Activist
Against Israeli Apartheid to Speak in Winnipeg
Jeff Halper,
co-founder of the Israeli Committee Against House
Demolitions (ICAHD), will be in Winnipeg from January 24-26. His visit is part
of an eight-city cross-Canada tour to discuss the current crisis in Gaza as
well as the Israeli government’s apartheid policies. Halper has been unequivocal in
denouncing Israeli state terrorism and calling for a just and political
solution to the crisis in Israel and Palestine.
On January 9 ICAHD released a statement strongly condemning the current atrocities being committed in Gaza and exposing many of the myths perpetrated by pro-Zionist organizations.
“As Israelis committed to human rights, international law and a just peace as the only way out of our interminable and bloody conflict with the Palestinians, we contend that security cannot be achieved unilaterally, especially as Israel shows no signs of fully relinquishing its 41 year Occupation so that a truly sovereign and viable Palestinian state may emerge. In that context, Israel’s attack on Gaza can be considered merely another attempt to render its Occupation permanent by destroying any source of effective resistance. The immediate pretext of Israel’s attack, rocket fire from Gaza into Israel, does not explain the disproportionality of its attack, especially given the unrelenting sanctions, attacks and assassinations carried out by Israel throughout the cease-fire... Israel is not a victim; it is the active perpetrator of a permanent apartheid regime over all of Israel/Palestine. It is toward that goal that Gaza is being violently pacified today. Israel’s killing with impunity scores of Palestinian civilians constitutes nothing less than State Terrorism.”
Halper, who was the only Israeli aboard
the Free Gaza flotilla which broke the siege of Gaza last August, will speak at
two public meetings as well as to university classes (see details below). His
national tour is sponsored by Independent Jewish Voices (Canada), a network of
18 organizations, as well as individuals from across Canada who are opposed to the Israeli occupation of Palestine. Halper’s visit to Winnipeg is being organized by several
local groups.
The tour has already been the
subject of attacks from pro-Zionist organizations. For example, Halper’s talk planned for a Jewish community centre in
Montreal was cancelled at the last minute by the local Jewish federation,
citing “security concerns”.
Saturday, January 24, 7:30 p.m.
“Israel/Palestine:
Towards Peace or Apartheid?" –Rudolf
Rocker Cultural Centre, 2nd floor, 91 Albert Street
Sunday, January 25, 4:00 pm
Public speech followed by
question and answer session, Canadian Mennonite University Auditorium, 50
Shaftesbury Boulevard
Monday, January 26, 12:30 pm
University of Winnipeg, Room 1L12
Monday, January 26, 3:00 pm
University of Manitoba, Room 137 Isbister Building