False reports flooded social media and the press on Tuesday evening that Noam Chomsky, 95, had died. His wife Valeria Wasserman Chomsky later confirmed the reports were untrue and he had been discharged from hospital. Prewritten obituaries published in The New Statesman and the Jacobin were taken down or updated, while Chomsky’s associates alongside millions of supporters quickly back-peddled on RIP and condolences shared online.
Just a week before the fake news media storm, Chomsky, the esteemed American linguist, political analyst and advocate for the oppressed, was reportedly showing signs of improved health after a year-long recovery since a massive stroke in June 2023. Chomsky was treated in São Paulo, Brazil under the care of his wife, a linguist from Rio de Janeiro.
According to Valeria Chomsky, last week her husband had been moved from intensive care to a regular hospital room, leading to his discharge on Tuesday. Although the stroke left him with speech and mobility problems on the right side of his body, Chomsky remains engaged with current events. Valeria noted that he raises his left arm in a gesture of lament and anger when he sees images of the war in Gaza.
Chomsky, 95, has a significant legacy as a critic and political commentator, best known for his vocal support of the Palestinian cause and his criticism of Israeli policies. He has written more than a hundred books, including four that focus specifically on Israel’s actions against the Palestinians.
In addition to his work on Israel and Palestine, Chomsky has been a strong advocate of the Kurdish cause. He has frequently spoken out against Turkey’s actions against the Kurds, highlighting atrocities committed in the 1990s, recent crimes in Afrin (Efrîn) and the invasion of Kurdish areas in Syria. Chomsky has also supported the implementation of Abdullah Öcalan’s model of democratic confederalism in northern and eastern Syria (Rojava).
During his hospitalisation, Chomsky was visited by Fernando Haddad, the Finance Minister in Brazil’s Workers’ Party government, underlining his continuing influence and the respect he commands internationally.
