Falk, U.N. team report on Israeli-Palestinian relations

In his cluttered corner office in the Wilson School, professor Richard Falk hangs a large black-and-white poster of a giraffe. When asked about the drawing, Falk smiles and points out that, like the giraffe, "I tend to stick my neck out."

When he boarded a plane to Israel Feb. 9, Falk was prepared to do just that. And he did not have to wait long.

While visiting a Palestinian refugee camp with his fellow travelers, Falk found himself caught in a crossfire — one in which he said he felt real fear for his personal safety. Recalling the incident, Falk grimly joked, "I recommend it for your next vacation."

Yet for this University professor and noted expert in international law and human rights, the nature and goal of his recent trip far outweighed the risks.

Concerned over al-leged human rights abuses in the Israeli-occupied territories, the U.N. Commission on Human Rights sent a three-person team of experts in international law to gather a first-hand account of the situation.

Falk said he was surprised and honored when he learned he had been chosen as one of the three delegates. He knew the U.N. had been considering a number of well-known people for the posts, including such luminaries as Nelson Mandela. Thus, when he received word from the U.N. of his appointment, Falk temporarily put aside other commitments and prepared for the trip.

Six weeks later, accompanied by John Dugard, a South African from Leiden University in the Netherlands, and former Bangladeshi foreign minister Kamal Hussein, Falk arrived in Israel to examine the violence between the Israelis and Palestinians.

With his wide range of experiences, Falk was uniquely qualified for this mission. Before the trip, Falk journeyed to Kosovo as part of a 13-member commission sent by the Swedish government and the U.N. Secretary General to investigate the aftermath of the NATO war.

A fellow Wilson School professor and recent appointee to a senior advisory position at the U.N. Michael Doyle observed, "Richard Falk is recognized around the world for his ability to articulate the fullest and most practical meaning of universal human rights."

Over the course of their stay in Israel, Falk and his colleagues met with officials and civilians on both sides of the conflict, talking with leaders from Yassar Arafat to the top Israeli general in charge of the West Bank.

Though the Israeli government did not officially endorse the mission, they allowed the U.N. team freedom of movement within the country, Falk said.

Reflecting on what he saw and heard during his travels in Israel, Falk said, "The one uniform opinion was one of pessimism. Present attempts to find peace have not been successful. This failure has led extremists on both sides to rely increasingly on violence."

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Falk said he fears the current "spiral of escalating violence" represents a threat not only to the areas in which the violence occurs, but to the surrounding region as well.

He was also troubled by the youth of many participants on either side. Both the Israeli soldiers and Palestinian resistors are often young — "too young," Falk frowns.

In many areas, because there are no streets, children pour into open spaces, ensuring the inevitability of clashes between children and the Israeli military.

Falk also points to a recent survey conducted among 3,000 Palestinian children in Gaza. Of the 3,000, 55 percent had seen their fathers beaten by the Israeli Defense Force. According to the survey, such experiences lead to a so-called "revenge syndrome" among the Palestinian children, which perpetuates the violence. Falk also came to realize from talking to people on both sides, the problem is the disparity between the points of view of the Israelis and the Palestinians.

"Israel maintains that it's in a state of war, while Palestinians contend that resistance to Israeli control is not a form of warfare. The two sides have completely different views of the situation," Falk said.

Doyle hopes that the team's final report, which is to be presented at the annual meeting of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights this March, will help provide, "an explanation plain to every Israeli and friend of Israel of the daily humiliation of armed occupation experienced by every Palestinian, and an account plain to every Palestinian and friend of Palestine of the sense of insecurity every Israeli experiences, alone in a region of avowed enemies."

The recent election of Ariel Sharon as Israeli Prime Minister has not helped matters, Falk said. "On the Israeli side, even anti-Sharon people don't want to think about it," he said, noting that Sharon has been vulnerable to attacks by the Israeli press, regarding alleged violations of human rights.

On the Palestinian side, the outlook is even more negative. "The Palestinians see [the election of Sharon] as the nail in the coffin to their hopes and expectations," Falk noted — pointing out Sharon's prominent involvement as the main architect of the much despised settlement policy. Falk remarks that there can be no solution to the Palestinians' problems while the settlements remain.

In looking at the future, Falk does not foresee any easy solutions to the many problems in this part of the Middle East. He is realistic about the impact that the rule of law can have on two such highly antagonistic groups.

"One has to be modest in what one can expect from law and human rights at this stage," he said.

However, he remains optimistic about the team's final report and the effects it will have.

"My hope is that the report can clarify the situation so that the international community can understand the seriousness of the situation and that it will refocus public debate in a more helpful way," he said.

At the very least, Falk said, "It does provide an avenue for discourse that can serve as an alternative to violence."

Falk turned to the giraffe poster and added a second insight regarding the animal's picture. "They have no vocal cords, you know," he mused. "Maybe that's a reminder to me to keep my mouth shut."

Indeed, Falk's words and opinions have brought him others' disapproving comments in the past. According to colleague and Wilson School professor Wolfgang Danspeckgruber, Falk "has not always taken positions which please many, but he has always brought up interesting perspectives."

Danspeckgruber further noted, "as reality of life, and certainly of conflictual situations, is always much more multi-layered and complex, it is of tremendous value for all involved to hear and read opinions from experts who have dealt with the matter in question since long, but who have not necessarily taken mainstream opinions."

The international law community and all people invested in human rights issues can only hope that Falk will continue to share with his long-necked friend only a willingness to take risks.