Israel kicks out contentious UN official

No one can say they didn't see it coming: Israel today expelled a UN investigator who compared Israeli policies to the Nazi Holocaust.

Israeli officials barred Richard Falk from entering Israel to investigate its policies towards the Palestinians because, as one Israeli official said, of Falk's "extreme, methodic criticism of Israel." 

Last April, Falk was named to be the UN Human Rights Council's special investigator on the Palestinian territories - and Israel made it clear at the time that the Princeton University professor emeritus and American Jew was not going to be welcome.

The heart of the matter is a 2007 piece Falk wrote with the provocative title: "Slouching Toward a Palestinian Holocaust."  .  

"Is it an irresponsible overstatement to associate the treatment of Palestinians with this criminalized Nazi record of collective atrocity?"  Falk wrote in the piece. "I think not. The recent developments in Gaza are especially disturbing because they express so vividly a deliberate intention on the part of Israel and its allies to subject an entire human community to life-endangering conditions of utmost cruelty. The suggestion that this pattern of conduct is a holocaust-in-the-making 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."

The inflammatory article was widely criticized by Israeli leaders who made it clear, for obvious reasons, that they didn't view Falk as an impartial arbiter.

"Of all the people to be able to appoint, to find somebody who compares Israel to the Nazis is very bizarre and outrageous," Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Arye Mekel said at the time.

In May, Falk had a chance to explain what he meant in an extended interview on the BBC.

While Falk said he regretted using the analogies, under persistent pressure from the host, he stood by his statements.

Two months later, in an in an interview with The Nation magazine, Falk suggested that Israeli policies in Gaza had "holocaustal implications." 

"The references to the Holocaust and to the Nazi policies were not meant to be literal comparisons but were intended to show that the policies being pursued, in Gaza in particular, had holocaustal implications if they were not changed," Falk said in the interview. "And the mind-set of holding an entire people responsible for opposition and resistance embodies a kind of collective punishment psychology that was very characteristic of the way the Nazis justified what they did to the Jewish people."

For all these reasons, it was clear the Falk wasn't going to be welcome and that his reports will inevitably be tainted by his provocative statements.

After sending Falk packing today, the Israeli government criticized Falk and the UN for appointing him to the post.

"In the case of Prof. Falk, beyond the imbalance inherent in his mandate, the bias is further exacerbated by the highly politicized views of the Rapporteur himself, in legitimizing Hamas terrorism and drawing shameful comparisons to the Holocaust," the Israeli government said. "In light of his vehement publications in the past, it is hard to square his appointment with the requirements of the Council's own internal procedures which call for the appointment of mandate holders who are impartial, objective and possess the quality of personal integrity."

Comments

[Daniel Schafler]

The Israeli government did the right thing. It is a shame that the UN would take a token Jew with a bad attitude to represent Israel and the
Arabs. Unfair isn't quite the word for their bias.. This Jew is more of a "Goy" then most goyim.. Certainly a charge of self-hatred would be appropriate as far as his Jewishness is concerned. And I know he is not the only one.. But that doesn't make him right..

[larry]

This debate has just begun.

Israeli policies toward Arabs are racist. Zionism is an explicitly racist philosophy.
Even a cursory reading of the principle Zionist leaders can yield no other logical
conclusion.

The project of building a racially pure state in the 21st century is doomed. The trauma of WWII and the holacaust has made these facts obscure for many Jews. Unfortunately very few other people and many Jews see things differently. The false hope of nationalism and ideas of racial superiority will not survive the terrible things that Zionist will have to do to maintain power.

Collective punishment, transportation, constant domination, assassination of leaders, concentration of populations into camps, imprisonment of large parts of the male population as a form of control, the invention and production of horrific weapons of mass murder. These are the tools of racist domination. They serve no other purpose.

The need to maintain a system of racial preference requires that all of these things be done.

The things that listed have been condemned by Jews all of over the world and throughout history. In many ways, to be a Jew is to be against these things.

To be a racist. At some point you have to stop being a Jew. In this lies the dilemma of being a Zionist or pro expansionist Israeli. Their nationalism trumps their religious and human values.

Thats all I can say today. Take it for what it is worth. I can only see more pain in the future of a traumatised people acting out the the tradgedy of their own suffering on another unfortunate people, the Palestinians.

I know its a break with comment section hostility but in the season of lights cant we all just take some to appreciate the complexity of this tragic situation.

We have all just had a clear demonstration of the impotence of a world power attempting to mold another people in their image. Soon the US will be out of Iraq and Afghanistan, under less than triumphant terms. Let's all try to understand the other sides point of view. The status quo will not last. In the end all of these communities want to prosper in peace. Lets form the future together.

[Jeremy]

With all due respect, Larry, Judaism is not a race. There are Jews of many different skin colors, many of them residing in Israel. Furthermore, there are people of many different religions who are Israeli citizens - including people like the Bahais who fled from Iran to the only place that would take them - Israel.

The vast majority of nations on this planet exist because their people share common ties - culture, religion, political ambition. There are a great many countries that still have official national religions (Israel doesn't despite what you believe). There are other countries that exclude from citizenship anyone who isn't of a particular religion (i.e. Saudi Arabia).

It is perfectly understandable that somebody can utterly disagree with how Israel has approached its relationship with the Palestinians, but to call Israel racist is utterly incorrect.

[secretslave]

SALAAM,
How is Sharon

[secretslave]

salaam,
Second branch from that MIGHTY TREE

[Lev]

Larry! You speech is very long!
Tell us how many working places have been created by Arafat government? Today government? Why do Palestinians looking for job in Izrael?
All palestinians governments have received a lot of money from arab country. Where those money went to? They did not spend to create working places! They spend to buy arms! So, Izrael in a war! Already 60 years! Don't you, Larry, understand that?
And call Zionist philosophy
racist is wrong!
Izrael is correct to regect
UN rep. professor Falk! They also should get rid of Joel
Greenberg,who is another lier,
but Chicago Tribune reporter.

[Lev]

Professor Richard Falk should go to Izrael, but live in the place where palestinian rockets and bombs blow out almost every day. Take your family with you, Richard Falk. And after sometime ask your family member how they like their life under this situation. and only after that you can rise up your fingers and teach Izrael people how to be friendly with palestinians.
Lev

[Edie]

Richard Falk on Arab Voices Tonight Dec. 24, Listen LiveShare
Today at 8:03am

www.ArabVoices.net

Date:
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Time:
7 p.m. - 8 p.m. central time

Guest: Richard Falk
UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian Territories, who tried to visit occupied Palestine last week, but was detained by Israel, denied entry and then was expelled. Mr. Falk is a professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University and is currently a visiting professor at Chapman Law School. He is author of more than fifty books on war, human rights and international law.

Topics: The worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip as a result of the ongoing Israeli siege, and Israel's detention and expulsion of Mr. Falk, while Israel prepares for what seems to be a major attack on the Gaza Strip. We will also talk with Mr. Falk about occupied Iraq.

Tune in and participate live by calling the studio at 713-526-5738 during the show.
You can also listen live on the Internet at www.ArabVoices.net.