WASHINGTON — A University of Akron geography professor has been accused by Israel of spying for Hezbollah and Iran, his attorney and Israeli officials in the United States said yesterday.
Ghazi Falah is being held in an Israeli jail. He was arrested July 8 in northern Israel, but Israeli officials and Falah's attorney, Husein abu-Husein, had been prohibited by an Israeli court from saying why.
"He was taking pictures of Israeli installations along the northern border," said Nancy Goldfarb, spokeswoman for the Israeli Consulate General in Philadelphia. "He was arrested on suspicion that his pictures were taken for intelligence purposes. ... I don't know whether he will be indicted."
Husein confirmed yesterday that Falah was taking photographs, but he said they were for research. Falah has written academic articles about the borders of Israel and a future Palestinian state.
One of the photographs he took included a military antenna, Husein said, but Falah denies spying.
"He is very clear that he is not a spy," Husein said from Israel, shortly after meeting with his client for the first time since the arrest. "As a specialist in geography, he was documenting and taking pictures in the north area in Israel, just as he had in the south of Lebanon when he went there last June."
Falah's joint Israeli-Canadian citizenship allows him to travel easily in the Islamic world. He was in Tehran, Iran's capital, three years ago on an academic trip, Husein said.
An Israeli court extended Falah's detention through Sunday, and an appeal is scheduled for today in Haifa.
The court lifted a gag order on the case yesterday after requests from Haaretz, the newspaper reported. Police requested the gag order when they arrested Falah at a beach near Nahariya, just south of the Israel-Lebanon border.
Until yesterday, Falah, 53, had been denied access to an attorney under another Israeli law. His son, Naail, 23, said the family in Wadsworth, near Akron, has been wondering why he was being held. They were relieved to know what the accusation was because they considered it without merit, he said.
The arrest of Falah came four days before the current conflict began.