Banned by Israel, Chomsky gives W.Bank lecture by video

May 18 2010 (AFP) – 5 hours ago

BIR ZEIT, West Bank — Renowned Jewish-American scholar and activist Noam Chomsky, who was barred from the West Bank by Israel earlier this week, on Tuesday delivered a lecture to Palestinian students by video link from Jordan.

Around 100 students packed into a room at Bir Zeit University near the West Bank city of Ramallah to watch the lecture, delivered by live-link from the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Chomsky had been due to give the lecture in person on Monday, but was stopped from entering the West Bank at the Israeli-controlled crossing from Jordan.

After hours of questioning by border officials, Chomsky's passport was stamped with "Denied Entry" and he was sent away.

Israel's interior ministry insisted the incident was a "misunderstanding" and said the 81-year-old professor had not been blacklisted, while a senior government source described the situation as "a total cockup".

Although Israeli officials insisted he would be permitted to cross the border, Chomsky discovered on Monday there was no "official" guarantee he would be allowed in, so he decided to give the lecture by video link, the Haaretz daily reported.

Speaking to the paper about his lengthy interrogation at the border, Chomsky said he was told: "Israel does not like what you say."

Preventing him from entering the West Bank was "tantamount to boycotting Bir Zeit University," said Chomsky, who opposes a general boycott on Israel.

He told the paper that Israel's behaviour reminded him of that of South Africa in the 1960s, when it realised it was already considered a pariah, but thought it would resolve the problem with better public relations.

Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at the US Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a prominent critic of US foreign policy. He has also frequently spoken out against Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jGhblwyjLAXz-k3KeYs-2YIhsJfA

He is a central figure in Computer Science; the father of the Theory of Formal Languages on which all computer languages are based.

Noam Chomsky @ Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noam_Chomsky

Why would they ban someone like Chomsky? How utterly stupid of them and they accuse Muslim nations of censorship.

Sad what is becoming of that country. I used to admire them so much but it seems they are in the grip of an ultra-right government which is turning the rest of the world against them just as ours turned the world against us.

Glad he did it on video. I'm sure free-thinking Israelis will find a way to hear what he has to say.

sang into Canada, since he wasn't allowed to go there:

1950 to 1955

~snip~
Because of statements he had made, the government took advantage of the Internal Security Act which allowed them to detain "subversives" in times of national crisis. Through it they asked him to give up his passport. He was then offered it back if he swore not to be a Communist. He refused and filed suit for its return. He was told he could use it on the condition that he would not give any speeches outside of the country.

Never one to stay idle, Robeson continued his activist work, co-founding the journal Freedom and co-wrote a column every month for five years. In 1951, he earned a place as honorary member of the National Negro Labor Council. He traveled the country making speeches on civil rights and freedom. Later that year, he headed a delegation to the United Nations, petitioning that charges of genocide be filed against the US for its treatment of blacks throughout its history.

Things were worse the more outspoken and vocal he became. The black press, which had long championed and backed him both professionally and in his activism, started to turn on him. The lawsuit was dismissed by the federal court (his lawyers appealed). In an attempt to go to Canada (for which a passport wasn't required) to speak to organized mineworkers, the INS stopped him. Robeson arranged to place a 17 minute phone call to the gathered workers that was played over a loudspeaker. Later in 1952, at the Peace Arch concert, 40,000 people gathered for the concert held at the border for all to hear whichever country they were in.

http://everything2.com/title/Paul+Robeson