Noam Chomsky, a leading US academic highly critical of Israel’s policies towards the Palestinians, was denied entry to the West Bank on Sunday by Israeli immigration officials.
Chomsky, 82, said in a telephone conversation from the Jordanian capital of Amman he had traveled to the Allenby Bridge crossing on the Jordan River where Israeli immigration officials refused to allow him across.
“They apparently didn’t like the fact that I was due to lecture at a Palestinian university and not in Israel,” said Chomsky, who is Jewish.
Chomsky’s Palestinian host, lawmaker Mustafa al-Barghouti said the US linguistics professor and philosopher was due to lecture at Birzeit University and the Institute for Palestine Studies in Ramallah in the West Bank.
“This decision is a fascist action, amounting to suppression of freedom of expression,” Barghouti said.
An Israeli interior ministry spokeswoman said immigration officials at the border crossing had misunderstood Chomsky’s intentions, thinking initially he was also due to visit Israel.
She said officials were trying to get clearance from the Israeli military, which controls access to the West Bank to allow Chomsky to enter.
“We are trying to contact the military to clear things up and if they have no objection we see no reason why he should not be allowed in,” spokeswoman Sabine Hadad said.
Chomsky said he was on a speaking tour in the region and added his schedule was too tight to allow him to try again to enter the West Bank during his current trip as he had other engagements.
Chomsky said he last visited Israel and the West Bank in 1997 when he lectured at Ben-Gurion University and also at Birzeit. He said all his previous West Bank visits had been as a part of trips to Israel.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
UNSCHEDULED VISIT: ‘It’s a very bulky new neighbor, but it will soon go away,’ said Johan Helberg of the 135m container ship that run aground near his house A man in Norway awoke early on Thursday to discover a huge container ship had run aground a stone’s throw from his fjord-side house — and he had slept through the commotion. For an as-yet unknown reason, the 135m NCL Salten sailed up onto shore just meters from Johan Helberg’s house in a fjord near Trondheim in central Norway. Helberg only discovered the unexpected visitor when a panicked neighbor who had rung his doorbell repeatedly to no avail gave up and called him on the phone. “The doorbell rang at a time of day when I don’t like to open,” Helberg told television
RSS