As notorious 9/11 Truther and anti-Israel activist Richard Falk prepares to leave his post as the United Nations’ special rapporteur on the situation of the Palestinians, reports are emerging that the Falk family’s special brand of crazy will still be represented at the United Nations, as Falk’s wife, Dr. Hilal Elver, is being suggested as the next UN Human Rights Council’s special rapporteur on the right to food.
According to UN Watch, the position to which Elver is set to be appointed later this week, was “created by Cuba in 2000 as a political tool to attack the West.” Aside from the troubling nature of this position, Elver herself holds controversial views that match those of her husband.
Like Falk, Elver is explicitly acknowledged in the world’s leading 9/11 conspiracy book, “The New Pearl Harbor” by David Ray Griffin, for the help she provided the author.
In turn, Elver’s academic work cites to Griffin’s conspiracy book, which argues that the Bush Administration helped orchestrate the attacks on the World Trade Center to justify wars against Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Richard Falk’s outrageous comments have earned numerous denunciations by members of the Obama administration. This week, the U.S. Ambassador to the UN, Samantha Power describing Falk’s views as “anti-Israel” and “noxious,” told Reuters, “”His publication of bizarre and insulting material has tarnished the U.N.’s reputation and undermined the effectiveness of the Human Rights Council. The United States welcomes Mr. Falk’s departure, which is long overdue.”
Elver, in addition to subscribing to her husband’s views on 9/11 conspiracy theories, wrote an extensive article for Al Jazeera endorsing the view that water cooperation between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) is “water apartheid.” She buttressed her argument with dubious assertions faulting Israel for not allowing Palestinian drilling in “the Western Basin of the Mountain Aquifer,” and for deteriorating sanitation.
Contrary to Elver’s claims, Prof. Chaim Gvirtzman recently showed that the PA’s water troubles were largely self-inflicted. In The Truth Behind the Palestinian Water Libels, Gvirtzman pointed out that the Oslo Accords gave the Palestinians the right to drill in the Eastern Mountain Aquifer, but they don’t; don’t build sewage treatment plants; and engage in wasteful flood irrigation.
Generally, Gvirtzman argues:
Today, the Palestinians consume some 200 million cubic meters of water per annum in Judea and Samaria. The Palestinians could easily raise that amount by at least 50 percent, without any additional assistance or allocation from the State of Israel.
Because she promotes her husband’s outlandish claims and ignores inconvenient facts, the appointment of Hilal Elver to special rapporteur on the right to food would further erode the credibility of the United Nations.
[Photo: UT CES / YouTube ]