Thursday, May 20, 2010

Israel bars Chomsky

Recently Jewish intellectual Noam Chomsky attempted to visit the West Bank. Concerned about likely criticism of the occupation, the Israeli government barred him. This is a good and significant development. While the ultimate result of pro-Israel policy will likely be a disaster, leading to the fall of those responsible, many of them Jewish, it is important that matters not degenerate into pristine anti-semnitism. The real enemy is not an ethnic or religious group but an obsolete ideology and its policies. By demonstrating that not all Jews favor present policy, Chomsky has performed a valuable service.