19-Oct-12: Noted linguist arrives in war zone, looks other way

A Qassam rocket was fired into Israel from the Gaza Strip on Thursday evening, exploding around 9 pm in a field in the southern Eshkol region. According to this source, no damage or injuries were reported.

Meanwhile, scholar and activist Noam Chomsky, arrived in Gaza today on his first-ever visit. Ynet says he called for an end to Israel's "siege of Gaza". He also expressed the opinion that "the Palestinian people have a right to live peacefully and in freedom".

There is no indication that he called for a cessation of indiscriminate (or even discriminate) rocket fire on Israeli school-buses, homes, farms or children. Nor is he on the record saying to his hosts that the Israeli people have a right to live peacefully, or even... a right to live.

Then again he's not young and has been very busy. And his comments might have been taken out of context, or somehow placed into someone else's context by mistake.

Chomsky will be attending a conference at the Gaza Strip's Islamic University. He entered Gaza via the Rafah crossing in co-ordination with the Egyptian authorities.