Noam Chomsky Denied Entry To Israel

JERUSALEM — An Israeli official says academic and polemicist Noam Chomsky, who is a fierce critic of Israel, has been denied entry to the country.

Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad said Chomsky was turned away for "various reasons" but declined to elaborate. Chomsky was trying to cross the Allenby Bridge from Jordan. He was scheduled to deliver a lecture at Bir Zeit University in the West Bank.

Haddad said her ministry was looking into allowing him to enter only the West Bank.

Chomsky told Channel 10 TV from Jordan Sunday: "I've often spoken at Israeli universities."

Chomsky is one of Israel's harshest academic critics. After Israel's 2009 war in Gaza, he was quoted as saying, "supporters of Israel are in reality supporters of its moral degeneration."

Comments

[Justtellthetruth]

04:12 PM on 05/21/2010

It is not possible for the current government to stand up to the sunshine disinfectant of Chomskys criticism of this new fascist regime.

Most people in Israel do not support the settlements, and do not support their brutal, fascist advocates in the current ruling party.

[nypoet22]

11:26 PM on 05/23/2010

you're right, the current ruling party was not even voted in with a majority. in fact they did not even win the largest plurality of voters, but took control due to a parliamentary coalition.

[nypoet22]

03:37 PM on 05/19/2010

my understanding is that this happens frequently to everybody, not just controversial academics. the following is from the US state department web site:

"All those who pass through the West Bank should exercise particular care when approaching and transiting Israeli military checkpoints. Travelers should be aware that they might encounter delays and difficulties, and might even be denied passage through a checkpoint. American citizens should be aware that the ability of consular staff to offer timely assistance to U.S. citizens in the West Bank is limited."

[Oleg1]

04:02 PM on 05/19/2010

"Travelers should be aware that they might encounter delays and difficulties, and might even be denied passage through a checkpoint. "

Reality-- There were NO check points BEFORE Arafat and rest of his criminal ingrates began the Oslo Wars.
Reality-- Many Gazans were gainfully employed in Is-real BEFORE Arafat and rest of his criminals began the Oslo Wars. Not so much after. Israelis got Thai and the Philippinos to do the menial work. Just like the rest of the Middle east. Smart.
Try reality.

Palestinain chose the war solution and now are whining it's unfair they lost it.

"Never losing an opportunity to lose an opportunity."

[Freenation]

04:07 PM on 05/19/2010

The other fact is Olmert, Sharon and other corrupt Israeli PM and their land grab, populating squatters spree

[nypoet22]

11:54 PM on 05/19/2010

the first point is not really true, and neither point is relevant to my comment. i was discussing how all foreigners may have a potentially difficult time at west bank checkpoints, not just noam chomsky. this has nothing to do with assigning blame for past issues.

[Justtellthetruth]

05:15 PM on 05/19/2010

“Just to make it clear that Israel kept him because they feared his ideological take on them, there is this from the Guardian;

"He told Al-Jazeera television that the immigration official who interviewed him had made it clear that "the government of Israel doesn't like the kinds of things I say, which puts them into the same category as every other government in the world.

The academic, aged 82, had been with his daughter and two Jordanian friends. The friends were allowed through by the Israelis, but Chomsky and his daughter were denied entry.

Chomsky added that the Israeli authorities also seemed to take exception to the fact that he was only giving lectures in the Palestinian territory and would not be speaking in Israeli universities, "which I have done several times in the past".

Chomsky has been a keen critic of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, and of successive US governments that he says have propped up the system in which Palestinians are denied equal rights.

Sabine Hadad, a spokeswoman for the Israeli interior ministry responsible for immigration decisions, said the department was trying to contact the military to clear up the matter, in order to allow Chomsky in. She told Reuters there had been a misunderstanding, as border officials had wrongly assumed he was planning to visit Israel as well.

But Chomsky said: "There was no misunderstanding. I was invited to give a series of lectures. It was straightforward, I do it all thetime."”

[nypoet22]

11:45 PM on 05/19/2010

if things happened the way chomsky says they did, then that official was totally out of line and should be sanctioned. still, i would want confirmation from a neutral third party as to the details of what was actually said and done.

[ttimotteo]

03:13 PM on 05/19/2010

Figures Israel sucks.
too much propaganda to keep alive to let chomsky in

[Markovich]

03:08 PM on 05/19/2010

AHHHhhhhhh.....

So, they've changd their mind huh? Well, Likud supporters here for days....I guess you got the rug pulled out from under you. Makes it hard to be Likud action defender, doesn't it? When you zig, they zag. That's been Obama's experince, Biden's and even Bush. Then, they blame it on some young kid.

________________

The Israeli government has said it made a "big mistake'' by barring Noam Chomsky, an American academic and political activist, from entering the occupied West Bank earlier this week.

The interior ministry said on Tuesday that a low-level border clerk had wrongfully denied him entry, and that he was now free to enter.

"He should have been allowed in, it was a big mistake," Sabine Haddad, a spokeswoman for the ministry, told the Associated Press news agency.

[muck-raker]

02:58 PM on 05/19/2010

Here is Noam Chomsky in a 46 minute video.....GAZA ;one year later

.........If you have never heard this celebrated writer speak this is your chance


http://www.commondreams.org/video/2010/01/02

[cinoti]

02:51 PM on 05/19/2010

Defend Israel at all costs. No critics. No critical examination of policies. One opinion.
One view. No feedback. No course correction when appropriate. Rushing
fiercely and blindly into the future, with 'blinders on'. Wounded warriors in charge.
Afraid of a frail old man! Afraid of what a frail old man might say about them!
He is saying, for the sake of Israel, Israel must find better ways of living with
the neighbors.

[gakabani]

02:45 PM on 05/19/2010

Check it out:

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2010/05/201051904343834346.html

[skialethia]

03:02 PM on 05/19/2010

Yes Israel has been making quite a few blunders lately.

[Markovich]

03:09 PM on 05/19/2010

thx gaka

[Rock Brasiliano]

01:43 PM on 05/19/2010

Have any of you seen the Ali G interview of Professor Chomsky? It's a classic.

[RubalKhali]

01:46 PM on 05/19/2010

Ever tried driving down the Israeli side of the border?

[landmine]

04:41 PM on 05/19/2010

Don't let him up!

[Oleg1]

01:51 PM on 05/19/2010

Priceless-- Nothing like making fun of the dour pedants.

Ali G to Chompsky : How would you liked it if I call YOU BI-lingual?

Boyakasha...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOIM1_xOSro

[Freenation]

03:38 PM on 05/19/2010

HP why is this punk allowed to keep this moniker, are we allowed to display monikers poking fun of holocaust or child mloesting clergy?

[Markovich]

12:55 PM on 05/19/2010

"Ahhhhhhh., Mr. Chomsky. It doesn't appear your papers are in order. Your papers don't explain what you're going to beee lecturiing about, Mr. Choooomky. May I ask you, Mr. Chomsky, what is this, ahhhhhh, how do you say... lecture... all about?"

[Oleg1]

12:14 PM on 05/19/2010

"Chomsky has a deep disregard of, and contempt for, the truth; a monumental disdain for standards of inquiry; a relentless strain of self-promotion; notable descents into incoherence; and a penchant for verbally abusing those who disagree with him."

Dr. Paul Postal, former MIT colleague
I never heard Chomsky speech or a lecture or an article which doesn't contain a mass of fudged quotes, fudged statistics, and outright misrepresentations. this mess usually results in most preposterous opinions derived out of the shaky foundation built thereon.

Egregious example--Chomsky denial of Cambodian atrocities. support of Khemer Rouge and support of Pol Pot's defenders

Regardless, at this point in his career he's operating strictly on fumes, recycling the tired by-the-numbers Sovietisms with the usual "neo-colonialisms', 'imperialisms, "oppressions" Ad nauseam...

Conclusion: A single paragraph of Adorno or Lyotarad is worth more than the entire dilettantish Chomsky oeuvre.

[RubalKhali]

12:22 PM on 05/19/2010

Oh vey, Oleg are you out on a day pass?

[Oleg1]

12:28 PM on 05/19/2010

Habib, try to improve your earwax-to-brain ratio. LOL....

[necromancer]

12:27 PM on 05/19/2010

In spite of all your quotes?
but the important thing is 'he's got it right this time around'.
The days of easy subversion/denials/ half truths are over.

[blueskybigstar]

11:23 AM on 05/19/2010

Polemicist?

Jeez, never read such an obviously biased article.

[Markovich]

11:16 AM on 05/19/2010

I am disturbed by bluestar's Jane Harman story (below). I am DISTURBED this wasn't front page news everywhere. Not just because of the possible AIPAC angle but because of the TAPING too. I wonder how many other Congressmen Bush shook down with NSA wiretaps? This is a huge story.

Was it on HuffPo? I didn't see it on most blogs I read. I missed Glen Greenwald that day.

Why isn't this big news? Looks like Bush-Golnz were running a party that would make Stalin proud. AIPAC trying to stay out of jail? I expected that. But Jane Harman allegedly promising to INTERFERE with the judiciary in exchange for a committee chairmanship?!?

[martin2]

12:14 PM on 05/19/2010

A member of Congress accused of helping spies should be front page news in all major news outlets.

[skialethia]

12:28 PM on 05/19/2010

Except for the fact that the major news outlets are completely biased and have Aipac former members and supporters on their staff as in the case of Wolfie B. who once worked for Aipac and was a reporter with the Jerusalem Post.

[Rand]

10:11 AM on 05/19/2010

It should be noted that EVERY nation denies entry to speakers of whom they strenuously disapprove

For example: I support an Irish political party - Sinn Fein Poblachtach/Republican Sinn Fein - which is perfectly legal in both Irish jurisdictions. It's spokespersons are regularly denied entry to the US because its vision for the future of its own country is at odds with the official US position

But it's somehow "evil" for Israel to do what every other nation does

[landmine]

10:18 AM on 05/19/2010

I understand Israel not wanting to let in a guy who will help shine a light on the plight of the 1.5 million prisoners of Gaza, as well as the injustices for the other Palestinians.

[Rand]

10:22 AM on 05/19/2010

Thank you for proving my point

What's allowable for others is "evil" for Israel

[GuiltyByStander]

10:24 AM on 05/19/2010

It should also be noted that every country has that right -- for itself and its own citizens.

Israel is making the decision on behalf of the West Bank whose citizens are not Israeli and have no vote. If Israel did not claim to be a democracy this would not matter. But it does.

[Rand]

11:00 AM on 05/19/2010

And with the establishment of an independent Palestinian state (Which I hope can soon be achieved), they'll almost certainly ban - as do all Arab nations - pro-Israeli speakers

[dumbeddown]

03:12 AM on 05/19/2010

If we don't believe in freedom of expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.
Noam Chomsky

[jaimeg]

02:23 AM on 05/19/2010

too many