Jeff Halper, leading Israeli human rights activist to speak in Galway

galway | rights, freedoms and repression | event notice Monday May 26, 2008 11:43 by TD - Free Palestine Campaign

Wednesday 4th June, at 7pm. Nun's Island Studio, Nun's Island, Galway City.

Professor of Anthropology, Jeff Halper, co-founder and Director of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) has been a leading figure within the Israeli peace movement for over thirty years. Jeff was nominated by the American Friends Service Committee for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize, together with the Palestinian intellectual and activist Ghassan Andoni. He is also the recipient of the Olive Branch Award from Jewish Voice for Peace in the USA and the Rachel Corrie Peace Award from the Italian town of Ovada.

Jeff Halper

Jeff Halper is credited with pioneering the use of nonviolent action and civil disobedience to resist the Israeli policy of collective punishment by demolishing Palestinian homes and mobilizing international support to rebuild these houses - since 1967, 18,000 Palestinian homes have been demolished in the Occupied Territories in violation of international law.

''In all the coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict the courageous work of the Israeli peace movement rarely gets the attention it deserves,"says Amnesty International Irish Section Executive Director, Colm O'Gorman.

Jeff Halper and Israeli peace activists like him have chosen to stand with oppressed Palestinian communities in a common struggle to achieve a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians based on human rights and equality.

His visit to Ireland is an opportunity for people to learn more about what conditions are like for Palestinians whose homes are destroyed as a form of collective punishment or to clear space for illegal Israeli settlements. It is also a rare chance to hear the point of view of Israelis who are opposing their government's actions.

He has just published a new book: An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel. Says writer Jonathan Cook: "Jeff Halper’s book, like his life’s work, is an inspiration. He offers one of the most insightful analyses of the occupation I’ve read. His voice cries out to be heard" - having read it, I concur, this is one of the best books to arm your conscience with the facts.

Trócaire, the Irish Centre for Human Rights and Amnesty International Irish Section host are hosting Jeff's visit

Note: probably the best documentary on the Israeli/Palestine conflict, with a slew of awards under its belt; 'Occupation 101' which features Jeff Halper will be screened on Wednesday 28th May at 6pm, at the Huston Film School, NUIG, Galway.

For further information contact: Jameen Kaur, Campaigns Officer, Amnesty International, 091 533 637 jkaur@amnesty.ie