Noted.

BOFFO BAZZI: The American Academy of Diplomacy, a prestigious association of former ambassadors and senior-level diplomats, has awarded its 2008 Arthur Ross Award for Distinguished Reporting and Analysis to Nation writer Mohamad Bazzi, who shared this year's award with New York Times reporter Dexter Filkins. Bazzi was honored for "his keen insight and analysis," which "helps lead us to a critical understanding of the deeper currents of attitude, belief, and action in the Middle East."

FALK EXPELLED: In an unprecedented step, the Israeli government detained Richard Falk, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, when he arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport on December 14 on official UN business, expelling him after a twenty-hour detention.

Falk, an international law expert (and Nation editorial board member), has for years been a courageous voice calling for an end to the Israeli occupation. No doubt the Israeli government was enraged by his recently released official statement, titled "Silence Is Not an Option," in which he condemned "the cruelty and unlawfulness of the Gaza blockade imposed by Israel" as "a policy of collective punishment" that "constitutes a continuing flagrant and massive violation of international humanitarian law" and a "Crime Against Humanity." Falk called on the UN to implement its "responsibility to protect" doctrine, for an investigation by the International Criminal Court and for the potential indictment of Israeli civilian and military leaders.

Subscriber Login

User Name

Password

Subscribe Now!

The only way to read this article and the full contents of each week's issue of The Nation online is by subscribing to the magazine. Subscribe now and read this article -- and every article published since for the past five years -- right now.

There's no obligation -- try The Nation for four weeks free.

• Get The Nation at home (and online!) for 68 cents a week!
• If you like this article, consider making a donation to The Nation.
• Reprint this article. Click here for rights and information.