November 7, 2006

Lower Education: UPenn Prez Poses with Mock Suicide Bomber

For years, CBN News has exposed the left-wing, pro-Islamist bent of many of America's universities (click here to read an excellent piece on this topic from my colleague Paul Strand). Now comes the latest outrage, as described by The Weekly Standard:

The president of the University of Pennsylvania, Amy Gutmann, hosted a Halloween party at her home last week. One of the revelers dressed up as an Arab suicide-bomber and posed for a picture with her. The student posted the photo, along with a number of other photos from the festivities (including mock executions of fellow students), on his Facebook page.

Trust me, these photos have to be seen to be believed. View them here, and be sure to scroll down. The top photo shows none other than Gutmann--the current president, mind you, of an Ivy League institution--grinning broadly as she poses with a student dressed as a Palestinian suicide bomber (complete with plastic dynamite strapped to his chest and a toy automatic rifle). One of the ensuing photos features the student, Saad Saadi, posing with what looks to be a three or four-year-old child, aiming the toy rifle at the camera.

This is roughly the equivalent of President Gutmann posing with a student dressed as Adolf Hitler. Rest assured she would have never done that.

So what was she thinking here? Tough to say. But remember, on college campuses these days, embracing the cult of the "victimized" Palestinian suicide bomber--and hating all things Israel--is the height of radical chic--and that extends to faculty and administration.

For what it's worth, here is Gutmann's apology, as well as one from the aforementioned "suicide bomber," Saadi.

For more on the continuing madness prevailing on American college campuses, vist the indispensable Campuswatch.org and studentsforacademicfreedom.org.