Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and political activist. He is an Institute Professor and professor emeritus of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Chomsky is well known in the academic and scientific community as one of the fathers of modern linguistics. (Link)
It seems that Israel stopped him at the Jordan border as he was going to give a lecture at Bir Zeit University, and meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad after the lecture. The border patrol it seems held him for hours and interrogated him. They even wanted to know why he did not have a Israel passport because he was Jewish. They also wanted to know why he was not lecturing in Tel Aviv. He replied something like, I have an American passport and I lecture a lot in Tel Aviv…
An official at the border was quoted as reading the following statement: ‘Israel does not like what you say’.
To this, Chomsky replied: “Find one government in the world which does.”
Chomsky who has received many honorary degrees from universities around the world: University of London, University of Chicago, Loyola University of Chicago, Swarthmore College, University of Delhi, Bard College, University of Massachusetts, University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Amherst College, University of Cambridge, University of Buenos Aires, McGill University, Universitat Rovira i Virgili, Columbia University, Villanova University, University of Connecticut, University of Maine, Scuola Normale Superiore, University of Western Ontario, University of Toronto, Harvard University, Universidad de Chile, University of Bologna, Universidad de la Frontera, University of Calcutta, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Santo Domingo Institute of Technology, Uppsala University, University of Athens, University of Cyprus, Central Connecticut State University, National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) (To name some) Looks like he is more than a little upset…
Now according to news reports Israel has tried to explain that it was a mistake!
Noam Chomsky said, “I find it hard to think of a similar case, in which entry to a person is denied because he is not lecturing in Tel Aviv. Perhaps only in Stalinist regimes!”
Oops……..
Windows to Russia!