Noam Chomsky Likens Israel to Stalinist Regime

Denied entry to Israel on Sunday, linguist Noam Chomsky, who had been scheduled to lecture at Bir Zeit University, likened Israel to a Stalinist regime. According to an article in Ha'aretz:

"The Interior Ministry refused to let linguist Noam Chomsky into Israel and the West Bank on Sunday. Chomsky, who aligns himself with the radical left, had been scheduled to lecture at Bir Zeit University near Ramallah, and visit Bil'in and Hebron, as well as meet with Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and various Palestinian activists.

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'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,' Chomsky told Haaretz."

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/after-denied-entry-to-west-bank-chomsky-likens-israel-to-stalinist-regime-1.290736

I detest the radicalism of Chomsky, who met with Nasrallah and declared, ""Hizbullah's insistence on keeping its arms is justified". However, I would not have barred entry to this 81-year-old man, consumed with anger and struggling with his irrelevance. But personal feelings aside, is Israel "Stalinist"?

Let's examine two events within recent days. According to another article in Ha'aretz:

"The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday [May 11] acquitted the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement in Israel, Sheikh Raed Salah, of charges on his involvement in a 2007 riot in East Jerusalem.

Around four months ago, Salah was given a nine-month jail sentence for his role in an affray, suspected incitement, and for assaulting a policeman during disturbances at the Temple Mount in the Old City in Jerusalem.

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Salah was arrested in February 2007 after protests over planned improvement works at the Temple Mount. According to the court, Salah spat in the face of a policeman during the protest, saying: 'You are all racists and murderers, you have no respect.'"

http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/court-acquits-islamic-movement-leader-of-involvement-in-temple-mount-riots-1.289654

Sorry, Noam, but this acquittal would never have occurred in a Stalinist regime.

This past Sunday, chief Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erekat spoke before the Israeli public at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv. According to an article in the Jerusalem Post:

'I know that many in Palestine and Israel today doubt the possibility that peace can be achieved. I beg to differ,' said Erekat.

'We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. There can be a two-state solution based on the 1967 borders, with land swaps and solutions for the refugees,' he continued.

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'The Americans cannot make peace for us. Americans cannot make the concessions that are required by Palestinians or Israelis. Americans cannot make decisions for Palestinians and Israelis,' said Erekat.

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'You could fill volumes on the mistakes we have made, but you must understand, we are a very young authority,' he said."

http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=175731

Maybe Chomsky was denied entry into Israel, but here we have Erekat conversing freely with diplomats and academics in Tel Aviv. Sorry again, Noam, this is no Stalinist regime. Moreover, both Obama and Congressman John Yarmuth (http://jgcaesarea.blogspot.com/2010/05/us-congressman-john-yarmuth-infected.html) would be wise to heed Erekat's forthright declaration that "Americans cannot make decisions for Palestinians and Israelis."