Amman, Jordan – Noam Chomsky on Monday accused Israel of acting like a “totalitarian state” after an Israeli government decision banning him from entering the West Bank.
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Mr. Chomsky (81), a Jewish-American professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a strong critic of Israel, had been invited to lecture at the Palestinian Birzeit University, near the central West Bank city of Ramallah, on Monday.
Speaking over the phone from Amman, Jordan, to a press conference in Ramallah, Mr. Chomsky said he was held up for five hours at the Israeli-controlled Allenby Crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on Sunday, only to be told later that he would not be allowed through.
“This very unusual behaviour only happens in totalitarian states,” said Mr. Chomsky, slamming the Israeli move as “an act of interference with the independence of the university”.
He said that while being questioned by Israeli officials, who received their instructions from the Israeli Ministry of the Interior, he got the impression that he was being detained for his opinion on Israel.
“It was clear from the interrogation that there were two things that seemed to trouble the Ministry of Interior, which was sending the questions,” he said.
“One was that they said they didn’t like the kinds of things I say about Israel.
“And the second thing that seemed to bother them was that I had accepted an invitation from Birzeit and I was not going on this trip to also give talks at Israeli universities.”
I normally stick up for Israel, but in this case, I wholeheartedly disagree with their actions. Professor Chomsky may say outlandish things, but he is one of the greatest minds of this generation and should be allowed to speak at any institution that invites him.
I’ve personally discussed the issue of Israeli policy with him and I can tell you that his ideas are almost always quoted totally out of context.
I’m not a big fan of Chomsky but when EY begins acting like those totalitarian states like Iran, Korea, China, Venezuela and the others who will not allow open and free debate, the do lend credibility to these allegations. They should not try to censor political opponents, jewish or otherwise.
Shame! I feel so bad for the professor. At least now he can continue his diatribe against Israel and its citizens. He will sleep much better.
Chomsky, why don’t you protest the lack of Jewish neighborhoods in Jordan and the laws against Jews moving to Jordan or owning property in Jordan? Since “totalitarian” Israel has Arab neighborhoods & Arab culture, why can’t the “free” state of Jordan be open to Jewish neighborhoods & Jewish culture?
Chomsky is only technically Jewish but for all practical purposes he is not part of the Jewish nation. Boruch Hashem we will only have to contend with for a few more years at which point the truth will become revealed to him as he is led to gehinom.
I am sorry about this but I just have the Y”H to do what many posters on this site unintelligently seem to aways do with every story. “What????? Chomsky is banned from Israel and SMR gets 25 years? Where is the justice?”.
Wasn’t Noam at Columbia U. before?
Oh. At 81 I hope he does teshuva and dosen’t seek the kavod of a self hating Jew.
I hate Chomsky, but unless I hear a proper explanation from Israeli authorities, it isn’t right to ban him from entering. Israel has free speech rights, and anyway, there are much more threatening voices in the West Bank than him.
Noam Chomsky is a self hating Jew of long standing.We shouldnt care that he hates himself, except that he hates other Jews as well. He is a major pro-Palestinian apologist on campus. He is actually an all around nasty character.Israel has a right to keep him out as an enemy of the State.
Chomsky loves totalitarian states. He was in love with Pol Pot.
We have enough enemies to deal with- now we have to worry about him?
Mr. Chomsky, please, focus on what your trained in- linguistics- and let us live!!
With so many Jews critical of every move that Israel makes, besides for the usual chorus from Non- Jewish haters, its amazing that she still survives as a country.
Here is an example of the so called “Treife Medinah” sticking up for themselves and making a kiddish Hashem. This self hating Jew hater is one of the worst enemies of the Jewish people. I am surprised that the Eidah HaChareidit rioters don’t take time out of their mayhem to show him Kavod, perhaps give him an Aliyah in Mea Shearim and parade him around in Royal Robes…..
Its funny how every poster who disagrees with another yid’s political or religious views labels them as a “self-hating” jew. Its sort of become one of those terms like “chillul Hasshem”, whose real meaning has been lost.
The truth is he belongs to the Neturai Karta
I once had an opportunity to listen to his lecture on linguistics. I am a linguist myself. Throughout the lecture, I kept thinking, “What a genius!” Unfortunately, this lecture was followed by another one in which he pontificated on political issues. I was stunned. My only thought was, “What a moron!” How one person can be both a genius and a moron, I don’t know, but Prof. Chomsky should stick STRICTLY to linguistics. I am very happy he was not allowed to enter Israel. His views on Israel are nothing less than seditious liubel
I do not agree with almost anything he has to say Israel should let him in to speak his nonsense
Free speach? Please. USA, UK and most other western states have list of people who are banned from entry because of their support of extremism, terrorism or/and activities against the country, or just being involved in illegal activities.
For example, Michael Savage is banned from UK, or Amy Winehouse from USA,
The Torah’s punishment for Lohson Hora against the land of Israel is quite severe “Professor” Chomsky as we see from the story of the Meraglim. Your Motzei Shemra against the Holy Land warrants a much more severe punishment than Israels refusal to allow access to Arab lands.
Blessed is our G-d who punishes mercifully and justly.
I am a college educated professional and usually push for free speech. Chomsky is an exception, and has that status by me for at least three decades. I am familiar with his writings and research in linguistics, and he is truly one of the greats in that field. He is not a politician, neither American, Israeli, or international. And he should keep his nose and big mouth out of politics. He has been mouthing off anti-Israel, and more generally anti-Jewish for that many years. Having studied many of his writings, then hearing his name in the media saying horrific, hateful things about Jews and Israel, I had to wonder if these two Chomskys were really the same guy. I was shocked to find out that he was.
Letting him into Israel, even Palestinian areas, is stupid. All he’ll do is preach hate, and one can predict that he will incite terror and hate. If he wishes to retire from his scientific field, let him drink ice tea in some nice resort. Leave Israel alone.
I concur with the decision to bar him from entry. If they could only muzzle him!
For all those who don`t Israel is NOT a democracy, and you CAN`T say what you want, I just feel bad for Israel a bit, that they are getting bashed from all sides first (and always) the Arabs, and then the settlers, then Chareidim and now its from the left, it must really suck that EVERYONE has a problem how Israel runs, and yet they try to appease the left and the Arabs and it just does not go Sorry today is not your day
When will people learn that calling someone you disagree with “self-hating” looks like you don’t have anything of substance or intelligent to say, so you resort to name calling. Why don’t we call all those who are anti-Zionist “self-hating.” I may not agree with a lot that Prof. Chomsky has been reported to say, but that does not mean he is “self-hating.” That is the most over-used and trite expression on this site.
Every country bans some fool or other from entering its space. Israel is right.
Chomsky did in fact lend his reputation to the deniers of the Holocaust. While it is true that Chomsky himself never claimed that the Holocaust never happened, he did sign a petition in defense of Robert Faurisson, a Holocaust denier, saying that Faurisson has been conducting extensive research into the ‘Holocaust” question. Since he began making his findings public, Professor Faurisson has been subject to a vicious campaign of harassment, intimidation, slander, and physical violence in a crude attempt to silence him.
This is much more than a call for freedom of speech. The use of the word “findings” for Faurisson’s book and the quotation marks around the word “Holocaust” are themselves a denial. Chomsky is in effect saying that although he happens to believe that the Holocaust took place, other reputable researchers may honestly come to different conclusions.
Noam Chomsky is not “selt-hating.” He loves Noam Chomsky. He just hates Israel and other Jews.
#5 to me he looks just so much jewish as netanyahu, sharon and all others, I think he keeps shabos and kashrus just as much as them
Did we see this same international ‘phony’ outrage when Michael Savage was barred from entering England indefinitely?
Did we see this same international ‘phony’ outrage when England barred many Israeli government officials from entering the country with the threat of “arrest” if they enter???
I don’t understand if he is a danger and could cost Yiddishe lives why don’t they invite him & Goldstone for that matter,to Israel. They should show them traditional Jews & invite them to the Mikvah Friday afternoon.
Maybe some Neturei Karta will say a hesped at the levayah.
This man is a classic moser along with a vulgar mouth about Jews and Eretz ha-kodesh.The above noted comparison to the meraglim is appropriate, although this meshukatz has gone much further. It is quite appropriate for the people of Israel, the Jews internationally, as well as the proud State of Israel to declare this low life persona non grata in this world and the world to come.
I fully support Israel’s decision to bar Chomsky from entering the West Bank. The State of Israel is suffering at this time from enough slanderous attacks emanating worldwide. They undermine its prestige and reputation as a nation state among all the others in the world. They confuse the critical issues concerning its existence and weaken its existence. They can only find strength in Chomsky’s longtime visceral enmity towards Israel. Considering his family tradition, It It is sad to see that, as a Jew, he has been devoid of feelings towards the Jewish people and its land.
Most disturbing is that no matter how small or powerless, any group that makes a coherent argument against the government is immediately discredited, barred and harassed. Noam Chomsky, The Settlers, Neturi Karta, Mordechai Vanunu, Rabbi Kahana ZT”L. As a Jewish person, I am not comfortable with a democracy that insists on consolidating power in a dishonest fashion, no matter how critical they deem the ends. Have we sold our birthright for the perception of freedom? Far from crying fire in a crowded theater, these people have dissenting views that represent minorities in Israel, and must be heard. If they cannot be countered logically, they must be acknowledged and the state must acquiesce. Such is democracy.
A MAN WHO HAS SPENT HIS LIFE DELIGITIMIZING ISRAEL AND WHO WOULD WELCOME THE DOWNFALL OF THE JEWISH STATE SHOULD NOT BE ALLOWED IN THE JEWISH STATE. IT IS THAT SIMPLE.
Professor Noam Chomsky should remember that he is a GUEST in Israel, and that he has no absolute right to enter that country or, for that matter, to go where he likes when he likes.
I am sorry to disillusion the learned professor but the mere possession of an American passport is not a golden key that opens all doors.
Chomsky has a long history of political opposition, going right back to the Truman Administration, through Vietnam and Cambodia, to his blatant and overt support for enemies of Israel such as Hezbollah.
He is a committed anti-Semitic Jew. as may be seen in his 2004 statement in an interview given to Amy Goodman (‘Democracy Now’, 21 October 2004):
“If you identify the country, the people, the culture with the rulers, accept the totalitarian doctrine, then yeah, it’s anti-Semitic to criticize the Israeli policy, and anti-American to criticize the American policy, and it was anti-Soviet when the dissidents criticized Russian policy. You have to accept deeply totalitarian assumptions not to laugh at this.”
He has blood on his hands for being an accomplice in the mass murder that occured in Cambodia from 1975. No one is obligated to grant him a forum or visa.
You are simply tools of the Israeli propaganda machine. Intelligent people can think for themselves, and don’t need censorship to understand that people like him are self-serving and ridiculous.
Chomsky forgot about all the Jewish property in Arab hands in Arab lands that were persecuted out of them. Kindly return this property estimated at seventeen trillion dollars. Then Noam go and speak with them and eat with them and dance with them and make nice and we will all critize any tough behavior against our wonderful Arab friends but right now we are a collection agency. Did you ever hear of a collection agency being nice? You’re lucky Chump they didn’t put you in jail until these fiends pay up! So Chomsky here’s something for you tp chomp on – from here on you work on getting that property and money back to its rightful owners. At least ask them to. Don’t just hang out with them and play dumb!
He should have asked to make Aliyah.
First they came for the intellectuals….