ICAHD UK Annual Conference 2025: 'The Day After Gaza - How Do We Address the Urgency of the Political Moment?'

Jeff Halper

The ICAHD UK Annual Conference 2025: The Day After Gaza - How Do We Address the Urgency of the Political Moment?' takes place this Saturday, Saturday, 1 November 2025, from 10.30am - 4.45pm (doors open at 9.45am) at Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8EP.

This is a major gathering to assess the current struggle for Palestinian rights and chart strategies for justice in a dramatically shifting political landscape. The conference brings together internationally recognised voices to reflect on the situation in Gaza and the West Bank, the impact of global politics, and the growing movement for Palestinian freedom.

Speakers:

Dr Jeff Halper - Co-founder and Director of ICAHD will speak on 'Between pacification and normalising Israeli apartheid - the four stages of settler colonialism.'

Dr Jeff Halper lives in Jerusalem and for many years has been a central figure in the Palestinian - Israeli issue, both as an activist on the ground and as an author and commentator. Jeff is an Israeli anthropologist who co-founded the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) in 1997. ICAHD's focus is on Israel's demolition of Palestinian homes, a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a form of ethnic cleansing. Jeff has stood in front of Israeli bulldozers sent to demolish Palestinian homes, and over the years ICAHD has rebuilt 189 homes demolished by Israel as acts of joint resistance together with its Palestinians partners. However in July 2025, the decision was taken to remove the reference to "Israel" in ICAHD because it has no political legitimacy in our vision for the future. With our international chapters, we are now the international coalition against house demolitions.

Jeff Halper is also the author of several books, among them: An Israeli in Palestine, on his work against the Occupation; War Against the People: Israel, the Palestinians and Global Pacification, which was shortlisted for the Palestine Book Award; and most recently, Decolonizing Israel, Liberating Palestine: Zionism, Settler Colonialism and the Case for One Democratic State.

In 2008, Jeff participated in the first (and successful) attempt of the Free Gaza Movement to break the Israeli siege by sailing into Gaza. He has served on the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People and was a member of the international support committee of the Bertrand Russell Tribunal on Palestine.

In 2017, Jeff Halper co-founded the One Democratic State Campaign (ODSC), a Palestinian-led initiative to formulate a one-state political program designed to replace a settler colonial Israel and its occupation with a single democracy of equal rights for everyone living between the River and the Sea, including returning Palestinian refugees.

Jeff is currently a member of the Gaza Tribunal, gave testimony at the Gaza Tribunal UK and has been nominated for the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize by Ingrid Fiskaa Norwegian MP and the Norwegian Palestinian Solidarity Committee together with Palestinian human rights defender Issa Amro from Hebron. This follows his 2006 nomination by the American Friends Service Committee along with the Palestinian intellectual and activist Ghassan Andoni.

Jeff comes as a critical Israeli with a unique perspective on what is happening within Israeli society as well as in the occupied Palestinian territories, and fears that the two-state solution could take the form of two-state apartheid - information of great importance for parliamentarians engaged in the issue.

'What Zionism has done to the Palestinian people stands as one of the great crimes of modern history' - Jeff Halper

Other speakers will be:

Jeremy Corbyn MP - Convenor of the Gaza Tribunal UK and long-time supporter of justice for Palestinians:

Dr Nadia Naser-Najjab, Palestinian scholar and Senior Lecturer, University of Exeter will give a talk on Settler Colonialism as 'Structure, Not Event': Paths to Resistance.

Peter Frankental, Programme Director, Economic Affairs, Amnesty International UK who will speak on: 'The question of normalisation through an economic lens and the need for mobilisation'

Prof Avi Shlaim, British Israeli historian and award-winning author who will speak on The newly launched 'Britain Owes Palestine' campaign.

Bruno Sorrentino - Award-winning filmmaker from Palio Films who will talk about 'Mobilisation within the film industry and the new documentary featuring ICAHD.'

Rev Dr Simon Woodman - Minister, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church
Talk: Grassroots activism within religious communities when establishment leaders are silent on genocide

Linda Ramsden, Director of ICAHD UK will talk about ICAHD's Sumud Project: 'Supporting Palestinians who experience settler terrorism'.

The programme will also feature key voices from the Gaza Tribunal in Istanbul and discussion on 'What's next for ICAHD UK?'

Themes for Discussion will be:

Israel's settler colonial agenda and its 'end game'
Trump's "vision for peace" and its ongoing implications
The Abraham Accords and the normalisation of a two-state apartheid
Developing strategies for popular mobilisation across sectors
ICAHD's resistance to ethnic cleansing on the ground
Equipping UK campaigners for effective advocacy

Event Details:

Time: 10:30 - 16:45 (doors open 09:45)
Venue: Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London WC2H 8EP
Refreshments: Drinks provided - please bring a packed lunch
Extras: Networking, stalls, and campaign materials available throughout the day