An Israeli Jewish peace activist is making Halifax his first stop on a Canada-wide speaking and organizing tour. Dr. Jeff Halper, an anthropologist, will be giving a public lecture entitled: "Israel\Palestine: Towards Peace or Apartheid?" at Dalhousie University on Tuesday, January 13 at 7:30 pm. Several other events are planned during Halper's stay in Halifax.
Halper's visit is especially relevant given the recent Israeli attacks on Gaza. Jeff was a member of the first international flotilla to break the siege of Gaza in August, 2008. Halper visited Halifax in 2000; the event was the first major project for the Halifax group "Canadians, Arabs and Jews for a Just Peace" (www.forjustpeace.org)
ICAHD is a non-violent group originally established to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories. As their activists gained direct knowledge of the brutalities of the Occupation, they expanded their resistance activities to other areas - land expropriation, settlement expansion, by-pass road construction, policies of "closure" and "separation," the wholesale uprooting of fruit and olive trees and more. The fierce repression of Palestinian efforts to "shake off" the Occupation following the latest Intifada has only added urgency to their efforts.
ICAHD is comprised of members of many Israeli peace and human rights organizations. All of their work in the Occupied Territories is closely coordinated with local Palestinian organizations.
Says Halper: "We think, as Israelis, that Jews and Arabs should live together. Palestinians have rights of self-determination just like we have. We have to fight also for their rights. One of our slogans is 'we refuse to be their enemies.'"
"We are against the Israeli policy of the occupation and the displacement. If you create an apartheid situation, if you lock another people into prison, in the end, you cannot develop a healthy, normal, and prosperous society. The occupation, conflict, terrorism, settlements, all affects the Israeli society and economy. As long as the occupation continues, Israel itself can not be free."
Halper's Canadian tour is sponsored by Independent Jewish Voices, a pan-Canadian organization of Jewish groups and individuals campaigning against Israel's occupation of Palestine and for a just and lasting peace between Israelis and Palestinians. The tour is also sponsored by other organizations, including Science For Peace, Canadian Friends of Sabeel, Canadian Jews for a Just Peace, the United Jewish People's Order, Canadian Friends Service Committee and the Near East Cultural and Educational Foundation of Canada. Dr. Halper will be visiting Halifax, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto/Hamilton, Winnipeg and Vancouver.
For more information, contact Larry Haiven, (902) 240-2782, larry.haiven@smu.ca