More than disappointment

I had to wait a few days to calm down my feelings of astonishment and anger after what ended happening at Columbia University. So happy I was, admiring the intellectual maturity of inviting to dialogue, of opening a space for expression to someone that has very different views... so big was proportionally my shock as i listened to the embarrasing welcome speech of the president. I put myself in the shoes of someone who goes to a country that is a big adversary, gets invited to speak in one of the top academic institutions - and then, like in a trap, gets attacked in the very welcome speech, publicly. For those that have travelled into other cultures, the value of showing respect in public is unparallelled, and constitutes one of the most offensive acts. I couldn't believe my ears, that such a high positioned academic executive would use words like petty, lack of intellectual courage, etc. Was this necessary? Probably, for political reasons, not to lose funding, as i heard the day before that funding should be suspended to someone who opens doors to such a person. This was, in my perspective, even worse. Because it felt like a trap. Invite me, and they you slap me publicly in the face. What i think was poor judgement, was that it also put the student, faculty and employee population of the university into risk. Offending the president of another country is a symbol, and every person walking into Columbia becomes a symbol of the offender. In times where we hear daily how individuals don't hesitate to sacrifice their own lives to send a message, to attack or make a statement, this behavior was to me dangerous, irresponsible and definitely not setting an example for how to deal with different views. I once read when in doubt, think what your mom taught you. And to top it all, i was frozen by the lack of reaction in the media to such a poor behavior. Am I the only one seeing it? I want to quote the Seven Questions for a better World, developed by a global community of artists, lawyers, mothers, activists and professionals at the first International Women's Susstainability conference. "Every time you make a decision, you affect your community and ultimately the world. The following seven questions were developed to act as a guide for making sustainable decisions. 1. How does it create conditions conducive to life? 2. How does it make me/us proud? 3. How does this create a legacy? 4. How have we listened to diversity of voices? What voices have we left out? 5. How have we changed the rules of the game? 6. how does it contribute to blended value? 7. How have we considered the whole system?