Well, one thing we know…Bibi reads the papers (Bibiton-Yisrael HaYom at least): that’s apparently how he learns of major decisions made by his own Interior Ministry to bar one of the most distinguished linguists in the world from entering the West Bank to lecture at Bir Zeit University. You wouldn’t think he’d hear it from his own minister, would you?
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that he had learned of the decision not to allow Noam Chomsky to enter Israel from the press…
“We read about it in the paper,” Netanyahu said during a Knesset session…
This is a classic case of passing the buck as far down the line as you can go. Was the decision to bar the enimnent Dr. Chomsky made my a senior official? Hell no, Israel always allows junior officers manning a desk at the Allenby Bridge to make such judgments independently:
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Prime Minister Netanyahu said, “There is no change in our policy. 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.”
Regev suggested that if Chomsky tried to enter Israel again, he would succeed.
I think Israel punished the 81 year old Chomsky enough interrogating him for 4 hours after he’d made the trek from Boston to Amman and thence to the Allenby Bridge. Why would he want to be put through this nonsense again just to enable Israel to say it did the right thing (finally) by admitting him?
People who are writing about this incident are getting it wrong when they say Chomsky was denied entry to Israel. He was denied entry to the West Bank, which is not Israel. Israel should have no right to determine who enters Palestinian territory via the Allenby Bridge. This should be controlled by the PA.
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“the decision not to allow Noam Chomsky to enter Israel”
And we all thought he was going to Ramallah/Beir Zeit. Who knew?
Richard, your: “Israel should have no right to determine who enters Palestinian territory via the Allenby Bridge. This should be controlled by the PA.” … But that’s exactly the POINT, isn’t it? Israel is after all the occupying power– in the WB as in Gaza. And one of the many ways it manifests that role is by exercising control over all borders of both territories. It also, scandalously, exercises control over both territories’ population registers, determining who can legally reside in them.
This is occupation. It has continued for nearly 43 years– far, far longer than any other military occupation since the time the term was first defined in international law. It is time for the occupation to END. And just saying the bridge should be controlled “by the PA” is quite insufficient. The bridge like all other crossing points and borders for Palestine should be controlled by a sovereign Palestinian government. The PA is not such a body. It exists only as a subcontractor for the continuing Israeli occupation, as spelled out in the Oslo accords. (Like the “Judenrats” in the German-controlled ghettoes of eastern Europe.)
noam chomsky meets with hezbollah leaders
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-jh2R-_eQY
tell me again why israel does not have the right to not allow the esteemed prof to enter into the country?
Because they were making decisions about who should enter PALESTINIAN territory. And because Chomsky was not going to enter Israeli territory. And because the Interior Ministry specifically told Chomsky that were he speaking at an Israeli university they would’ve allowed him to enter. Next silly question?
to get into palestinian territory, chomsky first had to cross into israel…just like the clown from spain
not sure why the israeli government is going through all these machinations over whether chomsky really was allowed in
they have banned both finkelstein and falk
Since when is the Allenby Bridge or any part of the West Bank “Israel?” Now, if you want to concede that Israel should annex the W. Bank, then it would be “Israel,” at least according to Israel’s definition. But till it does that the West Bank is not Israel.
May I add, that even if he were entering into Israeli Territory, the idea of barring him is scary at best. As an Israeli I feel shame that this country is feeling so self-righteous that it can just bar (harmless) people from visiting.
oh, almost forgot
want to wish you a chag sameach