Former Canadian professor is not a Hezbollah spy, says son

Naail Falah said Wednesday a hearing has been scheduled for his father, Ghazi Falah, on July 30 and he hopes Israeli authorities will be convinced to let the man go.

"We are very confident that he didn't do anything," Naail Falah said in an interview with CBC News from Cleveland, Ohio. "There is no reason for him to do anything wrong.

"He holds himself to a high ethical standard. He's a strong person, but he's not a person that belongs in prison."

Ghazi Falah, who has both Canadian and Israeli citizenship, is a geography professor at the University of Akron in Ohio and formerly taught at the University of Toronto. He was arrested after taking pictures in northern Israel near the Lebanese border, about five days before violence erupted July 12 between the Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants and the Israeli military.

Falah said Israeli officials accused his father of taking photos of Israeli military installations for Hezbollah, adding that there was "supposedly a military antenna" in one of the shots. He has not been charged.

Last-minute trip before relative's brain surgery

Falah rejected the allegations, saying his father made a last-minute decision to go to Israel in order to visit Naail Falah's grandmother, who was scheduled for an operation to remove a brain tumour.

His father had gone to a tourist area to take a break from the serious visit and that's where he took the photographs, on a borrowed digital camera, Falah said.

"That raised suspicions," he said.

Falah said it is possible that the pictures were meant to be used in academic studies. His father was doing research for a paper he is writing about the changing Israel-Lebanon border. Falah said his father has taken pictures of the same area from the Lebanese side.

"If a person was going to do their own surveillance or intelligence work, they wouldn't bring someone else's camera and they wouldn't go there at the last minute to visit a grandmother before she goes in for a brain tumour operation."

He said his father is a renowned geographer of the Middle East, who often takes pictures of landmarks for his work. Falah has said that his father considers himself pro-Palestinian and has written articles critical of Israeli policies in the past.

The family has not been able to contact Ghazi Falah, except through his lawyer, Husein abu-Husein.

"We understand that it's during wartime but we have had no contact with him," his son said. "Yes, I am worried about my dad."

He said the lawyer visited Ghazi Falah on Wednesday and has conveyed the sympathies of his family.

Canadian officials little help, son complains

Canadian embassy officials in Israel have been of little help to the family, he said.

"I haven't heard very much from them. I received two follow-up calls on the July 10 and 11. They said they have inquired on his behalf."

Since then, he has heard nothing from Canadian officials, he said.

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