Please get along if you can and hear Richard Falk speak on 16th March at 6pm in New Kings, LT10, University of Aberdeen.
When he arrived in Tel Aviv airport leading an official UN delegation,
Richard Falk was detained and expelled by Israel, who refused him entry
to Palestine to gather data first hand. He nonetheless reported back to
the United Nations in 2008 that "Israel maintains its Gaza siege in its
full fury, allowing only barely enough food and fuel to enter to stave off
mass famine and disease." He asked the UN to evaluate whether "Israeli
civilian leaders and military commanders responsible for the Gaza siege
should be indicted and prosecuted for violations of international
criminal law". On December 27 that year Falk condemned Israel strikes on
Gaza as "war crimes", collective punishment, and targetting of
civilians.
Falk was
bitterly attacked by the US, Israel and the UK Governments for his
findings. The murderous siege of Gaza continues in "in its full fury".
Falk supports the Palestinian call for BDS (Boycott, Divestment and
Sanctions) against Israel until it concedes Palestinian rights.
Today we are witnessing a concerted attack on free speech for Palestine as supposedly "anti-semitic", an evidence-free claim.
The attack is launched by a UK Government that supports every Israeli
massacre of Palestinians, and is supported by pro-Israel groups who also
endorse every Israeli massacre of Palestinians.
A letter from
Minister for Universities Jo Johnson to all UK universities attacks
Israeli Apartheid Week events and proposes a definition of antisemitism
that would criminalise opposition to the crimes of the State of Israel.
Universities in England have cancelled academic conferences on
Israel-Palestine, and some have put pro-Palestine campus meetings under
special measures - police in attendance, audiences restricted, requests
for officials to check the content of talks beforehand. In Edinburgh,
the City Chambers booking for Richard Falk to speak was cancelled
because the topic was "controversial".
Falk sees himself as "an
American Jew", which for him signifies above all, "to be preoccupied
with overcoming injustice and thirsting for justice in the world, and
that means being respectful toward other peoples regardless of their
nationality or religion, and empathetic in the face of human
suffering..."
Support these meetings by Richard Falk to:
• demonstrate solidarity with the Palestinian people under a murderous regime "in its full fury"
• assert our right to free speech on Israel-Palestine in defiance of all attempts to stigmatise support for Palestinian freedom
See more at the SPSC Facebook site