User:Redhanker/sandbox/Richard A. Falk
Falk has strongly defended the rights of Palestineans and has compared Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to the actions of the Nazis. In 2012, Falk was asked to resign from the Human Rights Watch Santa Monica group’s board after UN Watch stated this happened after their letter to Human Rights Watch accusing Falk of antisemitism and 9/11 conspiracies, calling him an "enemy of human rights" who supports Hamas and endorsed a virulently antisemitic book.
Falk has strongly defended the rights of Palestineans and has compared Israel's treatment of the Palestinians to the actions of the Nazis. In 2012, Falk was asked to resign from the Human Rights Watch Santa Monica group’s board after UN Watch stated this happened after their letter to Human Rights Watch accusing Falk of antisemitism and 9/11 conspiracies, calling him an "enemy of human rights" who supports Hamas and endorsed a virulently antisemitic book.
2011 dog cartoon[edit]
In a column published by pro-Palestine website Veterans Today Gilad Atzmon dismissed UN Watch as an "Israeli Hasbara outlet" which accused Hamas of being a terrorist organization and his best-selling book as being antisemitic. He condemned their statement: [1]
We commend Human Rights Watch and its director Kenneth Roth for doing the right thing, and finally removing this enemy of human rights from their important organization. A man who supports the Hamas terrorist organization, and who was just condemned by the British Foreign Office for his cover endorsement of a virulently antisemitic book, has no place in an organization dedicated to human rights
Endorsement of The Wandering Who?[edit]
In 2011, Gilad Atzmon published the book The Wandering Who? A Study of Jewish Identity Politics. A quote from Richard Falk appeared on the cover, praising the book as "A transformative story told with unflinching integrity that all (especially Jews) who care about real peace as well as their own identify should not not only read, but reflect upon and discuss widely.[2] He also is quoted as writing the book is an "absorbing and moving account of his [Atzmon's] journey from hard core Israeli nationalist to a de-Zionized patriot of humanity and passionate advocate of justice for the Palestinian people."[3]
Alan Dershowitz criticized Richard Falk for endorsing the book, and used numerous quotes from the book to support his position that the book is antisemitic because it "argues that Jews seek to control the world," that "Jews are evil and a menace to humanity," that it "urges his readers to doubt the Holocaust and to reject Jewish history," among other things. Dershowitz challenged Falk to a “public debate" about why he endorsed the book.[4] Falk rejected the call to debate, saying that he had a "limited taste for the sort of defamatory polemics that the Dershowitz attack mounts" and defended the book, saying it is concerned with "Jewish identity" and not with Jews.[5]
UN Watch accusations[edit]
According to Phyllis Bennis, of the Institute for Policy Studies, UN Watch has been a frequent critic of Richard Falk.[6] 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."[7] UN Watch, and others[8][9][10] accused Falk of “promoting racist remarks," as well as anti-Semitism, "by attempting to blame Jewish communities everywhere for alleged crimes against Palestinians."[11] Falk later responded, writing “I have often opposed policies including those of the US and Israel but to conflate such stands with racism is [part of] a wide-ranging and frequently repeated denunciation of my views and activities.”[7][12]
- ^ Watch Human Rights Watch – A Tribute to Prof Richard Falk
- ^ Gilad Atzmon, "The Wandering Who? A Study of Jewish Identity Politics", Zero books, 2011, ISBN 978-1-84694-875-6
- ^ “Endorsements” of The Wandering Who from the book on Gilad Atzmon web site.
- ^ Why are John Mearsheimer and Richard Falk Endorsing a Blatantly Anti-Semitic Book? by Alan Dershowitz, The New Republic, November 4, 2011.
- ^ Princeton prof turns down Dershowitz challenge, The Daily Caller, November 9, 2011.
- ^ Phyllis Bennis, Human Rights Watch: Time to stand with human rights defenders, Al-Jazeera, January 9, 2012.
- ^ a b Richard A. Falk, For What?, on his personal blog, July 20, 2012.
- ^ UN Official Calling to Boycott Firms Doing Business with Israel Chided for Openly Anti-Semitic Views
- ^ A small victory for genuine human rights: Extremist Richard Falk loses one gig, but keeps important UN post
- ^ United Nations report urges boycott of businesses dealing with Israel
- ^ "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.