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Rise of the right wing correlates with democracy in Middle East, Chomsky says

Professor Noam Chomsky speaks about conflict in the Middle East and Asia at the BU School of Law auditorium Thursday. ABIGAIL LIN/ Daily Free Press Staff

Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor emeritus Noam Chomsky said that the “West cannot tolerate democracy in the Arab world,” in a discussion of U.S. foreign policy at the Boston University Law Auditorium on Thursday.

Chomsky and Pakistani journalist Beena Sarwar visited BU on Thursday for an event entitled “Understanding the Middle East and Pakistan,” hosted by the

American Friends Service Committee, United for Justice with Peace, the BU Anti-War Coalition and BU Students for Justice in Palestine.

In his lecture, Chomsky said United States foreign policy will be challenged by the Middle East. He explored the rise of the right wing and its effect on democracy in the Middle East and revolutionary change.

“Students are at the time of their lives when they are most free. They are not spending 50 hours a week putting food on the table,” Chomsky said in an interview.

“They have got a lot of choices and options, a lot of opportunities. The world certainly has serious, maybe desperate problems and they can become involved in solving any of them.”

AFSC’s Joseph Gerson, the director of programs and director of the peace and economic security program for the AFSC in New England, introduced the speakers.

Sarwar, a human rights advocate, first about hope in Pakistan, spoke about both physical and emotional challenges.

“2011 has been declared as the ‘year of education,” Sarwar said. “The government has acknowledged education as a moral obligation of the state for all Pakistani children and has declared education as a basic and enforceable right.”

Some audience members said they enjoyed the lecture but said it could have been longer.

“We probably need a little longer time for two speakers, but it was very interesting,” said Zahra Suleiman, a junior in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Other audience members said Chomsky explained his points well.

“I never understood why the U.S. does not want a democracy in the Middle East, when it claims to support it, and has a rhetoric of democracy,” said Fatima Mustafa, a CAS graduate student.

“I like the fact that he explained it very convincingly and the way he said it was that 90 percent of the Arabs do not support the U.S., so if you have a system that represents the people, the U.S. will not have an advantage. For me, that was like a light bulb moment in his speech.”

Several audience members said they had previously heard Chomsky speak.

“I’m a big fan of Professor Chomsky and his work and was pleased to hear him speak with someone else who is not so famous,” said Peter Appleton, a graduate student at Simmons College. “I like that when student organizations and groups in general invite him to speak, they usually mesh him up with someone who’s not as well known.”

 

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