He replied!

Yes, Prof. Chomsky replied. But before I copy his answer (as promised) I would like to address one comment of a reader in the previous post. Rachel Fierstein commented the following in the "Dear Prof. Chomsky..." post:

I attended the same event and just re-watched it. The moderator said the organizers attempted to make it more balanced, but these were the only speakers that responded. You miss quoted here. I know for a fact they contacted Dershowitz.

And just because none of them were pro-Israeli doesn't mean there weren't different perspectives. Perspectives don't only consist of "for" or "against." Perhaps that misunderstanding is why you felt fooled? The speakers did offer different perspectives. You should have paid more attention.

Dear Rachel, thank you for writing. Maybe Prof. Dershowitz couldn't or did not want to come. I will write him an email with your quote just to clarify if he couldn't or did not want to. But in any case, Prof. Dershowitz is not the only person in a panel that can represent the Israeli position in the Boston Area. From an outsider's view (outsider to the organization of the event): it appears that if they did not find anyone to present the Israeli narrative is because they didn't put a big effort looking for one.

There were different interpretations and expositions, but not different perspectives on the narrative side of the conflict. There was nobody explaining the position of Israel. It is a fact. But if you read careful my post, this is not my critique. My critique is don't insult the public calling it a balanced or a "would have been balanced" if a speaker representing the Israeli position would have come.

In any case, Prof. Chomsky answered my email. As I promised, here is the answer. Of course, he claims, I am guilty for mishearing him:

You misheard. I very carefully said that not a single rocket was fired by Hamas from the onset of the cease-fire until Nov. 4, when Israel invaded Gaza, breaking the cease-fire, which in fact it had never observed, maintaining the siege -- of course, an act of war, as Israel has long insisted.

Rocket firing dropped very sharply until Israel broke the truth. There were a few, but not by Hamas, as recognized by Mark Regev, Israeli government spokesman. Can send you the link if you like.

Noam Chomsky

My reply in the next post...