(TORONTO, ONTARIO, CANADA) Canadian border officers detained and interrogated Richard Falk, a 95‑year‑old American legal scholar and former United Nations human rights expert, for about three hours at Toronto Pearson Airport on November 13, 2025, stopping him and his wife as they arrived to speak at a public tribunal on Canada’s role in the war in Gaza, before eventually allowing them to continue on to Ottawa.
Falk, professor emeritus of international law at Princeton University, was travelling with his wife, fellow legal scholar Hilal Elver, when Canadian border agents pulled them aside for secondary inspection shortly after they landed. What began as a routine entry check soon turned into a lengthy interrogation, during which a security officer told Falk that the authorities saw him as a possible national security threat to Canada.
The detention took place on Falk’s ninety‑fifth birthday, a detail that underlined the surreal nature of the scene for those present. According to Falk, this was the first time he had been held by any government outside Israel, where he was previously detained at Ben Gurion Airport and expelled while serving as United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories.
What happened at Toronto Pearson Airport
- Border officers questioned the couple for roughly three hours inside Toronto Pearson Airport.
- They were repeatedly asked about the purpose of their trip and Falk’s long record of work on Palestine.
- Falk said he was explicitly told officials worried he presented a danger to Canada’s security, though he was not shown any documents supporting that claim or told of any specific allegation behind the decision to detain him.
Despite the tone of the interview, Falk and Elver were eventually released without charges or formal written warnings. After being allowed to collect their luggage, they continued by ground transport to Ottawa, where Falk was scheduled to speak at what organisers called a “people’s tribunal” examining Canadian complicity in what they described as Israel’s genocide in Gaza, including Ottawa’s purchases of Israeli arms and military equipment.
The Ottawa event and Falk’s role
The Ottawa event brought together scholars, lawyers and activists critical of Canada’s military and political ties with Israel. Falk’s planned remarks were expected to draw on decades of work as one of the most widely known academic voices on Palestinian rights, including:
- his time as UN Special Rapporteur
- his authorship or editorship of more than 20 books on international law, war, and global justice
- a long record of public advocacy for Palestinian human rights
Concerns raised by the detention
Falk’s detention has raised sharp concerns among supporters about how Canadian authorities treat visiting academics who criticise the country’s foreign policy. For many in the Palestinian rights movement, the framing of a 95‑year‑old scholar as a potential national security threat appears to reflect a wider pattern of pressure on voices that question Canada’s support for Israel’s actions in Gaza.
Falk himself is known as a longtime advocate for Palestinian human rights, a role that has often put him at odds with governments that support Israel. As a world‑renowned scholar of international law, he has consistently argued that states must measure their actions against basic principles of humanitarian law, with his writing highlighting how war, occupation and collective punishment affect civilian populations.
Analysis and broader implications
According to analysis by VisaVerge.com, the incident at Toronto Pearson Airport highlights the broad discretion that border officials hold when deciding whether a foreign national may enter a country, even when that visitor carries:
- a clear academic invitation
- a long public record
Falk was not denied entry, but the hours‑long detention on November 13, 2025 left him and his supporters questioning what, if anything, justified such treatment.
Canadian authorities have not publicly explained why they considered Falk a potential risk on that day, or what information, if any, triggered the warning that led to his detention. During questioning, officers pressed Falk and Elver about the purpose of their visit and his long record of work on Palestine, including his appearance at the Ottawa people’s tribunal examining Canada’s arms purchases from Israel and other military links.
For academics, the episode may send a chill through those who travel to Canada 🇨🇦 to speak about contentious foreign policy issues. Falk has enjoyed a long international career and, by his account, had never faced detention in Canada before this trip, despite earlier clashes with Israeli authorities during his time as UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories.
Legal, political and public questions
The case also comes at a time when many governments, including Canada’s, face growing public scrutiny over how they balance border security with commitments to academic freedom and peaceful political debate. The Government of Canada states on its official Immigration and citizenship website that border officers have wide powers to question travellers, but incidents like Falk’s detention raise hard questions about how those powers are used in practice.
The image of a 95‑year‑old professor kept for hours in an airport interview room sits uneasily with Canada’s self‑presentation as a defender of human rights.
For observers who followed the story, what happened on November 13, 2025 is likely to stay closely linked to Falk’s long public life — not because of any legal consequence, but because of what it suggests about how far security services are willing to go when scholars criticise powerful states.
Aftermath and unresolved questions
As Falk and Elver left Toronto Pearson Airport that day to continue their journey to Ottawa, the immediate ordeal was over, but the wider questions remained unresolved:
- Why was a retired professor with decades of public work suddenly treated as a security concern?
- What does that say about who feels welcome at Canada’s borders?
- Will Canadian officials provide a fuller explanation of their actions?
Until officials offer more detail, the three hours they spent in detention will continue to echo far beyond one birthday trip.
For now, Falk’s case stands as an example of how border control, foreign policy and debates over Palestine can collide in an airport encounter. Whether it becomes an isolated memory or a sign of a broader trend toward scrutinising critical scholars will depend on how Canadian leaders, universities, and the public respond to what took place inside that screening room.
This Article in a Nutshell
On November 13, 2025, Canadian border officers detained 95‑year‑old Richard Falk and his wife Hilal Elver for roughly three hours at Toronto Pearson Airport, questioning Falk about his long record of work on Palestine and telling him he was seen as a potential national security threat without showing evidence. They were released without charges and continued to Ottawa to speak at a tribunal. The episode spotlights border officers’ broad discretion, tensions between security and academic freedom, and calls for greater transparency.
