Chomsky denied entry to give a lecture at a Palestinian university

Noam Chomsky, a renowned Jewish-American scholar and political activist, has been barred from entering the West Bank.

Chomsky was denied entry by Israeli immigration officials as he attempted to cross the Allenby Bridge from Jordan on Sunday.

The lingusitics professor, who frequently speaks out against Israeli policy in the occupied Palestinian territories, had been scheduled to give a lecture at Birzeit University in the West Bank.
"I entered with my daughter and two friends who we met in Amman the day before," he told Al Jazeera.
"After several hours of waiting and multiple interrogations our two friends were permitted entry and my daughter and I were informed that we were denied entry after much discussion indirectly with the interior ministry."
Chomsky said the border officials were "very polite" as they "transmitted inquiries from the [Israeli] ministry of the interior".
He said that he believed he was denied entry was for two reasons.
"The government does not like the kind of things I say which puts them into the category of every other government in the world," he said.
"The second was that they seemed upset about the fact that I was taking an invitation from Birzeit and I had no plans of speaking to any Israeli universities as I've done many times in the past, but not this time."