Ramallah – Ma'an – Prominent academic and critic of Israel Noam Chomsky was denied entry by Israeli authorities at the Allenby Bridge crossing between Jordan and the West Bank on Sunday, the Associated Press reported.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad told the AP Chomsky was turned away for "various reasons" but declined to elaborate.
Chomsky was scheduled to deliver a lecture at Birzeit University near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday, and was slated to be accompanied by Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti who quickly denounced the move.
Barghouti said Chomsky was detained for five hours at the crossing and was sent back to Jordan by Israeli authorities.
"The occupation informed Chomsky that the decision to bar his entry into the West Bank was handed down from the highest Israeli officials in the Israeli Interior Ministry, in particular due to his stances, and his intention to give a lecture in Birzeit University," Barghouti said.
"This arbitarty procedure shows the racist nature of Israel which not even Chomsky was exempt from," he added.
Chomsky was due to tour the West Bank, Barghouti said, with planned visits to sites where Israel's separation wall most affects the Palestinian population in the West Bank and areas encroached upon by illegal settlements.
"We feel proud for Chomsky, particularly as he was one of the first pioneers supporting the Palestinian struggle and their just cause. He was a friend of Palestinian intellectual Eward Said," Barghouti added.
Meanwhile, the AP reported that Israel's Interior Ministry was looking to allowing Chomsky entry solely into the West Bank.
Chomsky, who has spoken at Israeli universities on several occasions, was quoted as saying, "supporters of Israel are in reality supporters of its moral degeneration," following Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip between December 2008 and January 2009.
Interior Ministry spokeswoman Sabine Haddad told the AP Chomsky was turned away for "various reasons" but declined to elaborate.
Chomsky was scheduled to deliver a lecture at Birzeit University near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday, and was slated to be accompanied by Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative Mustafa Barghouti who quickly denounced the move.
Barghouti said Chomsky was detained for five hours at the crossing and was sent back to Jordan by Israeli authorities.
"The occupation informed Chomsky that the decision to bar his entry into the West Bank was handed down from the highest Israeli officials in the Israeli Interior Ministry, in particular due to his stances, and his intention to give a lecture in Birzeit University," Barghouti said.
"This arbitarty procedure shows the racist nature of Israel which not even Chomsky was exempt from," he added.
Chomsky was due to tour the West Bank, Barghouti said, with planned visits to sites where Israel's separation wall most affects the Palestinian population in the West Bank and areas encroached upon by illegal settlements.
"We feel proud for Chomsky, particularly as he was one of the first pioneers supporting the Palestinian struggle and their just cause. He was a friend of Palestinian intellectual Eward Said," Barghouti added.
Meanwhile, the AP reported that Israel's Interior Ministry was looking to allowing Chomsky entry solely into the West Bank.
Chomsky, who has spoken at Israeli universities on several occasions, was quoted as saying, "supporters of Israel are in reality supporters of its moral degeneration," following Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip between December 2008 and January 2009.
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