Richard Falk Blasted by American Jewish Committee for Linking Bombing, Israel
The American Jewish Committee denounced Richard Falk, a UN official, for what it claims is his assertion in an online essay that U.S. and Israeli policies were responsible for the Boston Marathon terrorist bombings. UN Watch first reported on Falk’s comments.
U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice expressed her disapproval as well on twitter: “Outraged by Richard Falk’s highly offensive Boston comments. Someone who spews such vitriol has no place at the UN. Past time for him to go.”
Falk, a special rapporteur with the UN Human Rights Council, was reprimanded two years ago by UN Secretary-General Ban ki-Moon for promoting 9/11 conspiracy theories, alleging that the U.S. had a role.
“Here he goes again,” said AJC Executive Director David Harris. “Given his public record, the question is why Richard Falk still occupies a UN position. Is there no shame?”
In his essay, “A Commentary on the Marathon Murders,” published on April 21 in Foreign Policy Journal, Falk warned that “the United States has been fortunate not to experience worse blowbacks, and these may yet happen, especially if there is no disposition to rethink U.S. relations to others in the world, starting with the Middle East.”
Falk also warned that “[A]s long as Tel Aviv has the compliant ear of the American political establishment, those who wish for peace and justice in the world should not rest easy.”
“Falk’s unhinged diatribes against the U.S. and Israel are well-known,” Harris added. “He should have been barred, five years ago, from being appointed the Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on the Palestinians, but this reveals precisely what is wrong with the UN system.”
“Falk’s latest commentary demonstrates his total insensitivity to the victims of the terror attacks in Boston,” Harris continued. “His malicious propaganda regarding the U.S. and Israel – and his glaring inability to see the stark truth about extremist violence and terrorism – has no place in any international body that takes itself and its mission seriously.”
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
