NEWTON, Mass. -- Parents and students at a local high school said they are outraged that an author who sympathizes with people who deny that the Holocaust took place was invited to speak at the school.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Noam Chomsky is scheduled to speak at Newton South High School on Wednesday.

There were police at the school and protesters lined up across the street from the school.

Holocaust survivor Stephan Ross was not allowed into the school to hear Chomsky speak.

"We would like him to apologize for the people that he tried to protect that deny the Holocaust," Ross said.

"We are not worried specifically about the capability of the students to handle someone like Mr. Noam Chomsky -- they can. What we are concerned about is the symbolism of bringing a man, who, in the late '70s, early '80s, publicly advocated for well-known French Holocaust deniers," said parent Tom Mountain.

"I think it is horrible that Mr. Chomsky would be invited to speak unopposed. And I find it also horrible that he is a huge proponent of the freedom of the press and speech and his speech to is taking place behind closed doors. This is horrible. This is hypocritical," said Student Senate President Dan Groob.

About 130 students and parents were allowed to enter the lecture hall where Chomsky was speaking.

Greetings to all in the NSHS community: As many of you know, today we hosted Noam Chomsky as a guest speaker to some of our staff, parents and students during our lunch block. The program has ended, Dr. Chomsky has left, and our school environment is back to the daily routine.

There were some concerns around some changes that were made to the structure of the lecture. Over the weekend, as we realized the interest in hearing Dr. Chomsky had reached a very high level, the students in the Social Awareness Club, who invited Dr. Chomsky to speak, had a change of heart. They originally planned to have a small discussion with him, hear his thoughts, and engage in a dialog. As the event grew to more of a “stadium event,” one of the co-presidents called me to ask for my support in making a change. He asked if we could go back to the original plan to protect the integrity of the discussion and to de-escalate the responsibility of the school leaders for the increased security concerns that were mounting. He met with his club advisor, the History and Social Sciences Department Chair, and other supportive teachers who agreed we should make this change.

For this reason, we offered the 140 Lecture Hall seats to 130 students and 10 staff who had expressed strong interest in attending. Five teachers brought interested students on a voluntary basis to hear the speaker. One additional class of students was allowed to view a “live broadcast” of the speech from a library classroom. Teachers who had a “preparation period” were also allowed in this classroom. 30 parents of Newton South students were allowed in a second library classroom on a first come/first served basis. All in all, about 200 people viewed our guest and heard his thoughts.

The speech was interesting and generally benign. Dr. Chomsky shared his perspective on the history of U.S. foreign relations mainly with Iraq and Iran though he touched on other countries as well. I realize many people were sensitive to the fact that he may share unfavorable impressions and/or thoughts about Israel. He briefly commented on the issue only when addressing a student question and the talk continued back on topic.

It reminded me of sitting in class as a college student in the late 80’s. He brought with him a well-organized presentation that informed and entertained (at one point he wondered aloud if the U.S. would be as interested in liberating Iraq if they were a leading producer of pickles rather than oil). He made us laugh a little, while encouraging us to think and reflect. It was a calm learning experience. I believe our children walked away with exactly what was intended and promised: an educated man’s reflections on “U.S. Foreign Policy: Finding Peace in Iraq.”

Thank you for all of your comments and questions about this event. I received over 800 e-mails and dozens of phone calls during the past week. You understand that I will not be able to respond to all of them, though I assure you that I heard your voices and appreciate the great support I received from the community and I respect the differences of opinion of those who did not welcome Dr. Chomsky.

While the local community expressed concern about Noam Chomsky’s speech at Newton South High School on Wednesday, student reaction stood in stark contrast, calling the renowned linguist “brilliant” and a “truth-teller.”...

...“He’s such an educated guy,” said Newton South sophomore, Nina Loeterman, 16, who was present at the discussion. “He made no anti-Semitic comments and only talked for one second about Israel. He said Israel is occupying land, but I mean, come on, Israel is occupying the Palestinian’s land. I consider myself a Zionist, but it’s the truth.”

Yet Newton resident Richard Salter, whose son, Daniel, is a freshman at the school, noted that the professor gave a “biased view of America’s foreign policy.”

“Kids walked out feeling great doubts about their country,” Richard added. “He said nothing negative about Arab countries and how they oppress their own people. I just think he’s too smart for this audience.”...