform to any world leader who advocates hate, prejudice and genocide.
Bnai Haman has built and operates individual web sites dedicated to the key Columbia University officials who facilitated the Ahmadinejad speech, including Columbia University President Lee C. Bollinger; John H. Coatsworth, acting Dean of the School of International and Public Affairs; and Richard Bulliet, Professor of History. It was Bulliet who actually negotiated Ahmadinejad’s appearance, with the support of Coatsworth and Bollinger.
Bnai Haman has also singled out the 23-member Columbia University Board of Trustees (not including Bollinger) for criticism for permitting the September 24, 2007 speech. In a news release issued three months after the event, Bnai Haman said: “When we weighed all the evidence, and with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, we realize that the troika of Bollinger, Coatsworth and Bulliet couldn’t have succeeded without the support of the Board of Trustees. These 23 men and women must also be remembered for their role…”
The group selected its name, Bnai Haman, to emphasize the fact that like the evil Haman, a 6th Century Persian who plotted to kill all Jews, Iran’s Ahmadinejad has expressed the wish to wipe Israel off the map.
In addition to web sites, Bnai Haman produces the POH Newswire, a news and feature service focusing on individuals and institutions that it has concluded are purveyors of hate.

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