"It is very difficult to criticize" Chomsky

The context of that is politics, not linguistics. Not that plenty of people won't continue to criticize him in both and other realms. The refusal to let Noam Chomsky enter Israel last week continues to amaze me and apparently lots of other people. This article from Ha(')aretz gives the latest, about a letter signed by 500 people, including leading academics, and ending with this quote:

Dr. Anat Matar from Tel Aviv University said that the Interior Ministry's act was "so baseless and insane, that it is very difficult to criticize [Chomsky] – that is the situation we have reached."

Is there any conceivable upside to the action? The man himself makes the point cleanly and clearly:

the government of Israel does not like the kinds of things I say — which puts them into the category of I suppose every other government in the world.

Yup.