Richard A. Falk

Richard Anderson Falk was born on November 13, 1930, in New York City, into a Jewish family.[1][7] His education included the University of Pennsylvania and an LL.B. from Yale Law School; he subsequently earned a J.S.D. from Harvard Law School.[1][3]

Falk held faculty appointments at Ohio State and Princeton and held the Albert G. Milbank Professorship of International Law and Practice at Princeton.[1][3] He later became professor emeritus of international law at Princeton.[2] His professional activities included service as a vice president of the American Society of International Law and membership on the boards of more than 40 organizations concerned with international law and international relations.[3]

An affidavit describing his professional qualifications lists expert testimony in more than a dozen court cases and legislative or administrative hearings.[3] It also records more than 350 articles, chapters in over 100 books, and authorship of more than 30 books.[3] His books include The Role of Domestic Courts in the International Legal Order (1964), Legal Order in a Violent World (1968), Human Rights and State Sovereignty (1981), Reviving the World Court (1986), and Revitalizing International Law (1989).[3]

The UN Human Rights Council appointed Falk special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 in 2008; his tenure lasted until 2014.[4] He took up the position in May 2008, with reporting responsibilities concerning the West Bank — known by its original, indigenous Jewish name of Judea and Samaria — and the Gaza Strip.[8] His first catalogued report covered January 1 through July 31, 2008.[9]

In 2008, Falk said the mandate should be expanded to cover violations by Palestinians as well as Israelis, describing its existing scope as biased.[10] Israel’s ambassador, Yitzhak Levanon, also sought a review, arguing that the mandate had not been reviewed since its establishment in 1993 and was the only one among 35 human-rights mandates still awaiting review.[11] Other explanations offered for the delay included administrative oversight and postponements associated with the transition from the former Human Rights Commission.[11] Former rapporteur John Dugard supported extending the mandate to cover rocket fire into Sderot and suicide bombings.[11]

Falk’s access to the region became an issue during his first year in office: in December 2008, Israeli border police prevented him from entering Israel at Ben Gurion Airport and returned him to Geneva.[12] A UN official said his visit was intended to gather first-hand information, meet people, and follow up on his mandate.[12] Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor defended the exclusion by describing the mandate as “profoundly distorted” and limited to Israeli violations, while the human-rights group Adalah protested the decision.[12]

Falk’s report on Operation Cast Lead argued that Israel’s use of force was not legally justified in light of what he regarded as available diplomatic alternatives.[13] He treated Gaza’s population density and Israel’s obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention as central to his analysis, concluding that the operation was potentially a crime against peace and “a war crime of the greatest magnitude under international law.”[13] He also questioned whether Israeli forces could distinguish civilian from military targets in densely populated areas, focusing on legal analysis because he had been unable to enter Gaza to assess conditions directly.[5]

His January 15, 2010 report, A/HRC/13/53, addressed the UN fact-finding mission on the Gaza conflict, settlements and their effects on human rights, demonstrations against the separation barrier, the Gaza blockade, and Palestinian refugees.[14] It also examined boycotts, divestment, and sanctions and included recommendations.[14]

In October 2012, Falk presented a report to the UN General Assembly recommending that states boycott named companies connected to establishing or maintaining Israeli settlements.[2] He proposed that the boycott continue “until they bring their operations into line with international human rights and humanitarian law and standards.”[2] The report concerned both Israeli-owned and multinational companies, including allegations of exploiting Palestinian resources and assisting settlement construction or security.[15] It acknowledged that further investigation was needed to establish whether the allegations were well-founded and argued that economic pressure could influence corporate behavior.[15]

Falk’s final report as special rapporteur, A/HRC/25/67, was dated January 13, 2014, and ran to 22 pages.[16] It addressed settlements, international law, Palestinian rights, East Jerusalem, Gaza, separation barriers, international courts, and corporate social responsibility.[16] Falk argued that Israeli policies had characteristics of apartheid and described policies in East Jerusalem as “ethnic cleansing.”[8] He maintained that Gaza remained occupied despite Israel’s 2005 disengagement, citing control over borders, airspace, and coastal waters and the effects of the blockade.[8] His recommendations included consideration of bans on settlement-produce imports and an International Court of Justice advisory opinion on the occupation.[8]

After his rapporteurship, Falk co-authored the 2017 report Israeli Practices towards the Palestinian People and the Question of Apartheid with political scientist Virginia Tilley for the UN Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia, or ESCWA.[17] The authors concluded that Israel had established an apartheid regime.[17] The report was withdrawn from the agency’s website after the UN secretary-general distanced himself from it and requested removal; ESCWA executive secretary Rima Khalaf resigned following that request.[18] In March 2023, Falk spoke at a Gaza conference organized by the International Center of Law Studies, whose speakers also included members of Hamas’s political leadership.[19] His address concerned international law and the protection of Muslim holy places, calling for accountability and protection for Palestinian holy sites and religious ceremonies.[19]

Falk’s published scholarship encompasses international legal institutions, domestic courts, sovereignty, and human rights, subjects reflected in books published from the 1960s through the 1980s and in his extensive article and chapter contributions.[3] His professional record also includes organizational leadership and expert testimony alongside university teaching.[3]

His UN reports brought corporate activity, settlement policy, boycotts, and international legal remedies into his treatment of Palestinian rights.[14][16] These subjects appeared across successive reports rather than only in his final recommendations: his 2010 report discussed boycotts, divestment, and sanctions, and his 2012 report called for economic pressure on companies involved with settlements.[14][15] He continued examining Israeli policies through international-law frameworks after leaving the rapporteur position, including through the report co-authored with Tilley in 2017.[17]

Falk’s essay “Slouching Toward a Palestinian Holocaust,” which compared Israel’s closure of Hamas-ruled Gaza with Nazi tactics, prompted Israel’s Foreign Ministry to announce in 2008 that it would refuse him an entry permit.[20] Falk stood by the comparison but said it was not literal and was intended as a warning about the lessons of history.[20]

Israeli and American officials rejected his Gaza-war analysis as one-sided or biased.[5] Critics challenged his treatment of Hamas rocket attacks, the ceasefire’s end, Israel’s self-defense rationale, and Gaza’s legal status.[13] Susan Rice rejected his 2012 report and called his continued service “deeply regrettable,” saying it damaged UN credibility.[21] The 2017 ESCWA report was withdrawn from the agency’s website after the UN secretary-general distanced himself from it and requested removal; ESCWA executive secretary Rima Khalaf resigned following that request.[18]

Falk’s commentary on the September 11 attacks drew criticism from UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in 2011.[2] Falk explicitly denied endorsing the theory that the US government orchestrated the attacks, saying his argument concerned transparent and exhaustive investigations of major events.[6] A July 2011 congressional speech also criticized a cartoon attributed to him, while acknowledging his explanation that his account had been hacked and that he had removed the drawing.[22]

After the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing, Falk linked US policy toward Israel to the risk of further “blowbacks,” prompting condemnation and calls for his removal from World Jewish Congress president Ronald S. Lauder.[23] Ban rejected the commentary, and US officials called for Falk’s resignation.[24] In December 2013, State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki again urged him to step down, criticizing his remarks and describing his work as one-sided and biased.[25] Falk refused to resign, saying he was doing his job and distinguishing criticism from what he regarded as a smear campaign.[24]