Israel, Jerusalem, Dec. 15 /corr. Trend A.Gut / Israel did not allow Richard Falk, United Nations human rights inquiry expert for the Palestinian territories, to enter into the country. The professor of international law Richard Falk landed in Israel last evening. This was his first official visit to Israel from the moment of appointment to the post in the United Nations in the end of March this year.
Falk intended to enter Gaza Strip directly from the airport to devise a report on violations of the rights of the Palestinians in the conditions of "economic blockade". He was delayed in the passport control in the International Ben-Gurion Airport and in several hours, was evicted from the country. He was deported from the Ben-Gurion Airport after the Foreign Ministry of Israel declared him persona non grata several months ago.
The Foreign Ministry said that "Israel clearly stated that it does not intend to greet Falk in its land as the special rapporteur on human rights". The Ministry states that that the views of the rapporteur are politicized and preconceived, and he himself justifies the terrorism of HAMAS, bringing unacceptable and insulting parallels between the situations in the autonomy and the Holocaust.
To make a report on humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territories, which he planned to present to United Nations in March 2009, was the basic purpose of professor Falk's visit.
It should be mentioned that last week Falk expressed the UN Human Rights Council that the blockade of Gaza is a military crime, which must be considered by the International Court of Justice in the Hague.
A diplomatic source in Jerusalem noted that Richard Falk was returned, since he was declared "illegitimate rapporteur". Israeli Foreign Ministry considers Richard Falk as illegitimate and nonobjective, citing his comparisons with the Nazis, and he compares the actions of Israel with the Holocaust.
The Press Secretary of the Foreign Ministry of Israel, Igal Palmor, stated to the representatives of the foreign press that Richard Falk "does not attempt to improve the situation with the human rights, but instead of it, arrives with his ready conclusions, and certainly those conclusions radically and systematically criticizes Israel and only Israel".