US linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky arrived in Gaza on Thursday
by AFP in Gaza City via Google News
19 October 2012
article abridged & re-edited
Jewish-American scholar and activist Noam Chomsky has called for an end to Israel’s siege of Gaza, on his first ever visit to the Hamas-ruled Palestinian enclave on Thursday.
Chomsky, who was in Gaza for a conference at the Islamic University, called “to end the Israeli siege on Gaza,” Jamal al-Khudari, a member of Gaza’s legislative council and head of the university’s board, told AFP.
“The Palestinian people have a right to live peacefully and in freedom,” Chomsky said, according to Khudari.
In May 2010, Israel barred Chomsky from entering the West Bank, where he was to deliver a lecture. He finally broadcast his speech by video link from Jordan.
On Saturday, Chomsky is delivering a speech on the Arab Spring and the future of foreign policy in the region. He will also meet with NGOs, especially human rights groups, and will tour refugee camps, Khudari said.
Chomsky, travelling with an academic delegation, entered Gaza through the Rafah crossing with Egypt, noted the Palestinian lawmaker.
Chomsky is a professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a prominent critic of American foreign policy. He has frequently spoken out against Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Kia Ora Gaza 