[URBANTH-L] Petition for Dr. Ghazi Falah -- detained without charge in Israel

[Eugene McCann]

RE:  petition for Ghazi Falah:  http://www.petitiononline.com/geograph/

Dear Anthropology and Sociology colleagues,

As you may have seen/heard/read in the media, Dr. Ghazi Falah an 
associate professor of geography at the University of Akron (Ohio) 
and joint Canadian/Israeli citizen, is currently detained without 
formal charge in Israel.

This is a very worrying case and one that geographers (including our 
professional organizations in North America and Europe) have been 
mobilizing around.  I hope you don't mind if I use these forums to 
bring the fate of our colleague to your attention.  This is a case 
that will concern academics across the disciplines.

If you are interested, more details can be found here: 
http://muehlenhaus.com/ghazi/

And a petition directed towards the leaders of Israel, Canada, and 
the US is here, please consider signing it today or tomorrow (his 
next court hearing is Sunday): 

http://www.petitiononline.com/geograph/

The petition asks world leaders to "intervene on Dr. Falah's behalf, 
to ensure that his basic human rights are respected and that he is 
given due process" and is either indicted or released.

Some more information (paraphrasing the wording of the petition):

On July 8th, Professor Ghazi Falah, a Palestinian, and dual 
Canadian/Israeli citizen, was arrested while taking photographs north 
of the Israeli coastal city of Nahariyya (an activity geographers, 
sociologists, and anthropologists engage in as a normal part of our 
professional practice).  In contravention of the Universal 
Declaration of Human Rights, Dr. Falah is being held without charge 
and for almost three weeks was denied contact with his lawyer and 
family. Also, in contravention of the Vienna Convention on Consular 
Relations, Dr. Falah has not been allowed to speak with Canadian 
Consular officials.

Dr. Falah has been publishing in international, peer-reviewed 
geography journals for nearly two decades and he is considered to one 
of the leading international experts on Geographies of the Arab 
World.  Dr. Falah is well-known and highly respected within the 
international academic community.

There is grave concern among many of us who count Dr. Falah as a 
respected colleague that he is being held by Israeli officials for 
reasons other than commission of an unlawful act.  We are unable, 
however, to ascertain the reasons for his arrest and detention, 
because he has not been formally charged with any crime.

Thank you for your attention,
Eugene McCann
-- 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dr. Eugene McCann
Department of Geography
Simon Fraser University
8888 University Drive
Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6
Canada

Email:  emccann at sfu.ca
Phone (Direct):  604.291.4599
Phone (Departmental Office):  604.291.3321
Fax:  604.291.5841
http://www.sfu.ca/geography/people/faculty/Faculty_sites/EugeneMcCann/index.htm