----- Forwarded Message ---- From: Ladaks <ladaks...@aol.com> To: Wajahat Rizvi <wajahatri...@att.net>; Yusuf Mamdani <ymamd...@yahoo.com>; Syed Madad <syedsma...@gmail.com>; Ahmed Alloo <pemba...@aol.com>; Hussein Esmail <hmesm...@gmail.com> Sent: Fri, January 4, 2013 9:10:46 AM Subject: Fwd: Richard Falk: An Open Letter of Response to CRIF iPhone Begin forwarded message: From: Murtaza Jaffer <jaffermurt...@yahoo.co.uk> >Date: January 4, 2013, 3:00:00 AM EST >Subject: Fwd: Richard Falk: An Open Letter of Response to CRIF > > > >Subject: Richard Falk: An Open Letter of Response to CRIF >> >> Richard Falk: An Open Letter of Response to CRIF > > >Tuesday, January 1, 2013 at 12:25AM Gilad Atzmon > >An Open Letter of Response to CRIF (Counsèil Représentif des Institutions >juives >de France) > >I am shocked and saddened that your organization would label me as >an anti-Semite and self-hating Jew. It is utterly defamatory, and such >allegations are entirely based on distortions of what I believe and what I >have >done. To confuse my criticisms of Israel with self-hatred of myself as a Jew >or >with hatred of Jews is a calumny. I have long been a critic of American >foreign >policy but that does not make me anti-American; it is freedom of conscience >that >is the core defining reality of a genuinely democratic society, and its >exercise >is crucial to the quality of political life in a particular country, >especially >here in the United States where its size and influence often has such a large >impact on the lives and destiny of many peoples excluded from participating in >its policy debates or elections. > >It is always difficult to negate irresponsible accusations of this kind. What >follows is an attempt to clarify my honestly held positions in relation to a >litany of charges that have been given currency by a campaign conducted by UN >Watch ever since I was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council to be Special >Rapporteur for the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian >Territories in 2008. What follows are brief attempts at clarification in >response to the main charges: > >–the attacks on me by such high profile individuals as Ban ki-Moon, Susan >Rice, >David Cameron were made in response to vilifying letters about me sent to them >by UN Watch, and signed by its Executive Director, Hillel Neuer. The >contention >that Navi Pillay, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, also attacked me is >misleading. She regretted the posting of a cartoon on my blog that had an >anti-Semitic cartoon, but she took note of my contention that it was a >complete >accident and that the cartoon was immediately removed when brought to my >attention; >–it was the cartoon that has served UN Watch as the basis of their insistence >that I am an anti-Semite. Their bad faith is demonstrated by their repeated >magnification of the cartoon far beyond what I had posted on the basis of its >size on the Google image page for the International Criminal Court. As I have >explained many times, I was unaware when I posted the cartoon of its >anti-Semitic character, and pointed out that the post in which was inserted >was >dealing with my argument that the ICC was biased in its use of its authority, >in >this instance by issuing arrest warrants against the Qaddafi leadership in >Libya. Israel was not mentioned in the post the content of which had nothing >whatsoever to do with Judaism or Jews. To ignore such an explanation is to my >way of thinking and to reprint the cartoon in an enlarged form is a sign of >malicious intent; any fair reading of the 182 posts on my blog, including one >devoted to Jewish identity would make it very clear to any objective reader >that >I have not expressed a single sentiment that can be fairly described as an >anti-Semite. It is a grave disservice to both Israel and Jews to confuse >criticism of Israel’s behavior toward the Palestinians with anti-Semitism. > >–the claim that I am a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, actually a leading one, is >false, as well. I have consistently maintained that I have insufficient >knowledge to reach any conclusions about whether there is an alternative >narrative of the 9/11 events that is more convincing than the official >version. >What I have said, and stand behind, is that David Griffin and many others have >raised questions that have not been adequately answered, and constitute >serious >gaps in the official version that were not closed by the 9/11 Commission >report. >I would reaffirm that David Griffin is a cherished friend, and that we have >professionally collaborated on several projects long before 9/11. It should be >pointed out that Griffin is a philosopher of religion of worldwide reputation >that has written on a wide range of issues, including a series on inquiries >into >the post-modern world and the desirability of an ecological civilization. > >–The recent UN Watch letter that led me to be removed from the Human Rights >Watch SB city Committee also claims I am a partisan of Hamas, which is a >polemic >charge and is untrue. What I have encouraged is a balanced view of Hamas based >on the full context of their statements and behavior, and not fixing on >language >in the Hamas Charter or a particular speech. When the broader context is >considered of Hamas statements and recent behavior is considered, then I >believe >there exists a potential opportunity to work with Hamas leaders to end the >violence, to release the people of Gaza from captivity, and to generate a >diplomatic process that leads to a period of prolonged peaceful co-existence >with Israel. I have never insisted that this hopeful interpretation is >necessarily correct, but I do maintain that it is worth exploring, and a >preferred alternative to the current rigid insistence on refusing to deal with >Hamas as a political actor because it is ‘a terrorist organization.’ It was >evident in the recent violence preceding the November ceasefire in Gaza that >leaders throughout the Middle East were treating Hamas as the governmental >authority in Gaza and as a normal political entity, and this helped bring the >violence to an end. > >–Finally, UN Watch charges that I am biased and one-sided in my treatment of >Israeli behavior, and cites Susan Rice and others for support, as well as >noting >my failure to report on violations by Hamas, Fatah, and the Palestinian >Authority. I can only say once more that I am trying my best to be objective >and >truthful, although unwilling to give in to pressure. I did make an effort in >my >initial appearance before the Human Rights Council to broaden my mandate to >take >account of Palestinian violations, but was rebuffed by most of the 49 >governmental members of the Council for seeking to make such a change, and >reasonable grounds were advanced for not changing my mandate. I have noted >Palestinian violations of international law wherever relevant to the >assessment >of Israeli behavior, as for instance in relation to the launch of >indiscriminate >rockets. Palestinian abuses of human rights of Palestinians under their >control >while administering portions of Occupied Palestine is outside my mandate, and >I >have no discretion to comment on such behavior in discharging my >responsibilities as Special Rapporteur. > >It is my view that Israel is in control of the occupied Palestinian >territories >of the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, and is primarily >responsible for the situation and the persistence of the conflict, especially >by >their insistence on undertaking provocative actions such as targeted >assassinations and accelerated settlement expansions. > >I would grateful if this account of my actual views and beliefs can be >circulated widely in response to the CRIF repetition of the UN Watch attacks. > >Richard Falk >29 December 2012 > >Sent from my BlackBerry® PlayBook™ >www.blackberry.com > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Shia Group" group. To post to this group, send an email to shiagroup@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to shiagroup+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
