Richard A. Falk
Encyclopedia
Richard Anderson Falk is an American
professor emeritus of international law
at Princeton University
, the author or co-author of 20 books and the editor or co-editor of another 20 books, speaker, activist on world affairs, and an appointee to two United Nations
positions on the Palestinian territories
.
Falk obtained a Bachelor of Science
in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
, a Bachelor of Laws
from Yale University
, and a Doctor of Laws (SJD) from Harvard University
. He is Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law and Practice, Emeritus at Princeton University
, and was Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara
(2001–04). He retired from teaching in 2001.
Falk has published a number of books and essays analyzing the legality of the Vietnam War
and other military operation
s. With regard to the 2003 invasion of Iraq
, he wrote that it is "inescapable that an objective observer would reach the conclusion that this Iraq War is a war of aggression
, and as such, that it amounts to a Crime against Peace of the sort for which surviving German leaders were indicted, prosecuted and punished at the Nuremberg trials
conducted shortly after the Second World War."
He is a member of the Editorial Board
s of The Nation
and The Progressive
, and Chair of the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
. He is a former advisory board member of the World Federalist Institute
and the American Movement for World Government. He is Distinguished Visiting Professor in Global & International Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara http://www.global.ucsb.edu/index.html.
During 1999–2000, Falk worked on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo.
(OHCHR) Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories with John Dugard
, a South African based in Leiden University
in the Netherlands
, and Kamal Hussein, former foreign minister
of Bangladesh
. Falk stated the two main issues were: "One is evaluating whether the conditions of occupation are such as to give the Palestinians some kind of right of resistance
. And if they have that right, then what are the limits to that right?" and "The other issue at stake in this current inquiry is to evaluate how Israel as the occupying power is carrying out its responsibility to protect the society that is subject to its control." After its investigation the commission issued a report entitled "Human rights inquiry commission to gather and compile information on the violation of human rights by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories."
(UNHRC) appointed Falk to a six-year term as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on "the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
occupied since 1967." Falk replaced South African professor John Dugard
, an expert on apartheid, who left his post in June 2008 after seven years.
i Ambassador to the United Nations Itzhak Levanon said that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was "hopelessly unbalanced... redundant at best and malicious at worst". Referring to Falk's statement that it was not "an irresponsible overstatement to associate the treatment of Palestinians with the criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity", Yitzhak Levanon argued that "someone who had publicly and repeatedly stated such views could not possibly be considered independent, impartial or objective". He stated the council was "missing an opportunity" to lay "the groundwork for better cooperation with Israel".
Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations
, John Bolton
, criticized Falk's appointment to the United Nations Human Rights Council, stating that "This is exactly why we voted against the new human rights council", and that "He was picked for a reason, and the reason is not to have an objective assessment — the objective is to find more ammunition to go after Israel."
Yitzhak Levanon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations
in Geneva
, criticized Falk's appointment in an address to the council, stating: "He has taken part in a UN fact-finding mission which determined that suicide bombings were a valid method of 'struggle'. He has disturbingly charged Israel with 'genocidal tendencies', and accused it of trying to achieve security through 'state terrorism
'. Someone who has publicly and repeatedly stated such views cannot possibly be considered independent, impartial or objective." The Israeli government announced it would deny Falk a visa to Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, at least until the September 2008 meeting of the Human Rights Council.
urged Israel to permit Falk entry, stating "Falk made no claims any different from those made by John Dugard, the man he was to replace, in several reports on conditions in the Occupied Territories." In a July 2008 interview Falk stated the constraints would "limit my exposure to the direct realities. But I think it's quite possible to perform this role without that exposure. Barring my entry complicates my task but doesn't make it undoable."
In June 2008, Falk proposed to the Human Rights Council that his mandate to investigate violations of international humanitarian law in the Palestinian territories be extended to include possible Palestinian infringements. He stated his goal was to "insulate" the Council, which is dominated by Islamic and African states, usually supported by China
, Cuba
and Russia
, "from those who contend that its work is tainted by partisan politics".
On December 9, 2008, the United Nations released a statement by Falk in his official capacity as "Special Rapporteur" noting that United Nations Secretary-General
Ban Ki-moon
, General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, among other top officials, have expressed concern for the “desperate plight” of civilians in Gaza
. Falk said: “And still Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its full fury, allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off mass famine and disease.” He outlined steps that must be taken to avoid a "humanitarian catastrophe" These included implementing the "responsibility to protect" a civilian population from collective punishment and a determination of "whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law", which The Jerusalem Post
wrote would go before the International Court of Justice
at The Hague
.
On December 14 Falk landed at Ben Gurion Airport with staff members from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on an official visit, planning to travel to the West Bank
and Gaza
to prepare a report on Israel's compliance with human rights standards and international humanitarian law. Israel detained him and held him for 30 hours, before releasing him on a flight to Geneva
on December 15. In an interview Falk stated the Israeli government distorts his real views and that he saw the expulsion as an "insidious pattern of trying to shift the attention from their objections to the person." Pillay called Israel's detention and expulsion of Falk as "unprecedented and deeply regrettable".
On December 27, 2008 Falk issued a statement condemning the December 2008 Israel strikes on Gaza as "war crimes" because they included collective punishment, targeting of civilians and a disproportionate military response to Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. He stated that Israel had ignored Hamas' diplomatic initiatives to re-establish the ceasefire which expired December 26 and condemned nations which provided Israel military support and participated in the siege of Gaza. In a Houston Chronicle
article Falk reaffirmed that he had "called on the International Criminal Court" to investigate Israeli leaders responsible for possible violations of international criminal law.
In March 2009, Falk stated that Israel's offensive in Gaza constituted a war crime of the "greatest magnitude". He called for an independent group to be set up to investigate the war crimes committed on both sides. The British government responded to Falk's report by stating that "the report of the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur is unbalanced and contributes little." Richard Goldstone
, head of the independent United Nations
fact-finding mission to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations related to the conflict, stated that he would take in account “relevant factors, reports, suggestions, recommendations”, including those of Richard Falk. Israel refused to cooperate with Goldstone, who said that he was shocked by the devastation in Gaza, and said he was not optimistic about the possibility of war crimes trials.
, which killed a researcher working there and injured another four people. The New York Times reported that Falk "appealed for full amnesty for all resistors, including those who use violent tactics to oppose the war in Vietnam." The Times further reported that Falk, "cited the Nuremberg Trials
as precedent for defense assertions that private American citizens had 'a right, and perhaps a duty' to actively oppose the war by any means". According to Ronald Christenson, political science professor at Gustavus Adolphus College
, Falk "invoked the Nuremberg precedent to argue that there is a right of individuals to stop crime 'even by creating a lesser crime'".
at his home in exile in France. Khomeini was little known in the US or outside of Iran
at the time, but was a leader of a massive protest movement in Iran that was soon to overthrow
the Shah
, a long-time and important ally of the United States who had come under heavy criticism for his human rights record
. Khomeini was to become Supreme Leader of Iran
before the end of the year.
On February 16, 1979, two weeks after Khomeini returned to Iran to lead the revolution, Falk spoke out strongly in his defense. In an opinion-editorial article for the New York Times, he condemned the depiction of Khomeini by certain American leaders "as fanatical, reactionary, and the bearer of crude prejudices", saying it seemed to be done "in a manner calculated to frighten".
In making the case that Khomeini's earlier statements of his intentions could be trusted, Falk explained that "Khomeini's style is to express his real views defiantly and without apology, regardless of consequences ... To suppose that Ayatollah Khomeini is dissembling seems almost beyond belief." He added "[H]aving created a new model of popular revolution based, for the most part, on nonviolent tactics, Iran may yet provide us with a desperately-needed model of humane governance for a third-world country."
Falk was criticized by other commentators for his remarks, and he later changed his opinion of Khomeini's regime. After the Iranian regime dismissed, arrested and killed dissidents, he called the regime "terroristic".
's book The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11
which maintains that the George W. Bush
administration was complicit in the September 11 attacks. In that preface he argued: "There have been questions raised here and there and allegations of official complicity made almost from the day of the attacks, especially in Europe, but no one until Griffin has had the patience, the fortitude, the courage, and the intelligence to put the pieces together in a single coherent account." Falk called for an official commission to further study these issues, including the role neoconservatives may have played in the attacks. He also signed a statement released by the organization 9/11 Truth in 2004 that calls for a new investigation into the September 11 attacks. Falk confirmed his support for the statement in 2009.
Falk also wrote a chapter for Griffin's 2006 book, 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out. In November 2008, Falk wrote in The Journal
, a student publication in Edinburgh, Scotland: “It is not paranoid under such circumstances to assume that the established elites of the American governmental structure have something to hide and much to explain... The persisting inability to resolve this fundamental controversy about 9/11 subtly taints the legitimacy of the American government. It can only be removed by a willingness, however belated, to reconstruct the truth of that day, and to reveal the story behind its prolonged suppression.”
During the June 2008 session of the UN Human Rights Council, UN Watch
executive director Hillel Neuer challenged Falk on his statements. "Could you tell us what credibility you expect your reports to have when leading newspapers such as The Times of London are commenting on your support for the 9/11 conspiracy theories of David Ray Griffin, who argues, and I quote from the Times article of April 15, 'that no plane hit the Pentagon,' and that 'the World Trade Center was brought down by a controlled demolition'? Although Egypt's representative objected with a point of order asking that this be stricken from the record, Council president Romulus Costea declined to accede, and Neuer's challenge remains on the official UN record. Falk never responded.
In January 2011 Susan Rice, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations
, suggested that Falk should be removed from his U.N. posts after he claimed on his blog that there had been an "apparent cover-up" by U.S. authorities over the September 11, 2001, attacks. Falk had written that there were "well-evidenced doubts about the official version of the events: an al Qaeda operation with no foreknowledge by government officials." United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon
likewise condemned Falk's blog posting, calling it "inflammatory rhetoric" which was "preposterous" and "an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in that tragic terrorist attack", and also suggested he should not continue in his United Nations role.
, Falk was highly critical of Operation Defensive Shield
, describing it as "state-sponsored terrorism". He claimed that the view of an "overwhelming majority" of the UN Security Council, and a UN Human Rights Commission inquiry he was a part of, was that suicide bombings took place only after the Palestinians "ran out of military options", and suicide attacks appeared as the only way to inflict sufficient harm on Israel so that "the struggle could go on". The UN inquiries found that Israel was responsible for the escalation of violence, and that their military response against the Palestinians constituted a violation of international law. Falk referred to the Passover massacre
as "horrifying", but claimed that Israel's response was "equally horrifying".
In a June 2007 article, "Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust", Falk compared some Israeli policies with regard to the Palestinians to the Nazi
record of collective punishment
, warning that Israel may be planning a Holocaust in the same way Nazi Germany
did. Identifying himself as a Jewish American
, Falk stated that his use of the term 'Holocaust' "represents a rather desperate appeal to the governments of the world and to international public opinion to act urgently to prevent these current [Israeli] genocidal tendencies from culminating in a collective tragedy [for the Palestinians]". Falk also stated that "the comparison should not be viewed as literal, but... that a pattern of criminality associated with Israeli policies in Gaza
has actually been supported by the leading democracies of the 21st century." Falk argued that Western and Arab states were associated in a "pattern of criminality" akin to states which let Hitler oppress German Jews in the 1930s. He also denied that Hamas
was a terrorist organization and that it was always ready to work with other Palestinian groups towards "acceptance of Israel's existence", called Israel's disengagement from Gaza
a "sham" in which 300 Gazans were killed since Israel's "supposed physical departure", and claimed that Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip had brought Gaza to "the brink of collective starvation, imposing a "sub-human existence on a people" through "collective punishment, and that Israeli policies were "indeed genocidal". In late December 2009, Falk again criticized Israel's blockade, and called for Israel to be threatened with economic sanctions if the blockade was not lifted.
Falk responded to the criticism by saying, "If this kind of situation had existed for instance in the manner in which China was dealing with Tibet
or the Sudan
ese government was dealing with Darfur
, I think there would be no reluctance to make that comparison." He attributed the reluctance to criticise Israel's policies to the sensitive history of the Jewish people, as well as the state's ability to "avoid having (its) policies held up to international law and morality".
Falk is on the advisory board of FFIPP-USA (Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-USA), a network of Palestinian, Israeli, and International faculty, and students, working in for an end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and just peace. He visited the Palestine Center
in Washington DC in October 2009 and gave a lecture entitled "Imagining Israel-Palestine Peace: Why International Law Matters."
In his final report as UN Special Rapporteur he detailed the accusation that Israel was practicing a policy of apartheid
in the Palestinian territories:
In 2011, Falk claimed that Israeli policies in Jerusalem amounted to "ethnic cleansing" against the Palestinian population, and urged the Human Rights Council to ask the International Court of Justice
to investigate Israel for acts of "colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing inconsistent with international humanitarian law" committed during its occupation of the Palestinian territories.
, Falk published an op-ed in Al Jazeera
against the proposals for military intervention
. Falk stated in the article that military intervention was illegal under international law, and that "the Gaddafi government, however distasteful on humanitarian grounds, remains the lawful diplomatic representative of a sovereign state". Falk also stated that any intervention would be pro-insurgency rather than counter-insurgency, and criticized politicians who supported intervention, arguing that "it seems that many of the Republicans focused on the deficit although cutting public expidentures punishes the poor at a time of widespread unemployment and home foreclosures would not mind ponying up countless billions to finance acts of war in Libya".
In another op-ed in Today's Zaman
, Falk argued that unlike protests in other countries, the Libyan opposition was reliant on military force "almost from the start", and that violent political reaction from within to Gaddafi’s regime was fully justified as an "expression of Libyan self-determination". He also claimed that the intervention was not to protect civilians from attack, but to ensure a rebel victory and the defeat of Gaddafi.
while devouring bloody human bones.
UN Watch
called on United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to condemn Falk. Pillay responded, saying that the cartoon was antisemitic and objectionable. The United States
called Falk's behavior "shameful and outrageous" and "an embarrassment to the United Nations", and officially called on him to resign. US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
, chairwoman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee
called on Falk to resign as well. The Anti-Defamation League
described the cartoon as a "message of hatred".
Falk initially called the complaint by UN Watch against the cartoon a "complete lie". He later removed the cartoon, saying: "Maybe I do not understand the cartoon... I certainly didn’t realize that it could be viewed as anti-Semitic, and still do not realize." Later still, he stated that he had thought the Jewish head covering on the dog, adorned with the Star of David, was a helmet. He acknowledged that the cartoon was antisemitic and apologized for posting it.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
professor emeritus of international law
International law
Public international law concerns the structure and conduct of sovereign states; analogous entities, such as the Holy See; and intergovernmental organizations. To a lesser degree, international law also may affect multinational corporations and individuals, an impact increasingly evolving beyond...
at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, the author or co-author of 20 books and the editor or co-editor of another 20 books, speaker, activist on world affairs, and an appointee to two United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
positions on the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
.
Life and work
Falk described his family background as "assimilationist Jewish with a virtual denial of even the ethnic side of Jewishness", and more recently described himself as "an American Jew".Falk obtained a Bachelor of Science
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science is an undergraduate academic degree awarded for completed courses that generally last three to five years .-Australia:In Australia, the BSc is a 3 year degree, offered from 1st year on...
in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
, a Bachelor of Laws
Bachelor of Laws
The Bachelor of Laws is an undergraduate, or bachelor, degree in law originating in England and offered in most common law countries as the primary law degree...
from Yale University
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
, and a Doctor of Laws (SJD) from Harvard University
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
. He is Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law and Practice, Emeritus at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
, and was Visiting Distinguished Professor in Global and International Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
(2001–04). He retired from teaching in 2001.
Falk has published a number of books and essays analyzing the legality of the Vietnam War
Legality of the Vietnam War
The legality of the Vietnam War refers to the lawfulness of the 1965-1975 U.S. military activity that occurred in Vietnam.-U.S. law:The Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, passed in 1964, authorized U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson to use military force in Southeast Asia. The Resolution was repealed in...
and other military operation
Military operation
Military operation is the coordinated military actions of a state in response to a developing situation. These actions are designed as a military plan to resolve the situation in the state's favor. Operations may be of combat or non-combat types, and are referred to by a code name for the purpose...
s. With regard to the 2003 invasion of Iraq
2003 invasion of Iraq
The 2003 invasion of Iraq , was the start of the conflict known as the Iraq War, or Operation Iraqi Freedom, in which a combined force of troops from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Poland invaded Iraq and toppled the regime of Saddam Hussein in 21 days of major combat operations...
, he wrote that it is "inescapable that an objective observer would reach the conclusion that this Iraq War is a war of aggression
War of aggression
A war of aggression, sometimes also war of conquest, is a military conflict waged without the justification of self-defense usually for territorial gain and subjugation. The phrase is distinctly modern and diametrically opposed to the prior legal international standard of "might makes right", under...
, and as such, that it amounts to a Crime against Peace of the sort for which surviving German leaders were indicted, prosecuted and punished at the Nuremberg trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
conducted shortly after the Second World War."
He is a member of the Editorial Board
Editorial board
The editorial board is a group of people, usually at a publication, who dictate the tone and direction the publication's editorial policy will take.- Board makeup :...
s of The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
and The Progressive
The Progressive
The Progressive is an American monthly magazine of politics, culture and progressivism with a pronounced liberal perspective on some issues. Known for its pacifism, it has strongly opposed military interventions, such as the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. The magazine also devotes much coverage...
, and Chair of the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
Nuclear Age Peace Foundation
The Nuclear Age Peace Foundation is a non-profit international organization on the roster in consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council...
. He is a former advisory board member of the World Federalist Institute
Citizens for Global Solutions
Citizens for Global Solutions, a grassroots membership organization in the United States, envisions a "future in which nations work together to abolish war, protect our rights and freedoms and solve the problems facing humanity that no nation can solve alone" and to "building the political will in...
and the American Movement for World Government. He is Distinguished Visiting Professor in Global & International Studies, University of California at Santa Barbara http://www.global.ucsb.edu/index.html.
During 1999–2000, Falk worked on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo.
United Nations Human Rights Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories
In 2001 Falk served on a United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights is a United Nations agency that works to promote and protect the human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948...
(OHCHR) Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories with John Dugard
John Dugard
John Dugard is a South African professor of international law. He has served as Judge ad hoc on the International Court of Justice and as a Special Rapporteur for both the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the International Law Commission...
, a South African based in Leiden University
Leiden University
Leiden University , located in the city of Leiden, is the oldest university in the Netherlands. The university was founded in 1575 by William, Prince of Orange, leader of the Dutch Revolt in the Eighty Years' War. The royal Dutch House of Orange-Nassau and Leiden University still have a close...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
, and Kamal Hussein, former foreign minister
Foreign minister
A Minister of Foreign Affairs, or foreign minister, is a cabinet minister who helps form the foreign policy of a sovereign state. The foreign minister is often regarded as the most senior ministerial position below that of the head of government . It is often granted to the deputy prime minister in...
of Bangladesh
Bangladesh
Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...
. Falk stated the two main issues were: "One is evaluating whether the conditions of occupation are such as to give the Palestinians some kind of right of resistance
Resistance movement
A resistance movement is a group or collection of individual groups, dedicated to opposing an invader in an occupied country or the government of a sovereign state. It may seek to achieve its objects through either the use of nonviolent resistance or the use of armed force...
. And if they have that right, then what are the limits to that right?" and "The other issue at stake in this current inquiry is to evaluate how Israel as the occupying power is carrying out its responsibility to protect the society that is subject to its control." After its investigation the commission issued a report entitled "Human rights inquiry commission to gather and compile information on the violation of human rights by Israel in the occupied Palestinian territories."
United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights
On March 26, 2008, the United Nations Human Rights CouncilUnited Nations Human Rights Council
The United Nations Human Rights Council is an inter-governmental body within the United Nations System. The UNHRC is the successor to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights , and is a subsidiary body of the United Nations General Assembly...
(UNHRC) appointed Falk to a six-year term as a United Nations Special Rapporteur on "the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories
Palestinian territories
The Palestinian territories comprise the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. Since the Palestinian Declaration of Independence in 1988, the region is today recognized by three-quarters of the world's countries as the State of Palestine or simply Palestine, although this status is not recognized by the...
occupied since 1967." Falk replaced South African professor John Dugard
John Dugard
John Dugard is a South African professor of international law. He has served as Judge ad hoc on the International Court of Justice and as a Special Rapporteur for both the former United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the International Law Commission...
, an expert on apartheid, who left his post in June 2008 after seven years.
Response to appointment
According to a UN press release, then IsraelIsrael
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
i Ambassador to the United Nations Itzhak Levanon said that the mandate of the Special Rapporteur was "hopelessly unbalanced... redundant at best and malicious at worst". Referring to Falk's statement that it was not "an irresponsible overstatement to associate the treatment of Palestinians with the criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity", Yitzhak Levanon argued that "someone who had publicly and repeatedly stated such views could not possibly be considered independent, impartial or objective". He stated the council was "missing an opportunity" to lay "the groundwork for better cooperation with Israel".
Former United States Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
, John Bolton
John R. Bolton
John Robert Bolton is an American lawyer and diplomat who has served in several Republican presidential administrations. He served as the U.S. Permanent Representative to the United Nations from August 2005 until December 2006 on a recess appointment...
, criticized Falk's appointment to the United Nations Human Rights Council, stating that "This is exactly why we voted against the new human rights council", and that "He was picked for a reason, and the reason is not to have an objective assessment — the objective is to find more ammunition to go after Israel."
Yitzhak Levanon, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
in Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, criticized Falk's appointment in an address to the council, stating: "He has taken part in a UN fact-finding mission which determined that suicide bombings were a valid method of 'struggle'. He has disturbingly charged Israel with 'genocidal tendencies', and accused it of trying to achieve security through 'state terrorism
State terrorism
State terrorism may refer to acts of terrorism conducted by a state against a foreign state or people. It can also refer to acts of violence by a state against its own people.-Definition:...
'. Someone who has publicly and repeatedly stated such views cannot possibly be considered independent, impartial or objective." The Israeli government announced it would deny Falk a visa to Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, at least until the September 2008 meeting of the Human Rights Council.
Investigations and statements
In May 2008 Israel refused to admit Falk to gather information for a report. The National Lawyers GuildNational Lawyers Guild
The National Lawyers Guild is an advocacy group in the United States "dedicated to the need for basic and progressive change in the structure of our political and economic system . ....
urged Israel to permit Falk entry, stating "Falk made no claims any different from those made by John Dugard, the man he was to replace, in several reports on conditions in the Occupied Territories." In a July 2008 interview Falk stated the constraints would "limit my exposure to the direct realities. But I think it's quite possible to perform this role without that exposure. Barring my entry complicates my task but doesn't make it undoable."
In June 2008, Falk proposed to the Human Rights Council that his mandate to investigate violations of international humanitarian law in the Palestinian territories be extended to include possible Palestinian infringements. He stated his goal was to "insulate" the Council, which is dominated by Islamic and African states, usually supported by China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Cuba
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, "from those who contend that its work is tainted by partisan politics".
On December 9, 2008, the United Nations released a statement by Falk in his official capacity as "Special Rapporteur" noting that United Nations Secretary-General
United Nations Secretary-General
The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the head of the Secretariat of the United Nations, one of the principal organs of the United Nations. The Secretary-General also acts as the de facto spokesperson and leader of the United Nations....
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
, General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto and UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay, among other top officials, have expressed concern for the “desperate plight” of civilians in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
. Falk said: “And still Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its full fury, allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off mass famine and disease.” He outlined steps that must be taken to avoid a "humanitarian catastrophe" These included implementing the "responsibility to protect" a civilian population from collective punishment and a determination of "whether the Israeli civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international criminal law", which The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
wrote would go before the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
at The Hague
The Hague
The Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
.
On December 14 Falk landed at Ben Gurion Airport with staff members from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights on an official visit, planning to travel to the West Bank
West Bank
The West Bank ) of the Jordan River is the landlocked geographical eastern part of the Palestinian territories located in Western Asia. To the west, north, and south, the West Bank shares borders with the state of Israel. To the east, across the Jordan River, lies the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan...
and Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
to prepare a report on Israel's compliance with human rights standards and international humanitarian law. Israel detained him and held him for 30 hours, before releasing him on a flight to Geneva
Geneva
Geneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
on December 15. In an interview Falk stated the Israeli government distorts his real views and that he saw the expulsion as an "insidious pattern of trying to shift the attention from their objections to the person." Pillay called Israel's detention and expulsion of Falk as "unprecedented and deeply regrettable".
On December 27, 2008 Falk issued a statement condemning the December 2008 Israel strikes on Gaza as "war crimes" because they included collective punishment, targeting of civilians and a disproportionate military response to Hamas rocket attacks on Israel. He stated that Israel had ignored Hamas' diplomatic initiatives to re-establish the ceasefire which expired December 26 and condemned nations which provided Israel military support and participated in the siege of Gaza. In a Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
article Falk reaffirmed that he had "called on the International Criminal Court" to investigate Israeli leaders responsible for possible violations of international criminal law.
In March 2009, Falk stated that Israel's offensive in Gaza constituted a war crime of the "greatest magnitude". He called for an independent group to be set up to investigate the war crimes committed on both sides. The British government responded to Falk's report by stating that "the report of the UN Human Rights Council's Special Rapporteur is unbalanced and contributes little." Richard Goldstone
Richard Goldstone
Richard Joseph Goldstone is a South African former judge. After working for 17 years as a commercial lawyer, he was appointed by the South African government to serve on the Transvaal Supreme Court from 1980 to 1989 and the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of South Africa from 1990 to 1994...
, head of the independent United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
fact-finding mission to investigate international human rights and humanitarian law violations related to the conflict, stated that he would take in account “relevant factors, reports, suggestions, recommendations”, including those of Richard Falk. Israel refused to cooperate with Goldstone, who said that he was shocked by the devastation in Gaza, and said he was not optimistic about the possibility of war crimes trials.
Nuremberg Defense of Violent Vietnam War Protesters
In October, 1973, Falk defended Karleton Armstrong, who pleaded guilty to bombing the University of Wisconsin Army Mathematics Research CenterSterling Hall bombing
The Sterling Hall Bombing that occurred on the University of Wisconsin–Madison campus on August 24, 1970 was committed by four young people as a protest against the University's research connections with the US military during the Vietnam War...
, which killed a researcher working there and injured another four people. The New York Times reported that Falk "appealed for full amnesty for all resistors, including those who use violent tactics to oppose the war in Vietnam." The Times further reported that Falk, "cited the Nuremberg Trials
Nuremberg Trials
The Nuremberg Trials were a series of military tribunals, held by the victorious Allied forces of World War II, most notable for the prosecution of prominent members of the political, military, and economic leadership of the defeated Nazi Germany....
as precedent for defense assertions that private American citizens had 'a right, and perhaps a duty' to actively oppose the war by any means". According to Ronald Christenson, political science professor at Gustavus Adolphus College
Gustavus Adolphus College
Gustavus Adolphus College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America located in St. Peter, Minnesota, United States. A coeducational, four-year, residential institution, it was founded in 1862 by Swedish Americans. To this day the school is firmly...
, Falk "invoked the Nuremberg precedent to argue that there is a right of individuals to stop crime 'even by creating a lesser crime'".
View on Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979
In early 1979, when Falk was a professor of International Law at Princeton, he joined a group of Americans visiting Ayatollah Ruhollah KhomeiniRuhollah Khomeini
Grand Ayatollah Sayyed Ruhollah Musavi Khomeini was an Iranian religious leader and politician, and leader of the 1979 Iranian Revolution which saw the overthrow of Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the Shah of Iran...
at his home in exile in France. Khomeini was little known in the US or outside of Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
at the time, but was a leader of a massive protest movement in Iran that was soon to overthrow
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...
the Shah
Mohammad Reza Pahlavi
Mohammad Rezā Shāh Pahlavi, Shah of Iran, Shah of Persia , ruled Iran from 16 September 1941 until his overthrow by the Iranian Revolution on 11 February 1979...
, a long-time and important ally of the United States who had come under heavy criticism for his human rights record
Human rights in the Imperial State of Iran
The National Assembly of Iran, known as the Majlis, convening as a constituent assembly on December 12, 1925, deposed the last Qajar Shah, and declared Reza Shah the new monarch of the Imperial State of Iran.-Pahlavi dynasty:...
. Khomeini was to become Supreme Leader of Iran
Supreme Leader of Iran
The Supreme Leader of Iran is the highest ranking political and religious authority in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The post was established by the constitution in accordance with the concept of Guardianship of the Islamic Jurists...
before the end of the year.
On February 16, 1979, two weeks after Khomeini returned to Iran to lead the revolution, Falk spoke out strongly in his defense. In an opinion-editorial article for the New York Times, he condemned the depiction of Khomeini by certain American leaders "as fanatical, reactionary, and the bearer of crude prejudices", saying it seemed to be done "in a manner calculated to frighten".
In making the case that Khomeini's earlier statements of his intentions could be trusted, Falk explained that "Khomeini's style is to express his real views defiantly and without apology, regardless of consequences ... To suppose that Ayatollah Khomeini is dissembling seems almost beyond belief." He added "[H]aving created a new model of popular revolution based, for the most part, on nonviolent tactics, Iran may yet provide us with a desperately-needed model of humane governance for a third-world country."
Falk was criticized by other commentators for his remarks, and he later changed his opinion of Khomeini's regime. After the Iranian regime dismissed, arrested and killed dissidents, he called the regime "terroristic".
9/11 and the Bush administration
In 2004, Falk wrote the preface to David Ray GriffinDavid Ray Griffin
David Ray Griffin is a retired American professor of philosophy of religion and theology. Along with John B. Cobb, Jr., he founded the Center for Process Studies in 1973, a research center of Claremont School of Theology which seeks to promote the common good by means of the relational approach...
's book The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11
The New Pearl Harbor
The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11 is a book written by David Ray Griffin, a retired professor of philosophy at the Claremont School of Theology. It draws analogies between the September 11, 2001, attacks and the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941...
which maintains that the George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration was complicit in the September 11 attacks. In that preface he argued: "There have been questions raised here and there and allegations of official complicity made almost from the day of the attacks, especially in Europe, but no one until Griffin has had the patience, the fortitude, the courage, and the intelligence to put the pieces together in a single coherent account." Falk called for an official commission to further study these issues, including the role neoconservatives may have played in the attacks. He also signed a statement released by the organization 9/11 Truth in 2004 that calls for a new investigation into the September 11 attacks. Falk confirmed his support for the statement in 2009.
Falk also wrote a chapter for Griffin's 2006 book, 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out. In November 2008, Falk wrote in The Journal
The Journal (student newspaper)
The Journal is an independent, fortnightly, local newspaper produced by students at seven major higher and further education institutes in Edinburgh...
, a student publication in Edinburgh, Scotland: “It is not paranoid under such circumstances to assume that the established elites of the American governmental structure have something to hide and much to explain... The persisting inability to resolve this fundamental controversy about 9/11 subtly taints the legitimacy of the American government. It can only be removed by a willingness, however belated, to reconstruct the truth of that day, and to reveal the story behind its prolonged suppression.”
During the June 2008 session of the UN Human Rights Council, UN Watch
UN Watch
UN Watch is a Geneva-based NGO whose stated mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter". It is an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council and an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information...
executive director Hillel Neuer challenged Falk on his statements. "Could you tell us what credibility you expect your reports to have when leading newspapers such as The Times of London are commenting on your support for the 9/11 conspiracy theories of David Ray Griffin, who argues, and I quote from the Times article of April 15, 'that no plane hit the Pentagon,' and that 'the World Trade Center was brought down by a controlled demolition'? Although Egypt's representative objected with a point of order asking that this be stricken from the record, Council president Romulus Costea declined to accede, and Neuer's challenge remains on the official UN record. Falk never responded.
In January 2011 Susan Rice, the United States Ambassador to the United Nations
United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation, the U.S. Mission to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador...
, suggested that Falk should be removed from his U.N. posts after he claimed on his blog that there had been an "apparent cover-up" by U.S. authorities over the September 11, 2001, attacks. Falk had written that there were "well-evidenced doubts about the official version of the events: an al Qaeda operation with no foreknowledge by government officials." United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon
Ban Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
likewise condemned Falk's blog posting, calling it "inflammatory rhetoric" which was "preposterous" and "an affront to the memory of the more than 3,000 people who died in that tragic terrorist attack", and also suggested he should not continue in his United Nations role.
Statements on Israeli-Palestinian conflict
In a 2002 op-ed in The NationThe Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
, Falk was highly critical of Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield
Operation Defensive Shield was a large-scale military operation conducted by the Israel Defense Forces in 2002, during the course of the Second Intifada. It was the largest military operation in the West Bank since the 1967 Six-Day War. The operation was an attempt by the Israeli army to stop the...
, describing it as "state-sponsored terrorism". He claimed that the view of an "overwhelming majority" of the UN Security Council, and a UN Human Rights Commission inquiry he was a part of, was that suicide bombings took place only after the Palestinians "ran out of military options", and suicide attacks appeared as the only way to inflict sufficient harm on Israel so that "the struggle could go on". The UN inquiries found that Israel was responsible for the escalation of violence, and that their military response against the Palestinians constituted a violation of international law. Falk referred to the Passover massacre
Passover massacre
The Passover massacre was a suicide bombing carried out by Hamas at the Park Hotel in Netanya, Israel on March 27, 2002, during a Passover seder. Thirty civilians were killed in the attack and 140 were injured...
as "horrifying", but claimed that Israel's response was "equally horrifying".
In a June 2007 article, "Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust", Falk compared some Israeli policies with regard to the Palestinians to the Nazi
Nazism
Nazism, the common short form name of National Socialism was the ideology and practice of the Nazi Party and of Nazi Germany...
record of collective punishment
Collective punishment
Collective punishment is the punishment of a group of people as a result of the behavior of one or more other individuals or groups. The punished group may often have no direct association with the other individuals or groups, or direct control over their actions...
, warning that Israel may be planning a Holocaust in the same way Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
did. Identifying himself as a Jewish American
American Jews
American Jews, also known as Jewish Americans, are American citizens of the Jewish faith or Jewish ethnicity. The Jewish community in the United States is composed predominantly of Ashkenazi Jews who emigrated from Central and Eastern Europe, and their U.S.-born descendants...
, Falk stated that his use of the term 'Holocaust' "represents a rather desperate appeal to the governments of the world and to international public opinion to act urgently to prevent these current [Israeli] genocidal tendencies from culminating in a collective tragedy [for the Palestinians]". Falk also stated that "the comparison should not be viewed as literal, but... that a pattern of criminality associated with Israeli policies in Gaza
Gaza
Gaza , also referred to as Gaza City, is a Palestinian city in the Gaza Strip, with a population of about 450,000, making it the largest city in the Palestinian territories.Inhabited since at least the 15th century BC,...
has actually been supported by the leading democracies of the 21st century." Falk argued that Western and Arab states were associated in a "pattern of criminality" akin to states which let Hitler oppress German Jews in the 1930s. He also denied that Hamas
Hamas
Hamas is the Palestinian Sunni Islamic or Islamist political party that governs the Gaza Strip. Hamas also has a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades...
was a terrorist organization and that it was always ready to work with other Palestinian groups towards "acceptance of Israel's existence", called Israel's disengagement from Gaza
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan
Israel's unilateral disengagement plan , also known as the "Disengagement plan", "Gaza expulsion plan", and "Hitnatkut", was a proposal by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, adopted by the government on June 6, 2004 and enacted in August 2005, to evict all Israelis from the Gaza Strip and from...
a "sham" in which 300 Gazans were killed since Israel's "supposed physical departure", and claimed that Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip had brought Gaza to "the brink of collective starvation, imposing a "sub-human existence on a people" through "collective punishment, and that Israeli policies were "indeed genocidal". In late December 2009, Falk again criticized Israel's blockade, and called for Israel to be threatened with economic sanctions if the blockade was not lifted.
Falk responded to the criticism by saying, "If this kind of situation had existed for instance in the manner in which China was dealing with Tibet
Tibet
Tibet is a plateau region in Asia, north-east of the Himalayas. It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people as well as some other ethnic groups such as Monpas, Qiang, and Lhobas, and is now also inhabited by considerable numbers of Han and Hui people...
or the Sudan
Sudan
Sudan , officially the Republic of the Sudan , is a country in North Africa, sometimes considered part of the Middle East politically. It is bordered by Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the northeast, Eritrea and Ethiopia to the east, South Sudan to the south, the Central African Republic to the...
ese government was dealing with Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
, I think there would be no reluctance to make that comparison." He attributed the reluctance to criticise Israel's policies to the sensitive history of the Jewish people, as well as the state's ability to "avoid having (its) policies held up to international law and morality".
Falk is on the advisory board of FFIPP-USA (Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-USA), a network of Palestinian, Israeli, and International faculty, and students, working in for an end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and just peace. He visited the Palestine Center
Palestine Center
The Palestine Center is an independent think tank based in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C.. Their focus is on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and other Middle East issues....
in Washington DC in October 2009 and gave a lecture entitled "Imagining Israel-Palestine Peace: Why International Law Matters."
In his final report as UN Special Rapporteur he detailed the accusation that Israel was practicing a policy of apartheid
Crime of apartheid
The crime of apartheid is defined by the 2002 Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court as inhumane acts of a character similar to other crimes against humanity "committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial group over any other...
in the Palestinian territories:
"It is this general structure of apartheid that exists in the Occupied Palestinian Territories that makes the allegation increasingly credible despite the differences between the specific characteristics of South African apartheid and that of the Occupied Palestinian Territories regime. There is a question of definition as to whether Jews and Palestinians are “racial groups” within the meaning of these legal instruments. Some salient apartheid characteristics will be listed, although owing to limitations of space it is not possible to provide detailed accounts of these features of the occupation. For details on the apartheid character of the Israeli occupation, there exists an expert study that is both reliable and convincing. 13 Among the salient apartheid features of the Israeli occupation are the following: preferential citizenship, visitation and residence laws and practices that prevent Palestinians who reside in the West Bank or Gaza from reclaiming their property or from acquiring Israeli citizenship, as contrasted to a Jewish right of return that entitles Jews anywhere in the world with no prior tie to Israel to visit, reside and become Israeli citizens; differential laws in the West Bank and East Jerusalem favouring Jewish settlers who are subject to Israeli civilian law and constitutional protection, as opposed to Palestinian residents, who are governed by military administration; dual and discriminatory arrangements for movement in the West Bank and to and from Jerusalem; discriminatory policies on land ownership, tenure and use; extensive burdening of Palestinian movement, including checkpoints applying differential limitations on Palestinians and on Israeli settlers, and onerous permit and identification requirements imposed only on Palestinians; punitive house demolitions, expulsions and restrictions on entry and exit from all three parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories."
In 2011, Falk claimed that Israeli policies in Jerusalem amounted to "ethnic cleansing" against the Palestinian population, and urged the Human Rights Council to ask the International Court of Justice
International Court of Justice
The International Court of Justice is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands...
to investigate Israel for acts of "colonialism, apartheid, and ethnic cleansing inconsistent with international humanitarian law" committed during its occupation of the Palestinian territories.
Libya
During the 2011 Libyan civil war2011 Libyan civil war
The 2011 Libyan civil war was an armed conflict in the North African state of Libya, fought between forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and those seeking to oust his government. The war was preceded by protests in Benghazi beginning on 15 February 2011, which led to clashes with security...
, Falk published an op-ed in Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
against the proposals for military intervention
2011 military intervention in Libya
On 19 March 2011, a multi-state coalition began a military intervention in Libya to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973, which was taken in response to events during the 2011 Libyan civil war...
. Falk stated in the article that military intervention was illegal under international law, and that "the Gaddafi government, however distasteful on humanitarian grounds, remains the lawful diplomatic representative of a sovereign state". Falk also stated that any intervention would be pro-insurgency rather than counter-insurgency, and criticized politicians who supported intervention, arguing that "it seems that many of the Republicans focused on the deficit although cutting public expidentures punishes the poor at a time of widespread unemployment and home foreclosures would not mind ponying up countless billions to finance acts of war in Libya".
In another op-ed in Today's Zaman
Today's Zaman
Today's Zaman is one of two English-language dailies based in Turkey. Established on January 16, 2007, the newspaper's main competitor is the older Hürriyet Daily News....
, Falk argued that unlike protests in other countries, the Libyan opposition was reliant on military force "almost from the start", and that violent political reaction from within to Gaddafi’s regime was fully justified as an "expression of Libyan self-determination". He also claimed that the intervention was not to protect civilians from attack, but to ensure a rebel victory and the defeat of Gaddafi.
2011 cartoon controversy
In July 2011, Falk was called on to resign his U.N. appointment as Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories after a cartoon he published on his blog was criticized as being antisemitic and anti-American. The cartoon depicted a dog with a Jewish head-covering and a sweater with the letters "USA" urinating on Lady JusticeLady Justice
Lady Justice |Dike]]) is an allegorical personification of the moral force in judicial systems.-Depiction:The personification of justice balancing the scales of truth and fairness dates back to the Goddess Maat, and later Isis, of ancient Egypt. The Hellenic deities Themis and Dike were later...
while devouring bloody human bones.
UN Watch
UN Watch
UN Watch is a Geneva-based NGO whose stated mission is "to monitor the performance of the United Nations by the yardstick of its own Charter". It is an accredited NGO in Special Consultative Status to the UN Economic and Social Council and an Associate NGO to the UN Department of Public Information...
called on United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay to condemn Falk. Pillay responded, saying that the cartoon was antisemitic and objectionable. The United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
called Falk's behavior "shameful and outrageous" and "an embarrassment to the United Nations", and officially called on him to resign. US Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is the U.S. Representative for , serving since 1989. She is a member of the Republican Party....
, chairwoman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee
Foreign Affairs Committee
Foreign Affairs Committee may refer to—*Canadian Senate Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs*Canadian House of Commons Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development*Committee on Foreign Affairs...
called on Falk to resign as well. The Anti-Defamation League
Anti-Defamation League
The Anti-Defamation League is an international non-governmental organization based in the United States. Describing itself as "the nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency", the ADL states that it "fights anti-Semitism and all forms of bigotry, defends democratic ideals and protects...
described the cartoon as a "message of hatred".
Falk initially called the complaint by UN Watch against the cartoon a "complete lie". He later removed the cartoon, saying: "Maybe I do not understand the cartoon... I certainly didn’t realize that it could be viewed as anti-Semitic, and still do not realize." Later still, he stated that he had thought the Jewish head covering on the dog, adorned with the Star of David, was a helmet. He acknowledged that the cartoon was antisemitic and apologized for posting it.
Published works
- Essays on Espionage and International Law with Quincy Wright, Julius Stone, Roland J. Stanger; Ohio State University Press, 1962
- Security in Disarmament, Editor with Richard J. Barnet, Princeton University Press, 1965
- Toward a Theory of War Prevention, with Saul H. Mendlovitz, Transaction Publishers, 1966
- Strategy of World Order (Volumes I to IV), edited with Saul H. Mendlovitz, World Law Fund, 1966–67
- Legal Order In A Violent World, Princeton University Press, 1968
- International Law And Organization, Editor with Wolfram F. Hanrieder, Lippincott, 1968.
- The Six Legal Dimensions of the Vietnam War, Princeton University Press, 1968
- In the Name of America-The Conduct of the War in Vietnam by the Armed Forces of the U.S., editor with Seymour Melman, E.P. Dutton, 1968
- The Vietnam war and international law, edited by Richard A. Falk with Wolfram F. Hanrieder; J. B. Lippincott, 1968.
- A Global Approach to National Policy, Harvard University Press, 1975.
- Crimes of War: A Legal, Political-Documentary, and Psychological Inquiry into the Responsibility of Leaders, Citizens, and Soldiers for Criminal Acts in Wars with Gabriel Kolko, Robert Jay Lifton; Random House, 1971
- The United Nations and a Just World Order with Samuel S. Kim, Saul H. Mendlovitz; Westview Press, 1991
- This Endangered Planet, Random House, 1971
- Regional Politics and World Order with Saul H. Mendlovitz, W.H.Freeman & Co Ltd, 1973.
- A Study of Future Worlds, Free Press, 1975
- The Vietnam War and International Law, Editor, Pinceton University Press, 1976
- Human Rights and State Sovereignty, Holmes & Meier Publishers, 1981
- International Law: A Contemporary Perspective (Studies on a Just World Order, No 2) with Friedrich Kratochwil, Saul H. Mendlovitz; Westview Press, 1985
- Revolutionaries and Functionaries, Dutton Adult, 1988
- The Promise of World Order: Essays in Normative International Relations, Temple University Press, 1988
- Explorations at the Edge of Time: The Prospects for World Order, Temple University Press, 1993.
- On Humane Governance: Toward a New Global Politics – The World Order Models Project Report of the Global Civilization Initiative, Pennsylvania State University Press, 1995
- Indefensible Weapons: The Political and Psychological Case Against Nuclearism with Robert Jay Lifton, House of Anansi Press, 1998
- Predatory Globalization: A Critique, Polity, 1999
- Human Rights Horizons: The Pursuit of Justice in a Globalizing World, Routledge, 2001
- Reframing the International: Law, Culture, Politics, Routledge, 2002
- Unlocking the Middle East: The Writings of Richard Falk, Jean Allain, Editor; Olive Branch Press, 2002.
- In Pursuit of the Right to Self-Determination Collected Papers of the First International, Editor with D. Kly, Clarity Press, 2001
- Religion and Humane Global Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, 2001
- The Great Terror War, Interlink Publishing Group, 2002
- The Declining World Order: America's Imperial Geopolitics, Routledge, 2004
- The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9-11 (Foreword) by David Ray GriffinDavid Ray GriffinDavid Ray Griffin is a retired American professor of philosophy of religion and theology. Along with John B. Cobb, Jr., he founded the Center for Process Studies in 1973, a research center of Claremont School of Theology which seeks to promote the common good by means of the relational approach...
, Interlink Books, 2004 - The Record of the Paper: How the New York Times Misreports US Foreign Policy with Howard FrielHoward FrielHoward Friel is a U.S. independent scholar and author who wrote The Lomborg Deception: Setting the Record Straight About Global Warming, , a critique of Bjørn Lomborg's books The Skeptical Environmentalist and Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming.He also co-authored...
, Verso, 2004 - Crimes of War: Iraq with Irene Gendzier, Robert Jay Lifton; Nation Books, 2006
- Foundations of Restoration Ecology: The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration (The Science and Practice of Ecological Restoration Series) with Richard J. Hobbs, Donald A. Falk, Margaret Palmer, and Joy Zedler; Island Press, 2006
- The Costs of War: International Law, the UN, and World Order after Iraq, Routledge, 2007
- Israel-Palestine on Record: How the New York Times Misreports Conflict in the Middle East with Howard Friel, Verso, 2007
- Achieving Human Rights, Routledge, 2008
- International Law and the Third World: Reshaping Justice (Routledge-Cavendish Research in International Law), Editor, Routledge, July 29, 2008
External links
- United Nations website page on Occupied Palestinian Territory, including work of Richard Falk.
- Democracy Now interview with Richard Falk, December 17, 2008.
- Richard A. Falk Papers at Syracuse University
- The Transnational Institute of Policy StudiesTransnational InstituteTransnational Institute is an international think tank for progressive politics. It was established in 1973 in Amsterdam and serves as a network for scholars and activists...
(TNI). Israeli crimes against humanity in Gaza. Richard Falk interviewed by Michael Slate. January 20, 2009. - “Imagining Israel-Palestine Peace: Why International Law Matters” a speech at The Palestine Center
- Richard Falk's 11 January, 2011 blog post, that was condemned by Ban Ki-moonBan Ki-moonBan Ki-moon is the eighth and current Secretary-General of the United Nations, after succeeding Kofi Annan in 2007. Before going on to be Secretary-General, Ban was a career diplomat in South Korea's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and in the United Nations. He entered diplomatic service the year he...
and Susan Rice, and his 27 January, 2011 follow-up, responding to their criticism.