Richard A. Falk - Misplaced Pages

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Richard A. FalkRichard A. Falk

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967
Incumbent
Assumed office 26 March 2008
Preceded by	John Dugard

Personal details
Born	1930
Nationality	United States
Profession	Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University

Richard Anderson Falk (born 1930) 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.

In 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Council (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." Some of his official reports, as well as other writings, have been criticized by Israeli officials and some diplomats.

Life and work

Martin Griffiths wrote that Falk described his family background as "assimilationist Jewish with a virtual denial of even the ethnic side of Jewishness". More recently he has described himself as "an American Jew" and written about his Jewish identity.

Education

Falk obtained a Bachelor of Science in Economics from the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) from Yale University, and a Doctor of Laws (SJD) from Harvard University.

Professional career

Falk began his teaching career at Ohio State University and Harvard in the late 1950s. He moved to Princeton University in the early 1960s to teach international law. Princeton University became his academic home for over thirty years, where he rose to the position of Albert G. Milbank Professor of International Law and Practice, Emeritus, which he currently holds. In 1985 he was made a Guggenheim Fellow. He retired from teaching in 2001. Since 2002 he has been a research professor at the Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara. He current directs "Global Climate Change, Human Security, and Democracy" project.

Falk has published a number of books and essays analyzing the legality of the Vietnam War and other military operations. 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."

Activism

Falk's engagement with politics began at Ohio State University, where in the 1960s as a member of the faculty of law he was a witness to racism targeted at black students. Falk became influenced by a group of radical graduate students and young faculty members who were interested in the work of Karl Marx, C. Wright Mills and Herbert Marcuse. His move to Princeton University, where the teaching of law was linked to politics, international relations and other social sciences allowed Falk to integrate his professional expertise in international law with his ethical and political values. Falk aimed to combine his academic work with political activism in a role he described as a 'citizen-pilgrim':

The essential inquiry of a citizen-pilgrim is to discover how to make desirable, yet unlikely, social movements succeed. The movements against slavery, colonialism, racial discrimination, and patriarchy are some instances. My overriding concern is to foster an abolitionist movement against war and aggression as social institutions, which implies the gradual construction of a new world order that assures basic human needs of all people, that safeguards the environment, that protects the fundamental human rights of all individuals and groups without encroaching upon the precarious resources of cultural diversity, and that works toward the non-violent resolution of intersocietal conflicts.

Falk has written for various publications including The Nation, Huffington Post, Al Jazeera, CounterPunch and the Palestine Chronicle. He is a member of the Editorial Boards of The Nation and The Progressive. He has spoken on college campuses and for organizations.

Falk is Chair of the Board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. He is on the advisory board of Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-USA (FFIPP-USA), a group that describes itself as "working for an end of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories and just peace"; it calls for "international sanctions" against Israel while saying "academics should think carefully before developing research links and exchanges with Israelis ascertaining whether they are part of the military machine or work to sustain the occupation".

Falk is a former advisory board member of the World Federalist Institute and the American Movement for World Government, as well as a former fellow at the Transnational Institute. During 1999–2000, Falk worked on the Independent International Commission on Kosovo, an initiative of the Prime Minister of Sweden Göran Persson. For several years Falk served on the board of Human Rights Watch Santa Barbara, California, until he was asked to resign.

Appointments at the United Nations

United Nations Human Rights Inquiry Commission for the Palestinian territories

In 2001 Falk served on a United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (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 "Question of the violation of human rights in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine".

United Nations Special Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights

On March 26, 2008, the United Nations Human Rights Council (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 who left his post in June 2008 after seven years.

Response to appointment

The appointment of Falk was reached through a consensus decision by the 47 members of the UN's Human Rights Council. Despite attempts from Jewish groups to persuade the EU and Canada to publicly oppose the appointment the EU remained silent, while Canada chose not to oppose the consensus, instead issuing a statement distancing itself from the choice.

According to a UN press release, then Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Itzhak Levanon strongly criticized the appointment stating that Falk had written in an article 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". Yitzhak Levanon further stated that, "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.

The UN press release reported that the Palestinian representative, Mohammad Abu-Koash, said that it was "ironic that Israel which claimed to be representing Jews everywhere was campaigning against a Jewish professor who had been nominated for the post of Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.'" The Palestinian statement went on to refer to Falk as the "author of 54 books on international law", concluding that his appointment was "a victory for good sense and human rights, as he was a highly qualified rapporteur."

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."

UN Investigations and reports

2008

In May 2008 Israel refused to admit Falk to gather information for a report. The National Lawyers Guild 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." Human Rights Watch issued a statement asking Israel to reverse its expulsion of Falk from the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. 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. 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". As of March 2011 Falk was still denied entry into and effectively banned from Israel.

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, which also targeted civilians. 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.

2009

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.

2010

In his August 10, 2010 UN Special Rapporteur report Falk detailed the accusation that Israel was practicing a policy of apartheid in the Palestinian territories:

"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."

2011

In 2011 Falk spoke to the UN Human Rights Council and stated that Israeli policies in Jerusalem amounted to "ethnic cleansing" against the Palestinian population. He urged the 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.

2012

In Falk's report to the UN Human Rights Council focused on on Israel’s treatment of Palestinian prisoners. He recommended that The International Court of Justice at the Hague should be asked to issue an advisory opinion on Israel’s treatment of prisoners, an opinion which might also cover Israel’s "prolonged occupation" of Palestinian territory. His report also asked the Human Rights Council to censure Israel because of its use of administrative detention, take "emergency notice" of Israeli legislative attempts to legalize West Bank settlements, and to increased attention on Israel’s refusal to cooperate with his work. He stated that Israeli military retaliation for rocket fire from Gaza was not justified. The US Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council said the US "continues to be deeply troubled by this council’s biased and disproportionate focus on Israel."

In Falk's report to the U.N. General Assembly he recommended that "businesses highlighted in the report – as well as the many other businesses that are profiting from the Israeli settlement enterprise – should be boycotted until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards." He specifically named the United States' Caterpillar Inc., Hewlett Packard and Motorola; Israel's Ahava, Elbit Systems and Mehadrin; Sweden's Volvo Group and Assa Abloy ; France's Veolia Environment; United Kingdom's G4S, Belgium's Dexia Group, Netherlands' Riwal Holding Group and Mexico's Cemex. At a news conference Falk said: "The focus on business activities is partly an expression of frustration about the inability to obtain compliance with these fundamental legal obligations of Israel and the ineffectiveness of the U.N. efforts to condemn settlement expansion." He also stated "The whole issue of Palestinian self-determination is at risk here."

The report drew criticism from the United States Ambassador to the UN, Susan Rice, who called it "irresponsible and unacceptable" and the Canadian foreign ministry which called it "biased and disgraceful" and called on Falk to withdraw his "offensive" report or resign from his UN post. The Israeli Mission to the UN stated that "while he spends pages and pages attacking Israel, Falk fails to mention even once the horrific human rights violations and ongoing terrorist attacks by Hamas." Caterpillar Inc. called the report inaccurate and misleading, reflecting his "personal and negative opinions toward Israel". Hewlett Packard said that Falk was "far from an independent and unbiased expert in this matter." Several countries, including Egypt and Iran, called the report fair and balanced.

In December Falk visited the region and the Gaza Strip with the "initial purpose assessing the overall impact of Israel’s prolonged occupation and blockade" against Gaza. However, after Israel's November seven day "Operation Pillar of Defense" military actions against Gaza "there arose an urgent need to investigate Israel’s seemingly deliberate attacks against civilian targets." After visiting Palestinian survivors of military attacks, Falk stated that "some attacks killed and harmed civilians in a grossly disproportionate manner and thus appear to violate international law." He called today on Israel "to abide by and fully implement the cease fire agreement" and called on the international agreement to make sure it did so.

Notable opinions

Nuremberg Defense of violent protesters

In October, 1973, Falk defended Karleton Armstrong, who pleaded guilty to bombing the University of Wisconsin Army Mathematics Research Center, 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'".

Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979

In early 1979, when Falk was a professor of International Law at Princeton, he visited Iranian Revolution leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini at his home in exile in France. In a February 1979 New York Times op-ed, after Khomeini had returned to Iran, Falk wrote, "The depiction of him as fanatical, reactionary and the bearer of crude prejudices seems certainly and happily false." Falk wrote that Khomeini's "entourage was uniformly composed of moderate, progressive individuals," and that "having 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." By the end of 1979 Khomeini had become Supreme Leader of Iran and began removing moderates from his circles, arresting and even killing political opponents, and supporting students who took over the U.S. embassy in Tehran, holding American hostages for 444 days. Falk was criticized for having supported Khomeini. Falk later changed his opinion of Khomeini's regime, calling it "the most terroristic since Hitler."

9/11 and the Bush administration

In 2004, Falk wrote the preface to David Ray Griffin'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 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."

In 2004 Falk signed a statement released by the organization 9/11 Truth that calls for a new investigation into the September 11 attacks. Falk confirmed his support for the statement in 2009. In 2008 Falk called for an official commission to further study these issues, including the role neoconservatives may have played in the attacks, saying "It is possibly true that especially the neoconservatives thought there was a situation in the country and in the world where something had to happen to wake up the American people. Whether they are innocent about the contention that they made that something happen or not, I don't think we can answer definitively at this point."

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 wrote on his blog about the "eerie silence of the mainstream media, unwilling to acknowledge the 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." Ki-moon stated that only the U.N. Human Rights Council could remove its appointees from office.

Israeli-Palestinian conflict

In a 2002 op-ed in The Nation, Falk was highly critical of Operation Defensive Shield, describing it as "state-sponsored terrorism". He wrote 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", stating that Israel's response was "equally horrifying".

In 2002 Falk wrote on Princeton Divestment's website that "to divest from companies profiting from business with Israel at this time is to express solidarity with victims of massive crimes against humanity and to call upon Israel to respect U.N. authority and the elemental rules of international law by withdrawing from occupied Palestinian territory."

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 genocidal tendencies from culminating in a collective tragedy ". 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 stated 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.

In April 2008 Falk compared Israeli actions in Gaza to those of the Nazis and responded to criticism of his statements saying, "If this kind of situation had existed for instance in the manner in which China was dealing with Tibet or the Sudanese 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".

In December 2012, when asked explicitly about the "neutrality" of groups like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Falk said in an interview "there is no doubt that the private-funding base of these leading human rights NGOs leads to some biasing of their agendas". However, he commented that "in reaction to criticism there has been more self-criticism directed at American patterns of abuse, and a greater willingness to report critically on Israel" by such NGOs.

2011 intervention in Libya

During the 2011 Libyan civil war, Falk published an op-ed in Al Jazeera against the proposals for military intervention. Falk wrote 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 wrote 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 expenditures 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 a Falk blog entry published 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 wrote that the intervention was not to protect civilians from attack, but to ensure a rebel victory and the defeat of Gaddafi.

Boston Marathon Bombings

In an Al Jazeera article about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings called "Collective self-reflection in the wake of a national tragedy", Falk wrote that "the American global domination project is bound to generate all kinds of resistance" and that "the United States has been fortunate not to experience worse blowbacks". He wrote that American politicians do not "have the courage to connect some of these dots." He also criticized American policy towards Iran’s nuclear program and friendship with Israel, writing more attacks are likely "if there is no disposition to rethink US relations to others in the world, starting with the Middle East."

Accusations of antisemitism

On July 6, 2011 Falk acknowledged that a cartoon he posted on his blog a few days earlier regarding the International Criminal Court’s indictment of Muammar Gaddafi for crimes against humanity was antisemitic and apologized for posting it. The cartoon depicted a dog with a Jewish head-covering and a sweater with the letters "USA" urinating on Lady Justice while devouring bloody human bones.

Abraham H. Foxman of the Anti-Defamation League called on Falk to resign as U.N. Rapporteur for the Palestinian territories saying that "This cartoon is blatantly anti-Semitic and conveys the message that Jews and Americans care little about what is just and moral" and that "the message of hatred in this cartoon nonetheless directly contravenes the principles of the Human Rights Council and of the United Nations itself." United States envoy to the UN Joseph M. Torsella said the posting of the cartoon was "shameful and outrageous" and "an embarrassment to the United Nations", and called on him to resign. US Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the US House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee also called on Falk to resign. British Prime Minister, David Cameron, instructed the UK's concerns Permanent Representative to express concerns regarding the cartoon and said that he would "continue to closely watch any further actions or comments Mr Falk may make."

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay "acknowledged the cartoon was antisemitic and objectionable." She did not call for Falk’s resignation because of his public apologies and the fact he had swiftly removed the image from his website.

UN Watch, which is affiliated with the American Jewish Committee and sponsored by the World Jewish Congress, has been "obsessed" with "undermining and delegitimising Richard Falk", according to Phyllis Bennis, of the Institute for Policy Studies. In July 2012, in discussing why he was drawn to the "Palestinian struggle", Falk wrote on his blog, "I formed a well-evidence belief that the U.S. Government and the organized Jewish community were responsible for the massive and enduring confiscation of Palestinian land and rights." UN Watch accused Falk of "promoting racist remarks," as well as anti-Semitism, "by attempting to blame Jewish communities everywhere for alleged crimes against Palestinians." Falk later responded, writing "I have often opposed policies including those of the US and Israel but to conflate such stands with racism is a wide-ranging and frequently repeated denunciation of my views and activities."

In December 2012, UN Watch published an open letter to Human Rights Watch critical of Falk. Falk was asked to resign from the Santa Monica group’s board and his name was removed from their website, supposedly because his working for the United Nations was contrary to HRW policy. Later that month, in response to a UN Watch press release criticizing Falk, 40 representatives of major international human rights organisations worldwide signed a letter to Human Rights Watch urging the group to "clarify that he was not 'expelled' as an enemy of human rights' as UN Watch claimed". Phyllis Bennis, a signer of the letter, wrote that Human Rights Watch replied on January 1, 2013, stating that the UN Watch letter was filled with "inaccuracies and falsehoods" and repeating Human Rights Watch's statement it was complying with its longstanding policy.

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 by David Ray Griffin, (Foreword), Interlink Books, 2004
The Record of the Paper: How the New York Times Misreports US Foreign Policy with Howard Friel, 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
The Path to Zero: Dialogues on Nuclear Dangers, with David A. Krieger, Paradigm Publishers 2012

References

^ Richard Falk, On Jewish Identity, Falk blog entry, January 15, 2011.
Dean’s Open Forum, Richard Falk, USC Center on Public Diplomacy, November 4, 2004.
^ "Human Rights Council elects Advisory Committee Members and approves a number of Special Procedures mandate holders". United Nations. March 26, 2008. Archived from the original on January 1, 2009. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
Martin Griffiths, Fifty Key Thinkers In International Relations, Routledge, 1999, page 119.
^ Richard Falk, Slouching toward a Palestinian Holocaust, Transnational Institute, June 29, 2007.
"Profile Richard Falk". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 09/02/2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
^ Griffiths, Martin (1999). Fifty Key Thinkers in International Relations (PDF). Routledge. pp. 119–124. ISBN 0-415-16227-0.
^ Richard Falk affidavit, "On Universal Jurisdiction and the Role of National Courts with Respect to the Criminal Complaint Lodged in Germany Against Donald Rumsfeld and Other United States Government High Officials," 2006
Richard Falk Profile, Orfalea Center for Global & International Studies at University of California, Santa Barbara.
Frontline, Volume 20, Issue 08, April 12–25, 2003.
^ Richard Falk page at The Nation
Richard Falk page at Huffington Post website.
Richard Falk, Interpreting Obama’s Victory, Al Jazeera, November 9, 2012.
Richard Falk and David Krieger, No War against Iraq, CounterPunch, August 24–26, 2002.
Richard Falk, Gaza Ceasefire: An Early Assessment, the Palestine Chronicle, November 24, 2012.
- Marwa Farag , UN representative challenges Middle East peace process, The Stanford Daily, February 7, 2012
- Envisioning a Different Future for U.S. Relations with India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan Part 1 "How Did We Get Here?", University of California TV, April 5, 2010
- "Imagining Israel-Palestine Peace: Why International Law Matters". Thejerusalemfund.org. 2009-10-08. Retrieved 2010-07-23.
- At the Nuclear Precipice: Nuclear Weapons and the Abandonment of International Law 2006, International Law Symposium, Public Forum, February 23, 2006.
- "The Economic, Legal and Moral Costs of War: A Forum on Israel, Palestine and the United States" KIRO-TV event announcement, June 2012; Annie Roberts, Richard Falk: No issue needs more open debate than moral and political cost of I/P policy, Mondoweiss, June 11, 2012.
Richard Falk profile, Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, accessed December 23, 2012.
Princeton University faculty profile.
FFIPP-USA (Faculty for Israeli-Palestinian Peace-USA) "About Us" web site.
, originally published at the Guardian newspaper, The Guardian web site, 24 May 2006.
World Federalist Institute web site.
American Movement for World Government web site
Report on Kosovo, Independent International Commission on Kosovo, 2000, accessed December 23, 2012.
Anna Sheinman, UN expert on Palestinian territories removed from Human Rights Watch committee, Jewish Chronicle, December 19, 2012.
Harpreet Kaur Paul interviewing Richard Falk, Global Policy Forum, June 2, 2011
Karin Dienst (19 February 2001). "Falk evaluates Mideast violence with U.N. team". Vol. 90, No. 17. Princeton University. Archived from the original on 1 July 2001.
"QUESTION OF THE VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE OCCUPIED ARAB TERRITORIES, INCLUDING PALESTINE". E/CN.4/2001/121: Report of the human rights inquiry commission established pursuant to Commission resolution S-5/1 of 19 October 2000. United Nations. 16 March 2001. Archived from the original on 2 December 2005.
UN envoy hits Israel 'apartheid', BBC, February 23, 2007
"U.N. Taps American Jewish Critic of Israel as Rights Expert", The Forward, April 4, 2008.
Statement by H.E. permanent resident Ambassador to the United Nations Itzhak Levanon, March 22, 2007
Human Rights Council Elects Advisory Committee Members, United Nations press release, March 26, 2008. Falk actually said: "Is it an irresponsible overstatement to associate the treatment of Palestinians with this criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity? I think not." As quoted in "U.N. Taps American Jewish Critic of Israel as Rights Expert", The Forward, April 4, 2008.
"UNHRC appointment infuriates Israel", The Jerusalem Post, March 26, 2008.
"Israel to bar UN official for comparing Israelis to Nazis", Haaretz, April 8, 2008.
Human Rights Council Elects Advisory Committee Members, United Nations press release, March 26, 2008.
^ Eli Lake, "U.N. Official Calls for Study Of Neocons' Role in 9/11", New York Sun, April 10, 2008
"Critics Demand Resignation of U.N. Official Who Wants Probe of 9/11 'Inside Job' Theories", Joseph Abrams, Fox News, July 15, 2008 (retrieved on November 12, 2008)
Press Release: National Lawyers Guild Urges Israel to Permit Richard Falk to Enter Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Common Dreams, April 23, 2008.
Israel: Reverse Expulsion of Human Rights Rapporteur, Human Rights Watch website, December 17, 2008, accessed December 19, 2012.
Linda Mamoun, "Israel Bars UN Human Rights Watchdog From Occupied Territories", Alternet reprint of The Nation article, posted on July 11, 2008.
"UN official who compared Israel to Nazis turns the spotlight on Palestinians", Haaretz, June 16, 2008.
"Urgent action needed to alleviate desperate plight of Gaza's civilians – UN rights expert", United Nations News Center, December 9, 2009.
"Human Rights & Wrongs", Jerusalem Post, December 10, 2008.
"Gaza: Silence is not an option", statement by the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights on Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, issued December 9, 2008.
Richard A.Falk, "My Expulsion from Israel", 22 December 2008
"Israel denies entry to UN rights investigator", Reuters, reproduced at YNET, December 15, 2008.
"UN Assembly President calls stories he tried to stop Israel speaking ‘malicious lie’", United Nations News Center, December 15, 2008.
"UNHRC rapporteur denied entry to Israel", The Jerusalem Post, December 16, 2008.
"Days After Calling Israeli Blockade of Gaza 'A Crime Against Humanity', UN Human Rights Investigator Richard Falk Detained, Expelled from Israel", Democracy Now, December 17, 2008.
UN: Daily Press Briefing, United Nations, December 16, 2008.
UN official: Israel engaging in ethnic cleansing, Reuters, March 21, 2011.
Richard Falk, Statement by Prof. Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in the Occupied Territories, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, December 27, 2008.
Richard Falk, "Bring light — and censure — to brutal Israeli attacks; World needs to see the victims and carnage in Gaza", Houston Chronicle, December 29, 2008.
UN envoy: Gaza op seems to be war crime of greatest magnitude Haaretz, March 19, 2009
AFP: Britain raps 'unbalanced' UN rights Gaza report AFP, March 30, 2009
"UN appoints Gaza war-crimes team". BBC News. 14:42 GMT, Friday, April 3, 2009. Retrieved April 3, 2009. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
Sameh A. Habeeb, "Human Rights Council fact-finding mission on Gaza", Interview with Richard Goldstone, Palestine Telegraph, April 16, 2009.
"Israel will not cooperate with U.N. probe", United Press International, June 2, 2009.
UN investigator 'shocked' by scale of destruction in Gaza, Haaretz, June 6, 2009.
Ben Hubbard, "UN's Gaza war crimes investigation faces obstacles", Associated Press in Washington Post, June 9, 2009.
Richard Falk: Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, August 30, 2010 retrieved December 19, 2010.
C. Gouridasan Nair, Full text of the interview with Richard Falk, U.N. Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Israeli-Occupied Territories of Palestine, The Hindu, September 24, 2010.
UN official: Israel engaging in ethnic cleansing, YnetNews.com, March 21, 20011.
Tovah Lazaroff, Int'l court must act on Palestinian prisoner issue', Jerusalem Post, July 3, 2012.
Wayne Schoenfeld, Richard Falk Calls for Corporate Israel Boycott; U.N. Official Backs Calls To Shun Occupation-Backing Firms, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, October 25, 2012.
Michelle Nichols, U.N. expert calls for boycott of companies in Jewish settlements Reuters, October 25, 2012.
^ "Falk: Firms tied to settlements may face charges". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
^ "Canada, Israel call for UN rapporteur's resignation". CBC News. Retrieved October 26, 2012.
Canada CBC Press on Rapporteur Boycott
Israel must deliver on cease-fire agreement in the Gaza Strip – UN Special Rapporteur, Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights press release, December 5, 2012.
"Ex-Senator Aids Bomber's Defense", New York Times, October 20, 1973.
Christenson, Ronald, Political Trials: Gordian Knots in the Law, Transaction Publishers, 1999, p. 172, ISBN 978-0-7658-0473-0
Hentoff, Nat, The Nat Hentoff Reader, Da Capo Press, 2001, p. 255, ISBN 978-0-306-81084-8
"The rise and fall of leftist radicalism in America", Edward Walter, p. 153
^ Gary Sick, All fall down: America's fateful encounter in Iran, I.B.Tauris, 1985, p. 166.
"Trusting Khomeini" (Template:PDFlink). New York Times. February 16, 1979. Retrieved March 26, 2011.
Edward Walter, The rise and fall of leftist radicalism in America, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1992, p. 153.
David Ray Griffin, The New Pearl Harbor: Disturbing Questions About the Bush Administration and 9/11, Interlink, 2005.
David Ray Griffin, 9/11 and American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out, Olive Branch Press, 2006.
"U.N. official boosts 9/11 conspiracy theorists", Jewish Telegraphic Agency, November 11, 2008.
9/11: More than meets the eye by Richard Falk, The Journal, November 9, 2008.
Rossmeier, Vincent (September 11, 2009). "Would you still sign the 9/11 Truth petition?". Salon. Retrieved September 11, 2009.
MSNBC coverage of Falk's 9/11 comments
Richard Falk, Al Queda, Richard Falk blog, September 19, 2011.
"Falk's 9-11 remarks are 'condemned' by UN sec.-gen". The Jerusalem Post. 25 January 2011.
"UN Chief Condemns Investigator on Palestine". Voice of America News. 25 January 2011.
Falk, Richard (2002-04-11). "Ending the Death Dance". The Nation. Retrieved 13 May 2011.
Ben August, for divestment spurs University debate, Daily Princetonian, October 10, 2002.
UN expert urges Israel to end Gaza blockade as anniversary of campaign looms, United Nations News Service, December 23, 2009.
"UN expert stands by Nazi comments", BBC, April 8, 2008
Cihan Aksan and Jon Bailes, An Interview With Richard Falk; The Future of International Law and Human Rights, CounterPunch, December 14–16, 2012 edition.
Richard Falk, Kicking the intervention habit, Al Jazeera, March 10, 2011.
Gaddafi, moral interventionism, Libya, and the Arab Revolutionary Movement, Today's Zaman, March 29, 2011; originally published as Richard Falk blog entry, March 20, 2011.
Aaron Kalman,UN official says US had Boston attack coming, Times of Israel, April 23, 2013.
Richard A. Falk, Collective self-reflection in the wake of a national tragedy, Al Jazeera, April 19, 2013.
^ UN's Richard Falk under fire for ‘anti-Semitic’ cartoon, Jerusalem Post 08-07-2011
Bauder, Sarah (10 July 2011). "Jewish groups urge UN investigator to quit". Ynetnews. Shalom Life. Retrieved 11 July 2011. The Anti-Defamation League called on the UN top human rights official to publicly condemn Falk.
Apology for Unintentionally Posting Anti-Semitic Cartoon in Qaddafi Arrest Warrant Blog July 6th, Richard Falk blog, July 6, 2012.
"ADL calls on UN human rights chief to condemn Richard Falk for anti-Semitic cartoon". Haaretz. 8 July 2011. Retrieved 15 July 2011.
US, Jewish groups demand Falk resign over blog entry, Jerusalem Post 2011-07-10
Evans, Robert (8 July 2011). "U.S. urges U.N. sleuth resign over blog cartoon". Reuters. Geneva. Reuters. Retrieved 9 October 2011. The United States said on Friday it has called on the U.N. human rights investigator for the Palestinian territories to resign after he published a cartoon on his blog which he later withdrew as 'anti-semitic.'
^ Pillay says Falk's cartoon was anti-Semitic, objectionable, Jerusalem Post 2011-07-14
PM condemns UN adviser's 'antisemitic' cartoon, Jewish Chronicle, October 12, 2011, accessed October 26, 2012.
"ACJ Office and Departments". ACJ. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
"ACJ Activities in Europe". ACJ. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
Annan calls Ziegler's comparison "irresponsible", World Jewish Congress, 11 July 2005, retrieved 19 March 2012
^ Phyllis Bennis, Human Rights Watch: Time to stand with human rights defenders, Al-Jazeera, January 9, 2012.
^ Richard A. Falk, For What?, on his personal blog, July 20, 2012.
"U.N.'s Richard Falk accuses "the organized Jewish community" of crimes against Palestinians". UN Watch. July 24, 2012. Retrieved July 25, 2012.
Anti-Israel UN official, The Jewish Chronicle, July 26, 2012.
Richard Falk removed from Human Rights Watch committee, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 18, 2012.
Human Rights Watch boots UN Palestinian rights official from one of its panels, The Times of Israel, December 19, 2012.
Official Wording of UN Watch Letter to Human Rights Watch. UNwatch.org
Letter to Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch, from various human rights groups, December 27, 2012, at National Lawyers Guild website.
Human Rights Watch Expels Top U.N. Official Richard Falk, UN Watch website blog, December 18, 2012.

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 Studies (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-moon and Susan Rice, and his 27 January, 2011 follow-up, responding to their criticism.
Interview with Richard Falk from Weapon of the Strong: Conversations on US State Terrorism (Pluto Press), November, 2012.

v t e United Nations special rapporteurs
Countries & territories	Belarus (Anaïs Marin) Burundi (Fortuné Gaetan Zongo) Cambodia (Vitit Muntarbhorn) Iran (Mai Sato) Myanmar (Tom Andrews) North Korea (Elizabeth Salmón) Palestine (Francesca Albanese) Russian Federation (Mariana Katzarova) Somalia (Isha Dyfan)
(Human Rights) Thematic mandates	Adequate Housing (Balakrishnan Rajagopal) Albinism (Muluka-Anne Miti-Drummond) Assembly and association (Gina Romero) Climate Change (Elisa Morgera) Contemporary Forms of Slavery (Tomoya Obokata) Cultural Rights (Alexandra Xanthaki) Democratic and Equitable International Order (Livingstone Sewanyana) Disabilities (Heba Hagrass) Education (Farida Shaheed) Effects of Economic Reform Policies and Foreign Debt on Human Rights (Attiya Waris) Environment (Astrid Puentes Riaño) Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions (Morris Tidball-Binz) Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association (Clément Nyaletsossi Voule) Freedom of Opinion and Expression (Irene Khan) Freedom of Religion or Belief (Nazila Ghanea) Human Rights Defenders (Mary Lawlor) Independence of Judges and Lawyers (Margaret Satterthwaite) Indigenous People (Francisco Cali Tzay) Internally Displaced Persons (Paula Gaviria Betancur) International Solidarity (Cecilia Bailliet) Leprosy (Beatriz Miranda-Galarza) Migrants (François Crépeau) Minority Issues (Fernand de Varennes) Negative Impact of the Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights (Alena Douhan) Physical and Mental Health (Tlaleng Mofokeng) Privacy (Ana Brian Nougrères) Protecting Human Rights while Countering Terrorism (Ben Saul) Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (Ashwini K.P.) Right to Food (Michael Fakhri) Sale and Sexual Exploitation of Children (Najat Maalla M'jid) Torture (Alice Jill Edwards) Trafficking in Persons (Siobhán Mullally) Transnational Corporations (Damilola Olawuyi) Truth, Justice, Reparation & non-Recurrence (Fabián Salvioli) Violence against Women (Reem Alsalem) Water and Sanitation (Pedro Arrojo Agudo) Illicit Movement of Toxic Waste (Marcos A. Orellana)
United Nations special rapporteurs bear mandates from the United Nations Human Rights Council and may hold the titles special rapporteur, independent expert or special representative of the Secretary-General, and are also referred to simply as mandate-holders.

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