The University of Arizona paid linguist and Hezbollah supporter Noam Chomsky to teach a politics course for $65,000 in 2016 and $62,500 in 2017 to be a linguistics professor, according to records released Tuesday.
Judicial Watch obtained records of Chomsky’s salary and history with the public university and reported he was paid $250,000 as a linguistic professor between 2017 to 2020. The University of Arizona, contests this claim, saying he makes $62,500 a year for linguistics work — 25 percent of a $250,000 base salary.
“The money comes from tuition dollars, grants, contracts and other funds generated by the public institution,” Judicial Watch said in the report. A University of Arizona communications spokesman told The Daily Caller News Foundation Chomsky’s salary was not funded by taxpayers.
Chomsky’s notice of appointment mentioned that his salary would be funded through non-state appropriated funds.
Prior, he co-taught a general education course “What is Politics?” and was paid $65,000 as a consultant. While the class was held on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Chomsky only needed to attend six Thursday sessions, according to the consultant agreement Judicial Watch received.
The political course studied “industrial state capitalism” and its consequences.
“Throughout the course, students will interrogate the consequences of this orientation, including threats to the human species such as climate change, potential nuclear terrorism, and the expansion of militarism and warfare,” the course description said in the consultant agreement. “Students will explore possible responses and resistances to these phenomena and will investigate the achievements and difficulties involved with agitating for progressive change.”
Chomsky was also known for his political activism, and according to Judicial Watch, he “openly supports the anti-Israel and anti-U.S. terrorist organization Hezbollah.”
“Hizbullah’s insistence on keeping its arms is justified … I think [Sheikh] Nasrallah has a reasoned argument and [a] persuasive argument that they [the arms] should be in the hands of Hizbullah as a deterrent to potential aggression, and there is plenty of background reasons for that,” he said to Hezbollah’s TV Network Al-Manar when visiting Lebanon, according to Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in May 2006.
The MEMRI noted Nasrallah often called for the destruction of the U.S. (RELATED: Hezbollah Crime-Terror Network Poses Big Concerns, Should Be Focus At Summit Of Americas)
Chomsky taught at MIT at the time of the comments, which according to Judicial Watch can employ anyone without public accountability because of the university’s private status.
Chomsky recently co-authored an article for Common Dreams, where the authors wrote, “The Israeli state has used its power in that area to deny statehood to the Palestinians, to oppress the Palestinian population, to dispossess Palestinians of houses and land, and has established a substantial settler population, strongly committed to annexing these territories,” on July 26. Common Dreams is a non-profit, independent organization that “provides breaking news and views for the progressive community.”
The University of Arizona held two events featuring Chomsky costing nearly $25,000. One of the events advertised that Chomsky would speak on “a range of topics that could include the refugee crisis, political conflict, democracy, capitalism, climate change and social inequality,” reported Judicial Watch.
Former Green Berets Bevan Olyphant, who taught a leadership course in the honors college, suggested to the university’s president about bringing a conservative speaker, but was told that request would not be possible.
“We can’t do that! We would have a riot,” the university president had said to Olyphant at the time, Judicial Watch reported.
The University of Arizona contested this claim, telling TheDCNF it has hosted speakers from all political backgrounds, including Charles Murry and Dinesh D’ Souza in 2018.
Chomsky is considered as the founder of modern linguistics, publishing books like “Syntactic Structures” and “Language and Mind,” which have influenced various fields including linguistic, math and childhood education, according to Chomsky’s biographical page on the University of Arizona’s website.
Editor’s note: This post has been updated to reflect Chomsky earns $62,500 for his linguistics classes, not $250,000.
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
