Noam Chomsky. Photo: Duncan Rawlinson.

Noam Chomsky, a Jewish professor of linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a consistent critic of U.S. and Israeli policies, visited the Gaza Strip on Oct. 18 and attended a conference at the Islamic University.

Chomsky, 83, known for his pro-Palestinian views, has consistently called on Israel to end its naval blockade of Gaza. According to French news agency AFP, Chomsky was quoted by Jamal al-Khudari, a member of Gaza’s legislative council and head of the university’s administrative board, as saying “The Palestinian people have a right to live peacefully and in freedom.”

AFP reported that Palestinian television broadcast comments by Chomsky. The aging professor reportedly described his travel to Hamas-ruled territory and said, “Our trip to Gaza was very difficult, but we arrived here and I saw several things which I hoped before to see.”

Chomsky, who lived on a kibbutz in Israel in the 1950s, has been an outspoken critic of the way the Jewish state was established in 1948 and supports a two-state solution.