Israeli government says that Chomsky not being allowed to enter was a "mistake"

It really doesn't get any sillier; after preventing Chomsky from entering the West Bank, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's spokesman Mark Regev has told the New York Times: “The idea that Israel is preventing people from entering whose opinions are critical of the state is ludicrous; it is not happening. This was a mishap. A guy at the border overstepped his authority.” Not forgetting, of course, to add that this was a mistake by someone at the border.

Oh, and was it a mistake at the end of May 2008 when Norman Finkelstein was arrested and deported from Israel and told he’s barred for ten years? Mr Regev by the way, went on to say that should Chomsky try to enter again, he would be allowed in. Enter "what" wasn't exactly mentioned and it might be worth emphasising that we are talking about the occupied territories here. Worth mentioning, perhaps, but the real point is that the Israeli government has now moved into the area of damage limitation and it appears that the backtracking by our whining Zionists is due to Chomsky's reputation. However, it is too late for that and with Chomsky himself saying that, there are a lot of governments which don't like him, my thoughts turn to his criticisms of General Suharto's Indonesia. The only "democracy" in the Middle East, what a ridiculous joke.

Chomsky won't be taking up Mr Regev's offer and the news is that he will be lecturing to Birzeit by video from Amman. Furthermore, it would appear that the offer is not going to be extended to Ivan Prado, Jared Malsin, Norman Finkelstein and thousands of others. No, the idea that Israel is preventing people from entering whose opinions are critical of the state is anything but ludicrous. Although, to put the record straight once more, just in case these half-wits haven't understood; in Chomsky's case he was actually entering Palestinian territory and while he has a right to be there Mr Regev, you and your ilk don't.