Prof. Richard Falk - The Israeli Assault on Human Rights 1 of 3:
"MiddleEastMonitor | December 11, 2010
Part 1
MEMO and PSC co-host Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Palestinian Human Rights.
The public seminar will be on the subject of 'The Israeli Assault on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories'
WEDNESDAY 1ST DECEMBER 2010
Beveridge Hall, University of London, Senate House
Part 2
Part 3
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Showing posts with label Richard Falk. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Richard Falk. Show all posts
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Interview - UN Special Rapporteur Richard Falk with Carl Arrindell
Professor Richard Falk with Carl Arrindell - In Focus, Islam Channel Part 1 of 2:
"MiddleEastMonitor | December 09, 2010
Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Palestinian Human Rights with Carl Arrindell on Islam Channel's 'In Focus' programme.
Will add the other parts once available.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"MiddleEastMonitor | December 09, 2010
Professor Richard Falk, United Nations Special Rapporteur for Palestinian Human Rights with Carl Arrindell on Islam Channel's 'In Focus' programme.
Will add the other parts once available.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Thursday, December 2, 2010
Press Conference: Richard Falk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestine
I missed adding this video earlier, but as we all know, better late than never.
After the presentation of his report on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 to the UN General Assembly, Richrd Falk Held the following Press Conference:
Press Conference by Special Rapporteur on Situation of Human Rights in Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967:
The enormous cumulative effect of prolonged Israeli occupation, accelerated settlement expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and related policies to destroy homes and revoke residency permits made the vision of an Israeli-Palestinian peace based on a two-State consensus a “political impossibility”, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said today.
Special Rapporteur Richard Falk said, at a Headquarters press conference, that the intergovernmental peace process was premised on an “illusion” that talks would result in an independent, sovereign Palestinian State. He was discussing his latest report, which he recently presented to the General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). (See Press Release GA/SHC/3984)
First and foremost, the report underscored the persistence of a very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza, he said. While the Israeli blockade had been eased in some respects, it had been maintained in others, placing Gazans under great psychological and physical stress. Israel forbade the export of goods produced in Gaza, substantially destroying the local economy. Further, young people were forbidden from visiting their families in the West Bank or East Jerusalem and from studying at universities in other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
He said that with intergovernmental negotiations frozen, civil society initiatives took on new importance in establishing solidarity with Palestinians to achieve the right of self-determination, and also in challenging, symbolically and substantively, the dimensions of the Israeli occupation. Recalling one new development, he said Israel’s 31 May raid on a six-ship flotilla carrying humanitarian goods to Gaza had resulted in its Government backing away, for the first time, from its claimed right to blockade Gaza. But while Israel had agreed to its termination, the blockade in fact continued, with only one third of the trucks carrying humanitarian assistance into Gaza prior to the blockade now allowed to enter the enclave.
In response to a question as to whether a future Palestinian State was indeed becoming an illusion, he said the idea of a separate Palestinian State, which formed the basis for Security Council resolution 242 (1967) and international negotiations, seemed increasingly problematic since it would require a substantial reversal of the settlement process. Political realities in Israel, and among the settlers, made that a “non-viable possibility”, he added.
Asked whether he was speaking about a political reality or more than that, since the parties had for years discussed swapping territory for settlement blocks, Mr. Falk said his informed opinion was that continued expansion outside the settlement blocks was irreversible. It was not clear whether the supposed swaps could ever materialize in an agreement, he said, stressing that whatever Israel offered the Palestinians would in no way compensate for the loss of land, water and territory that was integral to the West Bank.
He said he had always been sceptical about the viability of such arrangements, pointing out that the settlements had been built in violation of international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention, in paragraph 6 of Article 49, established the unlawfulness of transferring the population of an occupying Power to occupied territory, he noted. Even the United States had condemned the establishment of settlements by reference to international law. Now there had been a “creeping reformulation” to say that only the expansion of the settlements contravened the creation of a political atmosphere conducive to peace negotiations. In sum, the fundamental Palestinian right was connected to all settlements, not just their expansion, he stressed.
Questioned about the contents of the two thirds of cargo prevented from entering Gaza, he said Israel had not said it was excluding items from Gaza. The reason present cargo levels were now one third of pre-blockade levels was not connected to security or to the “contraband character” of the trucks denied entry, since Israel had always inspected everything flowing into Gaza to ensure none of the authorized materials could be used to make weapons. While the 30 per cent of goods entering the enclave represented a “diminished level of collective punishment”, it still constituted collective punishment in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Asked, in the context of the flotilla incident, whether he agreed that States had the right to defend themselves, he said the correspondent’s description of the naval raid differed from his understanding of it and from its characterization in the report of the Human Rights Council. The Council had not endorsed Israel’s claim that it was entitled to blockade Gaza. It had found that the blockade itself was unlawful since it inflicted disproportionate harm on the population, overcoming any claim Israeli of security.
Furthermore, there had been no weapons on the ships comprising the flotilla, he said, adding that the only allegation to that effect had come from a “misleading” Israeli narrative that had since been contradicted by almost all independent studies. However, there was a right to deliver assistance to a suffering population, and Israel was not living up to its obligation to provide civilians of an occupied territory with basic necessities, he said, adding that there had been every confirmation of that over the years.
Recalling that one British official had described Gaza as a prison camp, he said Israel was obliged to allow the existence of civilian normality subject to genuine security requirements. However, there was consensus that Israel’s actions had been carried out in a “spirit of punishment” against Palestinians who had voted for Hamas, he said, noting that senior Israeli officials had confirmed that.
In response to a comment that his report provided no context for the unfolding events in Gaza and the West Bank, and pressed to address militant actions, such as firing rockets into Israel or the kidnapping of Israelis, he said “maybe I should have devoted more attention to the conflict as a foundation for the context”.
Mr. Falk said he disagreed, as would most international legal experts, with Israel’s claim that, since it had disengaged from Gaza in 2005, it was no longer responsible for conditions in the enclave. As long as Israel controlled the airspace, sea access, exit and entry to Gaza, it was in effective control, just as the gates of a prison were controlled by prison administrators. The mandate under which his report was issued dealt with the Israeli occupation, he said, stressing that his responsibility was not to characterize the political conflict which provided the context for the occupation.
Pressed on how he expected to advance the situation if he did not address its root causes, he said that even if he had specified the context, however fully, his analysis would still be “congruent” with assessments of Israeli violations of international humanitarian law with which Israel was charged and on the basis of which it administered Gaza, the West Bank and Palestine. The larger context was helpful in understanding the interaction, but not in excusing Israeli behaviour.
Asked to discuss the position of Hamas vis-à-vis Israel, and the difficult, nuanced situation of a Government that called for the destruction of its neighbour, he said that description was not accurate. Since its election, Hamas had repeatedly tried to establish a long-term ceasefire, and its Charter was not necessarily relevant. There had been various statements from Israel too, he said, adding that Israel had made a “huge mistake” in not dealing with Hamas as a political actor. Until it did so, no progress would be made.
Questioned about the Israeli civil society’s reaction to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, he said his report tried to portray the growing strength of that movement. Israel had expressed concern about its growing impact, and the country’s strategic institutions were now of the view that the “delegitimization project” was a greater threat than armed Palestinian resistance.
He said the BDS movement reflected the fact that Israel no longer held the moral high ground, which now belonged to the Palestinian struggle. That shift had resulted from the way in which Israel had conducted its 2006 war with Lebanon, attacked Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009, and handled the flotilla incident. The cumulative effect of those three developments had deprived Israel of the moral high ground in global public opinion, he reiterated, saying that whichever side gained that ground, even if militarily weaker, often prevailed in the political struggle. “It’s certainly my view, yes,” Mr. Falk replied when asked whether that was his opinion as well.
Asked to comment on Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s proposal to put off intergovernmental negotiations and simply redraw the borders, he said that was the direction in which the parties were going, but he did not think that was where they should go. Such a redrawing amounted to de facto annexation under the banner of temporary occupation. It was a subversion of the regime of occupation, which underpinned the Security Council consensus reached in 1967 that Israel was obliged to withdraw from the lands occupied since that year’s six-day war. It was an important reality that must be exposed, but the media had not done a good job of clarifying such a fundamental change in the negotiability of a viable Palestinian State, he said.
"Press Conference: Richard Falk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories
22 October 2010
Running time: 00:31:46
Earlier that morning (20 October 2010) the special Rapporteur presented his report to the General Assembly
Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories
RICHARD FALK, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, presenting his last report to the General Assembly in this term, described some of the difficulties that had faced the mandate-holder in discharging the functions of the position. The most salient of those difficulties involved the non-cooperation of the Government of Israel, which had refused to fulfil its obligations as a Member of the United Nations by its failure to allow the Special Rapporteur to enter Israel to visit the occupied territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. That Israeli procedure of non-cooperation was extended to other United Nations undertakings, including the “Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict” known as the Goldstone Report and the fact finding panel appointed by the Human Rights Council to investigate the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010.
The United Nations must also be faulted for its failure to respond more strongly to complaints of Israeli non-cooperation, setting an unfortunate precedent and encouraging impressions of Israeli impunity, he said. This mandate had also been hampered to some extent by the Human Rights Council, which never acted upon the proposal in his initial report that the mandate be reformulated to allow for the consideration of Palestinian, as well as Israeli, violations of international law, taking account of criticisms of an impression of bias. Additionally, while the Palestinian Authority had supplied helpful information, he had felt considerable pressure from it regarding his independence as Special Rapporteur, particularly with respect to reporting on the situation within Gaza.
The report itself, he said, focused on several developments pertaining to occupation, pointing out that, due to the issues associated with the blockade of Gaza, there had been a tendency to overlook Israeli encroachments on the rights of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It stated that the cumulative effects of the settlements, the security wall and the extensive settler-only road network had been to convert the conditions of de jure “occupation” into circumstances of de facto “annexation”. The extension of the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem by way of unlawful settlements, house demolitions and revocations of Palestinian residence rights made it difficult to envisage a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. “If the conditions on the West Bank and East Jerusalem are substantially irreversible for political and practical reasons, it becomes misleading and diversionary to continue adherence to the ‘two-state consensus’,” he said, discussing the assertion that the Israeli occupation had features of “settler colonialism” and “apartheid features” based on dual and discriminatory legal structures and restrictions.
Furthermore, concerning assumptions that material conditions in the West Bank were acceptable, he said that the actual living realities of people there were not sufficiently noticed and, according to Save the Children UK, human necessities like food and water had reached a “crisis point” in an area totally under Israeli military administration. Another important issue concerned the surge of settler violence directed against Palestinians, including attacks on mosques and burning of olive trees.
The situation in Gaza remained disturbing from the perspective of human rights and international law, despite the welcome partial-easing of the comprehensive blockade in the aftermath of the 31 May attack on the six-ship flotilla carrying humanitarian assistance, he said. According to the latest information, the entry of basic necessities to Gaza remained at one third the level that existed prior to when the blockade was established in June 2007. He called the blockade “a form of collective punishment”, adding that the fact-finding mission report also found that the attacks on the flotilla in international waters were contrary to international law and reliant on excessive force.
He concluded by calling attention to two of the recommendations in his report that arose from the legal analysis of the occupation. “In particular, it is time, after 43 years, to acknowledge the intolerable burdens of ‘prolonged occupation’ on a civilian population,” he said, urging a formal study of the human rights aspects of prolonged occupation under either the auspices of the Human Rights Council or another respected organization. The other recommendation was to encourage United Nations support for both the effort to send humanitarian assistance direct to the people of Gaza in defiance of the unlawful blockade, and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Campaign, which sought to respond to Israel’s failure to uphold its international law obligations.
Click here to read the Report(.pdf)
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
After the presentation of his report on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 to the UN General Assembly, Richrd Falk Held the following Press Conference:
Press Conference by Special Rapporteur on Situation of Human Rights in Palestinian Territories Occupied Since 1967:
The enormous cumulative effect of prolonged Israeli occupation, accelerated settlement expansion in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, and related policies to destroy homes and revoke residency permits made the vision of an Israeli-Palestinian peace based on a two-State consensus a “political impossibility”, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, said today.
Special Rapporteur Richard Falk said, at a Headquarters press conference, that the intergovernmental peace process was premised on an “illusion” that talks would result in an independent, sovereign Palestinian State. He was discussing his latest report, which he recently presented to the General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural). (See Press Release GA/SHC/3984)
First and foremost, the report underscored the persistence of a very serious humanitarian situation in Gaza, he said. While the Israeli blockade had been eased in some respects, it had been maintained in others, placing Gazans under great psychological and physical stress. Israel forbade the export of goods produced in Gaza, substantially destroying the local economy. Further, young people were forbidden from visiting their families in the West Bank or East Jerusalem and from studying at universities in other parts of the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
He said that with intergovernmental negotiations frozen, civil society initiatives took on new importance in establishing solidarity with Palestinians to achieve the right of self-determination, and also in challenging, symbolically and substantively, the dimensions of the Israeli occupation. Recalling one new development, he said Israel’s 31 May raid on a six-ship flotilla carrying humanitarian goods to Gaza had resulted in its Government backing away, for the first time, from its claimed right to blockade Gaza. But while Israel had agreed to its termination, the blockade in fact continued, with only one third of the trucks carrying humanitarian assistance into Gaza prior to the blockade now allowed to enter the enclave.
In response to a question as to whether a future Palestinian State was indeed becoming an illusion, he said the idea of a separate Palestinian State, which formed the basis for Security Council resolution 242 (1967) and international negotiations, seemed increasingly problematic since it would require a substantial reversal of the settlement process. Political realities in Israel, and among the settlers, made that a “non-viable possibility”, he added.
Asked whether he was speaking about a political reality or more than that, since the parties had for years discussed swapping territory for settlement blocks, Mr. Falk said his informed opinion was that continued expansion outside the settlement blocks was irreversible. It was not clear whether the supposed swaps could ever materialize in an agreement, he said, stressing that whatever Israel offered the Palestinians would in no way compensate for the loss of land, water and territory that was integral to the West Bank.
He said he had always been sceptical about the viability of such arrangements, pointing out that the settlements had been built in violation of international law. The Fourth Geneva Convention, in paragraph 6 of Article 49, established the unlawfulness of transferring the population of an occupying Power to occupied territory, he noted. Even the United States had condemned the establishment of settlements by reference to international law. Now there had been a “creeping reformulation” to say that only the expansion of the settlements contravened the creation of a political atmosphere conducive to peace negotiations. In sum, the fundamental Palestinian right was connected to all settlements, not just their expansion, he stressed.
Questioned about the contents of the two thirds of cargo prevented from entering Gaza, he said Israel had not said it was excluding items from Gaza. The reason present cargo levels were now one third of pre-blockade levels was not connected to security or to the “contraband character” of the trucks denied entry, since Israel had always inspected everything flowing into Gaza to ensure none of the authorized materials could be used to make weapons. While the 30 per cent of goods entering the enclave represented a “diminished level of collective punishment”, it still constituted collective punishment in violation of Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Asked, in the context of the flotilla incident, whether he agreed that States had the right to defend themselves, he said the correspondent’s description of the naval raid differed from his understanding of it and from its characterization in the report of the Human Rights Council. The Council had not endorsed Israel’s claim that it was entitled to blockade Gaza. It had found that the blockade itself was unlawful since it inflicted disproportionate harm on the population, overcoming any claim Israeli of security.
Furthermore, there had been no weapons on the ships comprising the flotilla, he said, adding that the only allegation to that effect had come from a “misleading” Israeli narrative that had since been contradicted by almost all independent studies. However, there was a right to deliver assistance to a suffering population, and Israel was not living up to its obligation to provide civilians of an occupied territory with basic necessities, he said, adding that there had been every confirmation of that over the years.
Recalling that one British official had described Gaza as a prison camp, he said Israel was obliged to allow the existence of civilian normality subject to genuine security requirements. However, there was consensus that Israel’s actions had been carried out in a “spirit of punishment” against Palestinians who had voted for Hamas, he said, noting that senior Israeli officials had confirmed that.
In response to a comment that his report provided no context for the unfolding events in Gaza and the West Bank, and pressed to address militant actions, such as firing rockets into Israel or the kidnapping of Israelis, he said “maybe I should have devoted more attention to the conflict as a foundation for the context”.
Mr. Falk said he disagreed, as would most international legal experts, with Israel’s claim that, since it had disengaged from Gaza in 2005, it was no longer responsible for conditions in the enclave. As long as Israel controlled the airspace, sea access, exit and entry to Gaza, it was in effective control, just as the gates of a prison were controlled by prison administrators. The mandate under which his report was issued dealt with the Israeli occupation, he said, stressing that his responsibility was not to characterize the political conflict which provided the context for the occupation.
Pressed on how he expected to advance the situation if he did not address its root causes, he said that even if he had specified the context, however fully, his analysis would still be “congruent” with assessments of Israeli violations of international humanitarian law with which Israel was charged and on the basis of which it administered Gaza, the West Bank and Palestine. The larger context was helpful in understanding the interaction, but not in excusing Israeli behaviour.
Asked to discuss the position of Hamas vis-à-vis Israel, and the difficult, nuanced situation of a Government that called for the destruction of its neighbour, he said that description was not accurate. Since its election, Hamas had repeatedly tried to establish a long-term ceasefire, and its Charter was not necessarily relevant. There had been various statements from Israel too, he said, adding that Israel had made a “huge mistake” in not dealing with Hamas as a political actor. Until it did so, no progress would be made.
Questioned about the Israeli civil society’s reaction to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, he said his report tried to portray the growing strength of that movement. Israel had expressed concern about its growing impact, and the country’s strategic institutions were now of the view that the “delegitimization project” was a greater threat than armed Palestinian resistance.
He said the BDS movement reflected the fact that Israel no longer held the moral high ground, which now belonged to the Palestinian struggle. That shift had resulted from the way in which Israel had conducted its 2006 war with Lebanon, attacked Gaza in late 2008 and early 2009, and handled the flotilla incident. The cumulative effect of those three developments had deprived Israel of the moral high ground in global public opinion, he reiterated, saying that whichever side gained that ground, even if militarily weaker, often prevailed in the political struggle. “It’s certainly my view, yes,” Mr. Falk replied when asked whether that was his opinion as well.
Asked to comment on Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman’s proposal to put off intergovernmental negotiations and simply redraw the borders, he said that was the direction in which the parties were going, but he did not think that was where they should go. Such a redrawing amounted to de facto annexation under the banner of temporary occupation. It was a subversion of the regime of occupation, which underpinned the Security Council consensus reached in 1967 that Israel was obliged to withdraw from the lands occupied since that year’s six-day war. It was an important reality that must be exposed, but the media had not done a good job of clarifying such a fundamental change in the negotiability of a viable Palestinian State, he said.
"Press Conference: Richard Falk, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian Territories
22 October 2010
Running time: 00:31:46
Earlier that morning (20 October 2010) the special Rapporteur presented his report to the General Assembly
Special Rapporteur on Occupied Palestinian Territories
RICHARD FALK, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, presenting his last report to the General Assembly in this term, described some of the difficulties that had faced the mandate-holder in discharging the functions of the position. The most salient of those difficulties involved the non-cooperation of the Government of Israel, which had refused to fulfil its obligations as a Member of the United Nations by its failure to allow the Special Rapporteur to enter Israel to visit the occupied territories of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. That Israeli procedure of non-cooperation was extended to other United Nations undertakings, including the “Fact Finding Mission on the Gaza Conflict” known as the Goldstone Report and the fact finding panel appointed by the Human Rights Council to investigate the flotilla incident of 31 May 2010.
The United Nations must also be faulted for its failure to respond more strongly to complaints of Israeli non-cooperation, setting an unfortunate precedent and encouraging impressions of Israeli impunity, he said. This mandate had also been hampered to some extent by the Human Rights Council, which never acted upon the proposal in his initial report that the mandate be reformulated to allow for the consideration of Palestinian, as well as Israeli, violations of international law, taking account of criticisms of an impression of bias. Additionally, while the Palestinian Authority had supplied helpful information, he had felt considerable pressure from it regarding his independence as Special Rapporteur, particularly with respect to reporting on the situation within Gaza.
The report itself, he said, focused on several developments pertaining to occupation, pointing out that, due to the issues associated with the blockade of Gaza, there had been a tendency to overlook Israeli encroachments on the rights of the Palestinian people in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It stated that the cumulative effects of the settlements, the security wall and the extensive settler-only road network had been to convert the conditions of de jure “occupation” into circumstances of de facto “annexation”. The extension of the Jewish presence in East Jerusalem by way of unlawful settlements, house demolitions and revocations of Palestinian residence rights made it difficult to envisage a Palestinian capital in East Jerusalem. “If the conditions on the West Bank and East Jerusalem are substantially irreversible for political and practical reasons, it becomes misleading and diversionary to continue adherence to the ‘two-state consensus’,” he said, discussing the assertion that the Israeli occupation had features of “settler colonialism” and “apartheid features” based on dual and discriminatory legal structures and restrictions.
Furthermore, concerning assumptions that material conditions in the West Bank were acceptable, he said that the actual living realities of people there were not sufficiently noticed and, according to Save the Children UK, human necessities like food and water had reached a “crisis point” in an area totally under Israeli military administration. Another important issue concerned the surge of settler violence directed against Palestinians, including attacks on mosques and burning of olive trees.
The situation in Gaza remained disturbing from the perspective of human rights and international law, despite the welcome partial-easing of the comprehensive blockade in the aftermath of the 31 May attack on the six-ship flotilla carrying humanitarian assistance, he said. According to the latest information, the entry of basic necessities to Gaza remained at one third the level that existed prior to when the blockade was established in June 2007. He called the blockade “a form of collective punishment”, adding that the fact-finding mission report also found that the attacks on the flotilla in international waters were contrary to international law and reliant on excessive force.
He concluded by calling attention to two of the recommendations in his report that arose from the legal analysis of the occupation. “In particular, it is time, after 43 years, to acknowledge the intolerable burdens of ‘prolonged occupation’ on a civilian population,” he said, urging a formal study of the human rights aspects of prolonged occupation under either the auspices of the Human Rights Council or another respected organization. The other recommendation was to encourage United Nations support for both the effort to send humanitarian assistance direct to the people of Gaza in defiance of the unlawful blockade, and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Campaign, which sought to respond to Israel’s failure to uphold its international law obligations.
Click here to read the Report(.pdf)
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Saturday, October 30, 2010
Richard Falk on the One Democratic State Solution
Richard Falk YT P1.mp4:
"jeannekyle | October 22, 2010
Dr. Richard Falk's message to the One Democratic State Conference in Dallas, TX.
This is Part 1 of 2.
Part 2 of 2
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"jeannekyle | October 22, 2010
Dr. Richard Falk's message to the One Democratic State Conference in Dallas, TX.
This is Part 1 of 2.
Part 2 of 2
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Friday, September 24, 2010
Academics, Political Leaders and Activists Gathered at "A Just Peace for Palestine" Conference
The Conference is jointly organized by the BDS National Committee
"Just Peace for Palestine"
Source: PRAGOTI
Fri, 2010-09-24 15:07 — Dhananjay
A report on the two day conference on "A Just Peace for Palestine" held on 22-23 September 2010 at New Delhi.
Day 1
Noted academics, political leaders and activists from the different parts of the world gathered today for a two day Conference in New Delhi on ‘A Just Peace for Palestine’. The Conference was jointly organised by the Committee for Solidarity with Palestine, Palestine BDS National Committee, All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation and other like-minded organisations. All the speakers emphasised that until the Israeli oppression of Palestine people ends, the much sought after ‘two-state solution’ will never get realised. The Conference gave a united call for academic and cultural boycott of Israel.
Father Miguel Brockmann, former President of the UN General Assembly, while addressing the gathering emphasised that Palestinians live under the conditions of apartheid, whereby their basic livelihood rights are brutally curtailed by the Israeli authority. Israeli oppression is in complete violation of the UN Human Rights Charter. He emphasised that the explicit recognition of Israeli oppression by the international community is a prerequisite to any genuine peace process in the conflict ridden region of West Asia. He further said that the MDGs set by the UN are bound to fail because they are set as ‘goals and targets’ and not ‘rights’, and nobody is held accountable for failing the targets. He emphasised that recognition of basic rights of Palestinian people is essential.
Jamal Zahalka, a member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), pointed out that Palestine is the only nation in the world which is geographically segregated and in each of the segregated part of the nation, Israeli authority exerts varying forms of oppression to assert its hegemony. He vehemently opposed Israel’s claim to be recognised as a Democratic Jewish state. He explained that Israel wants to establish the Jewish state by physically eliminating the Palestinian people living in Israel. This is fundamentally contradictory to the notion of democracy. Any formal recognition of Israel as a democratic state would firmly establish Zionist hegemony and delegitimize the struggle of Palestinian people, he said.
Professor Aijaz Ahmed said that the resolution of the Palestine issue is central to lasting peace in West Asia. He pointed out how the position of the leadership of the Indian National Congress on Palestine has changed over the decades. Gandhi had unambiguously recognised the rights of Palestinian people on their land, a view which was later championed by Nehru and his followers in the Non-Aligned Movement. However, the official Indian position has shifted since the 1990s towards closer ties with Israel. He linked the shift with the emergence of Hindutva and neo-liberalism and fall of the socialist block.
Professor Richard Falk of Princeton University sarcastically termed India’s lack of voice on Palestinian cause as ‘geopolitical laryngitis’ at a time when India enjoys greater geopolitical significance. He emphasised that self determination of Palestine can be achieved only through political struggles. He explained the need for soft power instruments against the hard power dominance of the Israel and US combine, drawing inspiration from the non-violence movement of Gandhi.
Professor Falk and Professor Aijaz Ahmad opined that unless an objective assessment of historical events of 1948 and 1967 are done and the crimes committed against the Palestinian people are recognised, the present problem cannot be resolved.
Day 2
The first session of second day was on an Asian response to the Palestinian peace issue and it was chaired by Professor Upendra Baxi. As the first speaker of the session, Prof. Achin Vanaik of Delhi University said that we have to provide a critical but unconditional support to Hamas. He focused on the US geopolitical strategies in West Asia to maintain its domination through supporting Israel. Prof. Vanaik cautioned against over-dependence on Turkey as it is one of the member-countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation aspiring as well to join the European Union. Exposing the irrational demands of the US, Prof. Vanaik said that it is an imperialist country which had invaded Iraq and Afghanistan recently. A country with imperialist designs will never attempted to find a solution for Palestine, he asserted. He also said that civil society resistance to American imperialism is intensified in the recent past and we should strengthen it further. He suggested the organisation of another flotilla with US citizens on the board and to have an international musical concert supporting the Palestinian cause, in one of prominent US cities.
Mustafa Barghouti , a candidate for the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority, described the specificity of empire building in the region. According to him peace initiatives will fail because it is aimed at domestication of Palestinian political process and issues. The peace process cannot take place without acknowledging the suffering of the Palestinian people. With the help of maps and illustrations, Mustafa Barghouti explained how Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory has slowly increased recently. Earlier areas belonging to the Palestinian settlement was 45% of the total land, which had now shrunk to 11 percent. The peace process must focus on settlements, he argued while asserting that Israel had a vested interest in delegitimising the democratic process in Palestine. Mr. Barghouti appealed to the Indian people to support the Palestinian cause. He reminded that India had stood steadfastly against the apartheid regime of South Africa. Today Israel is the biggest violator of international law and Israel is the instrument of all imperialist design providing enough reason to oppose Israel.
Walden Bello , Co-Founder of Focus on Global South, talked about the unity of the people of different regions supporting the Palestinian cause He said the insincere peace talk will strengthen Israel and that US pressure on Israel is important but it is not doing the needful. The American propaganda of democracy in west Asia is a farce because Iraq and Afghanistan are still under its occupation. American policies are responsible for all the mess and we need a multipolar world order, he asserted. Mr. Bello also emphasised the crucial role of Turkey and said the President Barack Obama of the US has to implement his promises. He said that we have to strengthen the civil society movement against Israel.
Ilan Pape, professor of history in the University of Exeter, has said that is wrong to assume the US to be a homogenous country and that there are different voices within the American political mainstream. Recently, there is an assertion of progressive Churches, Jews’ organisations and student movements. Today Israel is scared of this growing resentment against its policies in the US and this is time for us to ally and lobby against Zionist rule, he said. Strengthening the Boycott, De-invest and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel is the best strategy and we should support it, he argued.
The second session of the day was on an Action Plan for Ending the Apartheid and was chaired by Prof. Richard Falk. The first speaker of the session Ms. Lisa Taraki a sociologist at Birzeit University of Palestine said that BDS must be intensified and cautioned against the brand Israel campaign. The Israeli academic and cultural institutions are major instruments of Zionist propaganda, he mentioned.
Dr. Mordecai Briemberg, also emphasized on spreading the information about the BDS campaign in countries like Canada and Europe so that people could be mobilised in favour of the movement. Thomas Sommer- Houdeville, who was the part of the Freedom Flotilla narrated his experiences. He said that there were three reasons why Israel conducted the attack. Firstly, it is a military state and did not know of any other way to respond. Secondly, the Flotilla was breaking the silence on the blockade. Thirdly, Israel continues to fear any pro-active effort against the blockade or its policies. Thomas said that they are preparing another Flotilla involving people from all parts of the world and the attack has not deterred their spirit.
Concluding session - Speaking for Palestine
The concluding session was chaired by senior journalist Seema Mustafa. As the first speaker, veteran trade union leader from Bangladesh Rashed Menon said that the people of Bangladesh stood in support of the Palestinian people. The chairman of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Manzurul Khan said that the history of Israel is the history of violence and violations of human rights. He asserted that the people of the world were for peace in Palestine and these voices needed to be strengthened. President of the Jatiya Samaj Kranti Dal and member of parliament of Bangladesh, Moinuddin Khan said that Israel is a ZIonist state and a stigma in the face of humanity and that the subcontinent can do a lot for Palestine; India should take a bold stand for Palestine and that India can lead the world through the force of its moral power and not its might.
Mustafa Barghouti argued that there had to be peace or settlements would continue in Israel. In 1947, Palestinian settlements amounted to 45% of the total land, which had reduced to merely 11% in 2005. There was no scope for peace until Israel halted settlements and construction of the apartheid wall. The military arms that Israel was supplying India, were tested on the Palestinian people in Gaza, he said. India was the largest buyer of Israel arms and the BDS campaign would not succeed unless a strong people’s movement in India was not launched.
Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said that the Indian people were concerned as to how to extend solidarity to the Palestinian people and the central issue was the change in the position of the Indian government vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue. In the last one and a half decade, successive governments in India have tried to forge close alliance with the Israeli regimes. The Indian government has condemned the attack on the flotilla but did not mention the name of Israel. There is an impression that Israelis are advising the Indian government in Kashmir. We have to look into the huge multi-billion defence deals between these establishments and the corruption involved. Unfortunately in the Parliament, there is no voice articulating such concerns and the Palestinian peoples’ voices. The defence issue has to be taken up by Parliamentary standing committee and we should get trade unions to participate in the BDS campaign, he asserted. We should also get port and dock workers’ unions to agree not to unload Israeli goods, he argued.
Mani Shankar Aiyar, member of parliament of the Rajya Sabha said that in 1947, India was the only country which stood against the Partition of Palestine. Gandhiji had said that Palestine belonged to Palestine, as much as England belonged to the English and France to the French. The Indian democracy has demonstrated with its plurality that unity is possible through diversity. Yet, today’s Indian establishment is opposed to what India has historically stood for, vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue.
Jamal Juma, co-ordinator of Stop the Wall campaign, questioned why India needed weapons from Israel. He exhorted the Indian establishment to support peace and human rights in Palestine. India was the second largest market for Israeli products and that is why India was so important for the Palestinian in the BDS campaign against Israel.
D.P.Tripathi, general secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party, said that every person who believes in democracy and against apartheid should support Palestine. There is a continuous social, economic and psychological blockade of the Palestinian people by Israel and that a new flotilla from India involving south Asian people for Palestine had to be initiated.
A.B.Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, said that if the peace process is only to legitimise Israeli authority, he was opposed to it. He asserted that solidarity with the Palestinian people had no meaning unless there was a concerted opposition to the military alliance with Israel. He argued that Indian intelligence was in cahoots with Israeli intelligence and that Indian democracy was under threat because of this.
Jamal Zahalka, member of the Knesset representing the Balad party, said that all those who were responsible for the killings on the flotilla off the Gaza coast, should be tried and brought to justice. He argued that racism is not merely a domestic issue of Palestine and that it must be defeated globally. The Palestinian people were challenging the Israeli regime and will continue to do so, he asserted.
PressTV - -Just Peace for Palestine- kicks off in New Delhi.flv:
"fptrue | September 24, 2010
The two day conference 'A Just Peace for Palestine' in New Delhi is attended by noted academics, political leaders and activists from around the world.
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"Just Peace for Palestine"
Source: PRAGOTI
Fri, 2010-09-24 15:07 — Dhananjay
A report on the two day conference on "A Just Peace for Palestine" held on 22-23 September 2010 at New Delhi.
Day 1
Noted academics, political leaders and activists from the different parts of the world gathered today for a two day Conference in New Delhi on ‘A Just Peace for Palestine’. The Conference was jointly organised by the Committee for Solidarity with Palestine, Palestine BDS National Committee, All India Peace and Solidarity Organisation and other like-minded organisations. All the speakers emphasised that until the Israeli oppression of Palestine people ends, the much sought after ‘two-state solution’ will never get realised. The Conference gave a united call for academic and cultural boycott of Israel.
Father Miguel Brockmann, former President of the UN General Assembly, while addressing the gathering emphasised that Palestinians live under the conditions of apartheid, whereby their basic livelihood rights are brutally curtailed by the Israeli authority. Israeli oppression is in complete violation of the UN Human Rights Charter. He emphasised that the explicit recognition of Israeli oppression by the international community is a prerequisite to any genuine peace process in the conflict ridden region of West Asia. He further said that the MDGs set by the UN are bound to fail because they are set as ‘goals and targets’ and not ‘rights’, and nobody is held accountable for failing the targets. He emphasised that recognition of basic rights of Palestinian people is essential.
Jamal Zahalka, a member of the Israeli Knesset (parliament), pointed out that Palestine is the only nation in the world which is geographically segregated and in each of the segregated part of the nation, Israeli authority exerts varying forms of oppression to assert its hegemony. He vehemently opposed Israel’s claim to be recognised as a Democratic Jewish state. He explained that Israel wants to establish the Jewish state by physically eliminating the Palestinian people living in Israel. This is fundamentally contradictory to the notion of democracy. Any formal recognition of Israel as a democratic state would firmly establish Zionist hegemony and delegitimize the struggle of Palestinian people, he said.
Professor Aijaz Ahmed said that the resolution of the Palestine issue is central to lasting peace in West Asia. He pointed out how the position of the leadership of the Indian National Congress on Palestine has changed over the decades. Gandhi had unambiguously recognised the rights of Palestinian people on their land, a view which was later championed by Nehru and his followers in the Non-Aligned Movement. However, the official Indian position has shifted since the 1990s towards closer ties with Israel. He linked the shift with the emergence of Hindutva and neo-liberalism and fall of the socialist block.
Professor Richard Falk of Princeton University sarcastically termed India’s lack of voice on Palestinian cause as ‘geopolitical laryngitis’ at a time when India enjoys greater geopolitical significance. He emphasised that self determination of Palestine can be achieved only through political struggles. He explained the need for soft power instruments against the hard power dominance of the Israel and US combine, drawing inspiration from the non-violence movement of Gandhi.
Professor Falk and Professor Aijaz Ahmad opined that unless an objective assessment of historical events of 1948 and 1967 are done and the crimes committed against the Palestinian people are recognised, the present problem cannot be resolved.
Day 2
The first session of second day was on an Asian response to the Palestinian peace issue and it was chaired by Professor Upendra Baxi. As the first speaker of the session, Prof. Achin Vanaik of Delhi University said that we have to provide a critical but unconditional support to Hamas. He focused on the US geopolitical strategies in West Asia to maintain its domination through supporting Israel. Prof. Vanaik cautioned against over-dependence on Turkey as it is one of the member-countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation aspiring as well to join the European Union. Exposing the irrational demands of the US, Prof. Vanaik said that it is an imperialist country which had invaded Iraq and Afghanistan recently. A country with imperialist designs will never attempted to find a solution for Palestine, he asserted. He also said that civil society resistance to American imperialism is intensified in the recent past and we should strengthen it further. He suggested the organisation of another flotilla with US citizens on the board and to have an international musical concert supporting the Palestinian cause, in one of prominent US cities.
Mustafa Barghouti , a candidate for the Presidency of the Palestinian Authority, described the specificity of empire building in the region. According to him peace initiatives will fail because it is aimed at domestication of Palestinian political process and issues. The peace process cannot take place without acknowledging the suffering of the Palestinian people. With the help of maps and illustrations, Mustafa Barghouti explained how Israeli settlement in Palestinian territory has slowly increased recently. Earlier areas belonging to the Palestinian settlement was 45% of the total land, which had now shrunk to 11 percent. The peace process must focus on settlements, he argued while asserting that Israel had a vested interest in delegitimising the democratic process in Palestine. Mr. Barghouti appealed to the Indian people to support the Palestinian cause. He reminded that India had stood steadfastly against the apartheid regime of South Africa. Today Israel is the biggest violator of international law and Israel is the instrument of all imperialist design providing enough reason to oppose Israel.
Walden Bello , Co-Founder of Focus on Global South, talked about the unity of the people of different regions supporting the Palestinian cause He said the insincere peace talk will strengthen Israel and that US pressure on Israel is important but it is not doing the needful. The American propaganda of democracy in west Asia is a farce because Iraq and Afghanistan are still under its occupation. American policies are responsible for all the mess and we need a multipolar world order, he asserted. Mr. Bello also emphasised the crucial role of Turkey and said the President Barack Obama of the US has to implement his promises. He said that we have to strengthen the civil society movement against Israel.
Ilan Pape, professor of history in the University of Exeter, has said that is wrong to assume the US to be a homogenous country and that there are different voices within the American political mainstream. Recently, there is an assertion of progressive Churches, Jews’ organisations and student movements. Today Israel is scared of this growing resentment against its policies in the US and this is time for us to ally and lobby against Zionist rule, he said. Strengthening the Boycott, De-invest and Sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel is the best strategy and we should support it, he argued.
The second session of the day was on an Action Plan for Ending the Apartheid and was chaired by Prof. Richard Falk. The first speaker of the session Ms. Lisa Taraki a sociologist at Birzeit University of Palestine said that BDS must be intensified and cautioned against the brand Israel campaign. The Israeli academic and cultural institutions are major instruments of Zionist propaganda, he mentioned.
Dr. Mordecai Briemberg, also emphasized on spreading the information about the BDS campaign in countries like Canada and Europe so that people could be mobilised in favour of the movement. Thomas Sommer- Houdeville, who was the part of the Freedom Flotilla narrated his experiences. He said that there were three reasons why Israel conducted the attack. Firstly, it is a military state and did not know of any other way to respond. Secondly, the Flotilla was breaking the silence on the blockade. Thirdly, Israel continues to fear any pro-active effort against the blockade or its policies. Thomas said that they are preparing another Flotilla involving people from all parts of the world and the attack has not deterred their spirit.
Concluding session - Speaking for Palestine
The concluding session was chaired by senior journalist Seema Mustafa. As the first speaker, veteran trade union leader from Bangladesh Rashed Menon said that the people of Bangladesh stood in support of the Palestinian people. The chairman of the Communist Party of Bangladesh, Manzurul Khan said that the history of Israel is the history of violence and violations of human rights. He asserted that the people of the world were for peace in Palestine and these voices needed to be strengthened. President of the Jatiya Samaj Kranti Dal and member of parliament of Bangladesh, Moinuddin Khan said that Israel is a ZIonist state and a stigma in the face of humanity and that the subcontinent can do a lot for Palestine; India should take a bold stand for Palestine and that India can lead the world through the force of its moral power and not its might.
Mustafa Barghouti argued that there had to be peace or settlements would continue in Israel. In 1947, Palestinian settlements amounted to 45% of the total land, which had reduced to merely 11% in 2005. There was no scope for peace until Israel halted settlements and construction of the apartheid wall. The military arms that Israel was supplying India, were tested on the Palestinian people in Gaza, he said. India was the largest buyer of Israel arms and the BDS campaign would not succeed unless a strong people’s movement in India was not launched.
Prakash Karat, general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), said that the Indian people were concerned as to how to extend solidarity to the Palestinian people and the central issue was the change in the position of the Indian government vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue. In the last one and a half decade, successive governments in India have tried to forge close alliance with the Israeli regimes. The Indian government has condemned the attack on the flotilla but did not mention the name of Israel. There is an impression that Israelis are advising the Indian government in Kashmir. We have to look into the huge multi-billion defence deals between these establishments and the corruption involved. Unfortunately in the Parliament, there is no voice articulating such concerns and the Palestinian peoples’ voices. The defence issue has to be taken up by Parliamentary standing committee and we should get trade unions to participate in the BDS campaign, he asserted. We should also get port and dock workers’ unions to agree not to unload Israeli goods, he argued.
Mani Shankar Aiyar, member of parliament of the Rajya Sabha said that in 1947, India was the only country which stood against the Partition of Palestine. Gandhiji had said that Palestine belonged to Palestine, as much as England belonged to the English and France to the French. The Indian democracy has demonstrated with its plurality that unity is possible through diversity. Yet, today’s Indian establishment is opposed to what India has historically stood for, vis-a-vis the Palestinian issue.
Jamal Juma, co-ordinator of Stop the Wall campaign, questioned why India needed weapons from Israel. He exhorted the Indian establishment to support peace and human rights in Palestine. India was the second largest market for Israeli products and that is why India was so important for the Palestinian in the BDS campaign against Israel.
D.P.Tripathi, general secretary of the Nationalist Congress Party, said that every person who believes in democracy and against apartheid should support Palestine. There is a continuous social, economic and psychological blockade of the Palestinian people by Israel and that a new flotilla from India involving south Asian people for Palestine had to be initiated.
A.B.Bardhan, general secretary of the Communist Party of India, said that if the peace process is only to legitimise Israeli authority, he was opposed to it. He asserted that solidarity with the Palestinian people had no meaning unless there was a concerted opposition to the military alliance with Israel. He argued that Indian intelligence was in cahoots with Israeli intelligence and that Indian democracy was under threat because of this.
Jamal Zahalka, member of the Knesset representing the Balad party, said that all those who were responsible for the killings on the flotilla off the Gaza coast, should be tried and brought to justice. He argued that racism is not merely a domestic issue of Palestine and that it must be defeated globally. The Palestinian people were challenging the Israeli regime and will continue to do so, he asserted.
PressTV - -Just Peace for Palestine- kicks off in New Delhi.flv:
"fptrue | September 24, 2010
The two day conference 'A Just Peace for Palestine' in New Delhi is attended by noted academics, political leaders and activists from around the world.
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Friday, July 16, 2010
Richard Falk: the Flotilla & Future Prospects
Israel-Palestine - the Flotilla & Future Prospects with Richard Falk on Vimeo:
"Interview with Richard Falk, UN Rapporteur on Palestine, and Cindy Piester of Pulse TV in Montecito, CA on July 9, 2010. Discuss the attack of Israel on the humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza at the end of May and future prospects for the Middle East, the U.S., Israel and Palestine.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"Interview with Richard Falk, UN Rapporteur on Palestine, and Cindy Piester of Pulse TV in Montecito, CA on July 9, 2010. Discuss the attack of Israel on the humanitarian flotilla bound for Gaza at the end of May and future prospects for the Middle East, the U.S., Israel and Palestine.
Israel-Palestine - the Flotilla & Future Prospects with Richard Falk from Maverick Media on Vimeo.
- Sent using Google Toolbar"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Richard Falk Interview, Ventura, CA, March 26, 2010
Richard Falk Interview, Ventura, CA, March 26, 2010 on Vimeo
Interview with Richard Falk, UN Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, by Cindy Piester, host and producer of Pulse TV. Discuss Israel and Palestine history and current situation, including the Goldstone Report & U.S. involvement with Israel.
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Interview with Richard Falk, UN Rapporteur on Palestinian human rights, by Cindy Piester, host and producer of Pulse TV. Discuss Israel and Palestine history and current situation, including the Goldstone Report & U.S. involvement with Israel.
Richard Falk Interview, Ventura, CA, March 26, 2010 from Maverick Media on Vimeo.
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
GRITtv: Richard Falk, Huwaida Arraf & Norman Finkelstein on the Freedom Flotilla
GRITtv » Blog Archive » Richard Falk, Huwaida Arraf & Norman Finkelstein on the Freedom Flotilla
by admin was published on June 1st, 2010
In the middle of the night Monday, Israeli commandoes boarded ships in the "Freedom Flotilla" attempting to bring humanitarian aid to residents of still-blockaded Gaza. The aggressive response by Israel turned deadly, after with at least nine activists killed. The international community has reacted with shock and outrage; protests have erupted around the world outside Israeli embassies, with protesters even teargassed in Paris. Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a meeting with President Obama and headed back to Israel to do damage control, and Turkey, from where the flotilla departed, has recalled its ambassador and issued a travel warning to its citizens.
Huwaida Arraf was on one of the ships; she joins us via phone from Ramallah, along with Norman Finkelstein, to tell us what happened to her and offer some analysis on the situation. Then we speak to Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, for more on the international reaction and the U.S.'s involvement.
Finally, Laura reminds us all of some words on the U.S./Israel relationship from General David Petraeus.
More GRITtv
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
by admin was published on June 1st, 2010
In the middle of the night Monday, Israeli commandoes boarded ships in the "Freedom Flotilla" attempting to bring humanitarian aid to residents of still-blockaded Gaza. The aggressive response by Israel turned deadly, after with at least nine activists killed. The international community has reacted with shock and outrage; protests have erupted around the world outside Israeli embassies, with protesters even teargassed in Paris. Benjamin Netanyahu has cancelled a meeting with President Obama and headed back to Israel to do damage control, and Turkey, from where the flotilla departed, has recalled its ambassador and issued a travel warning to its citizens.
Huwaida Arraf was on one of the ships; she joins us via phone from Ramallah, along with Norman Finkelstein, to tell us what happened to her and offer some analysis on the situation. Then we speak to Richard Falk, UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, for more on the international reaction and the U.S.'s involvement.
Finally, Laura reminds us all of some words on the U.S./Israel relationship from General David Petraeus.
More GRITtv
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
DN! Video: Global Condemnation of Israel's Attack on Gaza Freedom Flotilla
Global Condemnation of Israeli Armed Attack on Gaza-Bound Freedom Flotilla: At Least 10 Dead, Hundreds Remain in Detention
It was early Monday morning as Israeli soldiers stormed the Gaza-bound international aid convoy called the Freedom Flotilla in international waters about forty miles off the coast of Gaza. The six ships had nearly 700 international activists on board and 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid. They were aiming to break the three-year-long siege of the Gaza Strip. Israeli commandos landed on the lead ship in the convoy, the Turkish Mavi Marmara, which had about 600 activists on board. At least ten and as many as nineteen civilians on board the ship have been reported to have died in the attack. Israeli troops proceeded to seize the Mavi Marmara and the five other ships and take them to the port of Ashdod. Hundreds of activists are being detained in an Israeli prison, and nearly fifty others have been deported. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the attack and called for the immediate release of the ships and the civilians held by Israel and called for an impartial investigation. All the permanent members of the Security Council except for the United States explicitly called for Israel’s three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip to be lifted. Turkey has compared Israel’s actions to state terrorism. We speak to Adam Shapiro, Amira Hass, Ali Abunimah and Richard Falk.
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
It was early Monday morning as Israeli soldiers stormed the Gaza-bound international aid convoy called the Freedom Flotilla in international waters about forty miles off the coast of Gaza. The six ships had nearly 700 international activists on board and 10,000 tons of humanitarian aid. They were aiming to break the three-year-long siege of the Gaza Strip. Israeli commandos landed on the lead ship in the convoy, the Turkish Mavi Marmara, which had about 600 activists on board. At least ten and as many as nineteen civilians on board the ship have been reported to have died in the attack. Israeli troops proceeded to seize the Mavi Marmara and the five other ships and take them to the port of Ashdod. Hundreds of activists are being detained in an Israeli prison, and nearly fifty others have been deported. The United Nations Security Council has condemned the attack and called for the immediate release of the ships and the civilians held by Israel and called for an impartial investigation. All the permanent members of the Security Council except for the United States explicitly called for Israel’s three-year blockade of the Gaza Strip to be lifted. Turkey has compared Israel’s actions to state terrorism. We speak to Adam Shapiro, Amira Hass, Ali Abunimah and Richard Falk.
Adam Shapiro, co-founder of the International Solidarity Movement and a board member of the Free Gaza Movement.
Ali Abunimah, co-founder of The Electronic Intifada and author of One Country: A Bold Proposal to End the Israeli-Palestinian Impasse.
Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Amira Hass, columnist with Israel’s Ha’aretz newspaper and the only Israeli journalist to have spent several years living in and reporting from Gaza and the West Bank.
[The report on the Freedom Flotilla starts at 16:30. You can start the video then slide the pointer to that time.]Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Thursday, December 31, 2009
UN Special Rapporteur, Richard Falk Condemns US+Egyptian Iron Wall
[Press TV] UN Special Rapporteur, Richard Falk Condemns US+Egyptian Iron Wall
The UN's Special Rapporteur, Richard Falk has condemned the US and Egyptian Iron Wall, which is being built by the Egyptians under the direction and supervision of the American Military Engineers Corp. Richard Falk also lashed out at the Zionist Entity, Israel, and called for Sanctions against Israel in order to improve and alleviate the plight of those in the prison called Gaza and the generally appalling treatment of Palestinians. Aired on December 31, 2009.
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
The UN's Special Rapporteur, Richard Falk has condemned the US and Egyptian Iron Wall, which is being built by the Egyptians under the direction and supervision of the American Military Engineers Corp. Richard Falk also lashed out at the Zionist Entity, Israel, and called for Sanctions against Israel in order to improve and alleviate the plight of those in the prison called Gaza and the generally appalling treatment of Palestinians. Aired on December 31, 2009.
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Monday, December 28, 2009
Talk to Al Jazeera - Richard Falk - 27 Dec 09
Talk to Al Jazeera - Richard Falk - 27 Dec 09 - Part 1:
"Professor Richard Falk describes himself as an American Jew, but it is his support of Palestinian rights that has earned him the profile and abuse that is threatening to overshadow five decades of achievements as a lawyer, an academic and an author. One year after Israel's war on Gaza, Al Jazeera talks to the UN special rapporteur on Palestine and asks him about his views on that war, the impact of the Obama presidency and the future of the peace process."
Part 1
Part 2
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"Professor Richard Falk describes himself as an American Jew, but it is his support of Palestinian rights that has earned him the profile and abuse that is threatening to overshadow five decades of achievements as a lawyer, an academic and an author. One year after Israel's war on Gaza, Al Jazeera talks to the UN special rapporteur on Palestine and asks him about his views on that war, the impact of the Obama presidency and the future of the peace process."
Part 1
Part 2
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Friday, December 25, 2009
Richard Falk on Gaza and International Law - talkingsticktv
Interview - Richard Falk - Gaza, Afghanistan and International Law:
"Interview with Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and author of 'Crimes of War: Iraq' and 'The Costs of War: International Law, the UN, and World Order after Iraq' recorded October 17, 2009 in Seattle."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"Interview with Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and author of 'Crimes of War: Iraq' and 'The Costs of War: International Law, the UN, and World Order after Iraq' recorded October 17, 2009 in Seattle."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Prof. Richard Falk - The ICJ and Israel's Wall 5 years on - UCP
Prof. Richard Falk (UN) at UCP International Symposium - The ICJ and Israel's Wall 5 years on on Vimeo:
"Keynote speech by Prof. Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Camera and editing: Federico Campanale"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"Keynote speech by Prof. Richard Falk, United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Camera and editing: Federico Campanale"
Prof. Richard Falk (UN) at UCP International Symposium - The ICJ and Israel's Wall 5 years on from United Civilians for Peace on Vimeo.
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Richard Falk addresses the National Lawyers Guild
Talk - Prof. Richard Falk - Keynote Address at 2009 NLG Convention:
"Talk by Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and U.N. Human Rights Rapporteur for the Palestinian Occupied Territories given October 15, 2009 at the National Lawyers Guild 'Law for the People' 2009 Convention in Seattle."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"Talk by Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and U.N. Human Rights Rapporteur for the Palestinian Occupied Territories given October 15, 2009 at the National Lawyers Guild 'Law for the People' 2009 Convention in Seattle."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Richard Falk - "Imagining Israel-Palestine Peace: Why International Law Matters"
The 2009 Edward Said Memorial Lecture "Imagining Israel-Palestine Peace: Why International Law Matte:
"Professor Richard Falk spoke at the Palestine Center on 6 October 2009 for the Edward Said Memorial Lecture."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"Professor Richard Falk spoke at the Palestine Center on 6 October 2009 for the Edward Said Memorial Lecture."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Richard Falk on Palestine and Goldstone report - 07 Oct 09
Richard Falk on Palestine and Goldstone report - 07 Oct 09:
"The Palestinian leadership has backed a move to defer a UN vote on the Goldstone report that accuses Israel of committing war crimes during its offensive in Gaza.
Richard Falk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a special UN rapporteur on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, talks to Al Jazeera about the possible motivation behind the decision."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"The Palestinian leadership has backed a move to defer a UN vote on the Goldstone report that accuses Israel of committing war crimes during its offensive in Gaza.
Richard Falk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and a special UN rapporteur on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, talks to Al Jazeera about the possible motivation behind the decision."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Is there a Court for Gaza? - Law and justice - 22 May 2009
Basso Foundation - International Section
International Conference "Is there a Court for Gaza?". Law and justice
Vera Pegna's Presentation of contribution from Richard Falk (Lecturer in International Law, Princeton University. United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories) by Vera Pegna. Rome, 22 May 2009
Language: English
Producer: Basso Foundation - International Section
On the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, speacker: Raji Sourani (President of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Gaza).
Rome, 22 May 2009
Language: English
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
International Conference "Is there a Court for Gaza?". Law and justice
Vera Pegna's Presentation of contribution from Richard Falk (Lecturer in International Law, Princeton University. United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories) by Vera Pegna. Rome, 22 May 2009
Language: English
Producer: Basso Foundation - International Section
On the Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, speacker: Raji Sourani (President of the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights, Gaza).
Rome, 22 May 2009
Language: English
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
U.N. Expert: Israeli Seizure of Aid Ship a Crime
U.N. Expert: Israeli Seizure of Aid Ship a Crime:
"A U.N. human rights investigator called Israel's seizure of a ship carrying relief aid for the Gaza Strip 'unlawful' and says its blockade of the territory constituted a 'continuing crime against humanity.'
Israeli authorities intercepted the vessel, which was also carrying 21 pro-Palestinian activists including Irish Nobel peace prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Israel said the boat would not be permitted to enter Gaza coastal waters because of security risks in the area and its existing naval blockade.
But Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, says the move was part of Israel's 'cruel blockade of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza' in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting any form of collective punishment against 'an occupied people.'"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"A U.N. human rights investigator called Israel's seizure of a ship carrying relief aid for the Gaza Strip 'unlawful' and says its blockade of the territory constituted a 'continuing crime against humanity.'
Israeli authorities intercepted the vessel, which was also carrying 21 pro-Palestinian activists including Irish Nobel peace prize laureate Mairead Maguire and former U.S. congresswoman Cynthia McKinney. Israel said the boat would not be permitted to enter Gaza coastal waters because of security risks in the area and its existing naval blockade.
But Richard Falk, the United Nations special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, says the move was part of Israel's 'cruel blockade of the entire Palestinian population of Gaza' in violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention prohibiting any form of collective punishment against 'an occupied people.'"
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
UN Special Rapporteur: Ban Ki-moon's Gaza reaction 'disappointing' 05 May 09
Ban Ki-moon's Gaza reaction 'disappointing' 05 May 09:
"Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, tells Al Jazeera he is disappointed with the UN secretary general's decision not to order another report on Israel's Gaza assault."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"Richard Falk, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, tells Al Jazeera he is disappointed with the UN secretary general's decision not to order another report on Israel's Gaza assault."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
Thursday, March 26, 2009
What is Ban Ki-Moon waiting for?
New law to throw the book at Israel:
"UN human rights investigator Richard Falk explains why Israeli conduct in the Gaza Strip necessitates the world to introduce a new law."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
"UN human rights investigator Richard Falk explains why Israeli conduct in the Gaza Strip necessitates the world to introduce a new law."
Palestine Video - A Palestine Vlog
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