A University of Akron professor detained July 8 in Israel on allegations of spying saw his lawyer for the first time Wednesday when a gag order was lifted.
Ghazi Falah is in "good spirits and health, but it is not a healthy situation," said his lawyer, Hussein Abu Hussein.
The gag order was lifted when Haaretz, a daily newspaper in Israel, appealed to the Nazareth Magistrates Court that Falah's case has been widely publicized in the United States and Canada.
Falah, a geographer, was visiting his sick mother in a Haifa hospital when he drove north to the Lebanese border to take pictures on July 8.
He was arrested by Israeli security officials and has been detained since then in a prison near Haifa that is reserved for defendants who are believed to be security threats.
His attorney, Hussein, said Falah has not been charged with a crime, and that the state's allegations of espionage are "bogus."
"The claim is that he took photos in a security zone," Hussein said. "Daily we see thousands of photos of military zones on the TV. It's rubbish. What's important is what you intended to do with the photos."
Falah, a tenured professor at UA, has built a reputation researching the border dispute between Israel and its neighbors.
The Wadsworth resident founded and is editor of the scholarly Arab World Geographer. As recently as March, he presented a lecture, Portrayal of Israeli and Palestinian Suffering and Mutual Violence in Selected Daily Newspapers in the U.S., at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
Colin Flint, a geography professor at the University of Illinois, said Falah is an academic leader on the Mideast border issue.
"If you want to understand the current debates you have to consider Ghazi's work," he said. "He has a good historical understanding."
Hussein, Falah's attorney, said his client was taking photos of Israeli's border with Lebanon because he was preparing a paper for an international conference for geographers in Beirut in October.
The photos were to accompany photos he took from the Lebanese side of the border on another trip.
Hussein said he would go to court today to try to secure Falah's release. Under certain conditions, Falah could be held for as long as 90 days.
Already his detainment has been extended three times.
"The environment here (in Israel) doesn't help the situation," Hussein said. "This is the worst situation at the worst time to be detained."
The current outbreak of violence in the Middle East began July 12, just days after Falah was detained.
UA spokesman Paul Herold said the university "has been working within diplomatic channels" to free Falah but was limiting its public comments due to the sensitivities of the issue.
Falah, a citizen of both Canada and Israel, joined UA in 2001 after appointments at the University of Toronto, the University of Northern Iowa and Hebron University on the West Bank.
Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com