[SJackson]

I looked, but could not find the law passed by the new york city legislature that gives the mayor the right to ban Arafat from a public building....But let me ask, if he was a flaming liberal who hated the war, and he threw Prime Minister Howard of Australia out of the theater, would you be praising it as the act of a strong leader?

You're kidding right.

It's a private event, sponsored by a private community organization, the New York City Host Committee.

He didn't invite representatives of the palestinian authority, Cuba, Iraq, Iran, Yugoslavia, Libya, North Korea or Somalia.

His choice.

The palestinians showed up uninvited, they were shown the door.

You're suggesting that because Avery Fisher Hall is publicly owned, I'm taking your word for that, legislation is needed to bar non invitees from an event held there?

Even Clinton didn't go that far, he simply noted that Arafat was a positive force in the mideast and should have been invited. A position I presume you agree with, since you equate an Arafat invitation with a John Howard invitation.

[CharlesWayneCT]

I’m confused now by the nature of the event, as your statements of fact about it are at odds with what I thought was the case. Rather than continue this now, I am going to go back to read the original news articles from 1995 regarding the incident and the circumstances, and then I will be more educated to speak further.

For now, I thank you for the exchange.

[CharlesWayneCT]

OK, I looked around a bit. I don't have lexus-nexus or anything. I got contemporary commentary from several sources. Apparently the reporting in 1995 wasn't any better than today. Some said he was invited, Some said he had tickets, one said the event was sponsored by a corporate donor, another by New York, some said he wasn't invited, some said he had no tickets. For example:

A NEW YORK INSULT TO MR. ARAFAT

He did not simply bar Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat from a city-sponsored concert for the 50th anniversary of the United Nations -- a concert to which Mr. Arafat had been invited and given tickets. The mayor had his minions go into Lincoln Center after the concert had begun and dish Mr. Arafat further insult by removing him from the hall.

That was the Washington Post. It said he had been given tickets, but it says it was a city-sponsored concert.

Then there is this from Newsday: Giuliani's Snub: Shows No Control

BY THROWING YASSER Arafat out of a concert to which he held tickets, Mayor Rudolph Giuliani may have not only breached U.S. diplomatic protocol but also abused his authority.

The White House and the State Department have condemned the mayor for his "unfortunate" bad manners during the 50th anniversary of the UN. And it's no wonder: Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman Arafat had produced an invitation, from the UN chief of protocol, to the New York Philharmonic concert, which itself was underwritten by a corporate sponsor and hosted by the mayor and the City Host Committee.

This one said he had a ticket, then said he had an invitation, and that it had corporate, not city, sponsorship.

I no longer though "know" the facts of the matter. Apparently everybody DOES get to have their own set of facts.