The Detention of Geography Professor Ghazi Falah by Israeli Authorities

Re: The detention without charge of professor of geography Dr. Ghazi Falah

We, the undersigned, protest the detention of Professor Ghazi Falah by the Israeli security forces and call upon Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the governing authorities of Israel to either present him with an indictment or release him. We further urge and call upon the executive leaders of the United States of America and Canada, and the leaders of other nations to exert the utmost diplomatic pressure upon the government of Israel to swiftly achieve the same.

On July 8th, Professor Ghazi Falah, a Palestinian, and dual Canadian/Israeli citizen, was arrested while taking photographs in the Israeli coastal city of Nahariyya. In contravention of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Dr. Falah is being held without charge and for almost three weeks was denied contact with his lawyer and family. Also, in contravention of the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations, Dr. Falah has not been allowed to speak with Canadian Consular officials.

Dr. Falah is a tenured professor of geography at the University of Akron, in the United States. He has been publishing in international, peer-reviewed geography journals for nearly two decades and he is considered to one of the leading international experts on Geographies of the Arab World. Dr. Falah is well-known and highly respected within the international academic community.

There is grave concern among many of us who count Dr. Falah as a respected colleague that he is being held by Israeli officials for reasons other than commission of an unlawful act. We are unable, however, to ascertain the reasons for his arrest and detention, because he has not been formally charged with any crime.

Given the present state of affairs in Israel, we are gravely concerned for the wellbeing and safety of Dr. Falah. We, the undersigned, implore you to intervene on Dr. Falah's behalf, to ensure that his basic human rights are respected and that he is given due process.