Israeli human rights campaigner Jeff Halper to visit UK

Jeff Halper, the director of ICHAD (The Israeli Comittee Against House Demolitions) will be visiting the UK at the end of January and, amongst other meetings, will be giving public lectures in London and Coventry, including two with Mohammad Sabaaneh, a prominent Palestinian activist and award-winning political caracaturist. Jeff Halper is a well-known Israeli academic, and human rights campaigner.

The public meetings will be as follows:

Tuesday 28 January at 7.30pm at The Irish Cultural Centre, 5 Black's Road, Hammersmith, London W6 9DT.

Jeff and Mohammad will speak on 'One Democratic State in Palestine/Israel: It's Time'.

Meeting sponsored by ICAHD UK and West London PSC

In this Powerpoint presentation, Jeff Halper and Mohammad Sabaaneh argue that the Matrix of Control which Israel has laid over the Occupied Territory has effectively eliminated the two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian "conflict" and has produced instead a regime of apartheid.

Faced with apartheid and the permanent 'warehousing' of the Palestinians, they go on to outline the only just solution that Israel has left us with: a single constitutional democracy: one country, one citizenship, one parliament and one shared civil society in which its people's collective rights are also protected. The two speakers explore in depth how such a solution would work and what we need to do to reach it.

Tickets are £3 (available here) and there will be a collection at the end of the evening to contribute to the speaker's travel costs and to support the work of West London PSC and ICAHD UK.

Wednesday 29 January at 7pm at the Wesley Hotel and Conference Centre, 81-103 Euston Street, London NW1 2EZ

A Conversation on Vision, Plans and Strategy with Jeff Halper

Meeting sponsored by ICAHD UK and Jewish Voice for Labour

Palestine/Israel remains on our minds no matter what else happens in the world. Not only does it represent a conflict that for decades has destabilized the entire Middle East and the wider international system, not only does it continue to claim countless victims, but it touches our individual and collective lives as Jews and as progressives. It is far from just another "foreign affair"; it makes us complicit, no matter what position we take.

Palestine/Israel is also an issue, a conflict, a source of oppression and division, one that has eluded efforts at resolution for decades - indeed, for more than a century. What should we do about it? Not only in terms of reaching a resolution, albeit that is a crucial political goal, but in terms of how it has affected, even poisoned, our global political discourse, as evidenced in the last election.

Jeff Halper is a well-known Israeli academic, activist, and strategist. In his writings and public presentations, he attempts to "connect the dots" among political issues from Palestine/Israel to the global. After a brief presentation of the present situation in Palestine/Israel, Jeff will lead a wide-ranging discussion reflecting the extensive areas of concern and opinion that this "conflict" raises. Together we will try to clear the air, go beyond slogans, bring clarity to our strategic thinking and deal with the many political matters raised by the Palestine/Israel issue.

Tickets are £5 or £3 for students/unwaged and there will be a collection at the end of the evening to contribute to the Jeff's travel costs. Entrance through the Savannah Bar.

Thursday 30 January at 7.30pm at the Friend's Meeting House, Hill Street, Coventry CV1 4AN

Jeff and Mohammad will speak on 'One Democratic State in Palestine/Israel: It's Time'.

Meeting sponsored by ICAHD UK and Coventry Friends of Palestine

Details as for the Hammersmith event above. Free admission with a collection at the end of the evening to contribute to the speaker's travel costs and to support the work of Coventry Friends of Palestine and ICAHD UK.