Chomsky no different than Finkelstein or Falk or Galloway or Ramadan
The Bush administration barred Tariq Ramadan from the United States (a decision that was unfortunately revoked by the Obama administration). Canada and Egypt have barred George Galloway. England has barred Geert Wilders and Moshe Feiglin. Israel has previously barred Richard Falk and Norman Finkelstein. No one has an unfettered right to enter or to immigrate to a country of which he is not a citizen. And yet, when Israel bars Noam Chomsky from entering, it suddenly becomes an occasion for Israel's Interior Ministry to hide behind 'overstepped authority' and for the New York Times to take up Chomsky's cause with exaggerated comments about endangering democracy (Hat Tip: Memeorandum). Professor Chomsky, who is Jewish and spent time living on a kibbutz in Israel in the 1950s, is an outspoken critic both of American and Israeli policy. He has objected to Israel’s foundation as a Jewish state, but he has supported a two-state solution and has not condemned Israel’s existence in the terms of the country’s sharpest critics.The Times overstates the controversy. As I write these words, we are nearly half an hour into the morning news magazine and it has not been mentioned. It's not - as the Times would have you believe - something that is keeping Israelis up at night.
The decision Sunday to bar him from entering the West Bank to speak at Birzeit, a Palestinian university, “is a foolish act in a frequent series of recent follies,” remarked Boaz Okun, the legal commentator of the newspaper Yediot Aharonot, in his Monday column. “Put together, they may mark the end of Israel as a law-abiding and freedom-loving state, or at least place a large question mark over this notion.”
Government spokesmen were mortified at the development and issued statements saying that the decision was made by an Interior Ministry official at the Jordan-West Bank border and did not represent policy.
“There is no change in our policy,” said Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “The idea that Israel is preventing people from entering whose opinions are critical of the state is ludicrous; it is not happening. This was a mishap. A guy at the border overstepped his authority.”
Mr. Regev suggested that if Professor Chomsky tried to enter again, he would succeed.
I can't say I'm always happy with the decisions made, but countries have the right to decide whom to admit and whom to keep out, and no country has the obligation to provide a platform for someone who denies that country's right to exist or to exist in its current form, nor to someone who is likely to incite violence against that country's institutions or authority. As opposition MK Otniel Schneller (whom the Times suddenly labels a 'conservative' and with whom I find myself in rare agreement) notes:
“This is a decision of principle between the democratic ideal — and we all want freedom of speech and movement — and the need to protect our existence,” said Otniel Schneller, of the centrist Kadima party, on Israel Radio. “Let’s say he came to lecture at Birzeit. What would he say? That Israel kills Arabs, that Israel is an apartheid state?”No they don't. And I'm pleased with the decision the government apparently made, although I wish they would at least own up to them. There is nothing of which to be ashamed.
In another three months, Mr. Schneller went on, some Israeli would be standing over her son’s grave, the victim of incitement “in the name of free speech.” People like Professor Chomsky, he added, do not have to be granted permission to enter.
By the way, a lot of people weren't very happy three years ago when Chomsky spoke to high schoolers in the People's Republic of Massachusetts.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 7:09 AM
5 Comments:
chomsky is, for lack of a better term, a world class s---t disturber.
that is all he is...that is all he ever was.
oh, and you forgot to mention that till this day, cat stevens remains on america's no fly list.
in regards chomsky...forget his words...he has engaged in very public meetings with hezbolah leaders. he is not a member of any state delegation, was not engaged in any peace talks...he went as a private citizen. anyone who hangs around terrorists who wish for the destruction of israel and the murder of jews...should not be allowed into israel...ever.
Unfortunately but inevitably, Israel must protect itself from these scum. They have no loyalty to Israel- despite that pathetic statement that Chomsky went to a kibbutz in the 1950's- in fact they have no loyalty except to an idea which is perilously close to islam.
That Rahm Emanuel I dont consider a Jew. He has forfeited that blessing!
And now after lifting his leg over Jews and Israel, he dares to come swaggering back, for his son's Bar Mitzvah. These people are murderous psychopaths!
@ bacci40
I absolutely agree with you, That SOB must be put sleep. SOB should mind his own business, i just dont understand sick people like him.
chomsky needs to move to Saudi, Yemen, Uganda an etc let him live there.let him preach them how their policies are wrong. dumb son of bitch
chomsky...i did not hear anything from you regarding Yemeni jews that were under constant treat from local Muslim population. Israel helped jews to come to Israel to our home land
There is nothing to be ashamed of in standing one's ground on principle and stating Israel will not welcome an avowed enemy of the Jewish State inside its borders - all the moreso when he is a Jewish anti-Semite. I just wish the Israeli government and the Stupid Jews who appear to populate it had the guts to stand up to defend their decision to exclude Noam Chomsky from the country!
Jews listen to your intellectuals like Chomsky and Einstein who strive for unbiased justice. Is it not sad that the cramming of Arabs in occupied territories with dependence on Israel on almost everything is just like cramming of Jews in quarters and ghettos in European history? Don't you know Israel gov. have killed thousands of innocents? Is this the Jewish way? Do you need Islamic injustice to justify Jewish injustice? This is not the way of the Torah.
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