New Delhi, Nov. 17 -- At 95, the former UN special rapporteur known for rigorously exposing Israeli abuses is detained at Toronto airport on his birthday, flagged as a "national security threat." This alarming act of political repression threatens global free speech and underscores Canada's capitulation to powerful allies.

In a shocking display of authoritarian overreach disguised as national security, Canada's border authorities detained and interrogated Richard Falk, a venerable 95-year-old international law scholar and former UN special rapporteur on Palestinian rights. Falk's detention at Toronto Pearson International Airport, on his birthday, no less, underscores an alarming trend where critical voices of Israeli abuses in Gaza are ...