[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
[OPIRG-EVENTS] February 6: Towards a Just and Viable Peace in the Middle East - A View from the Ground
Towards a Just and Viable Peace in the Middle East - a view from the
ground
Towards a JUST and VIABLE PEACE in the Middle East: a view from the ground
Jeff Halper & Salim Shawamreh
Speak in Ottawa as part of their North American tour.
Tuesday, February 6, 2001
7:00 pm
Room 253-D, Center Block, Parliament Hill
Admission is free (Donations accepted)
Space is limited. To reserve your seat contact: cepal@cyberus.ca or call
(613) 235-2725
National Sponsors:
Canadian Arab Federation (CAF)
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
Canadian Auto Workers (CAW)
Near East Cultural and Educational
Foundation (NECEF)
Canadian Friends' Service Committee (CFSC)
Steelworkers' Humanity Fund
Christian Peacemaker Teams--Canada (CPT)
The Canadian Network to End Sanctions on Iraq (CANESI
Local sponsors:
The Ottawa Friends Meeting (Quakers),
Libby Davies, MP-Vancouver East,
the Middle East Discussion Group -Carleton University;
The Canadian Palestine Educational Exchange (CEPAL)
***************************************************************************
BACKGROUND
1- Press Release -09/01/2001
2- THE ISRAELI COMMITTEE AGAINST HOUSE DEMOLITIONS (ICAHD)
________________________________________________
1- Press Release -09/01/2001
PRESS RELEASE 09-01-2001
As Israel Prepares To Elect A New Prime And Tensions Are Rising Throughout
The Middle East Region, Visiting Jewish and Palestinian Team will speak in
Ottawa during Feb 4 - 7, 2001, about house demolitions, land confiscation
and other factors responsible for the present unrest.
What's behind the current Palestinian uprising? Are Palestinians really not
sincere "partners" for peace, as Israel has charged? Or, as the Palestinians
counter, is the source of the unrest actually Israel's attempt to impose a
"peace settlement" that would leave them with nothing but a disconnected
collection of enclaves effectively under Israeli military control? Are the
two sides really "too far apart," or can Israelis and Palestinians work
together to make peace?
Salim Shawamreh is a Palestinian whose house has been demolished twice by
the Israeli authorities; he is still unable, for political reasons, to
inhabit his rebuilt home. Jeff Halper is Coordinator of the Israeli
Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD). Together, the two evaluate the
peace process from a perspective largely hidden from public view -- that of
Israeli policies "on the ground."
From "the ground," Shawamreh and Halper argue, what emerges is a picture of
a "peace process" that never really was: Ongoing house demolition, land
confiscation, and settlement expansion; establishment of a system of bypass
roads that slashes the West Bank into a welter of isolated towns and
villages; and the maintenance of road blocks and travel restrictions that
strangle Palestinian economic life.
Through presentations using slides, maps and dialogue with the audience, the
two reveal the hidden reality on the ground that must be taken into account
in any comprehensive evaluation of the "peace process" and its prospects for
success. Salim and Jeff see house demolition and related policies as being
part of a dynamic working to foreclose on the possibility of a real and
lasting peace in the area. They are not interested merely in criticizing
oppressive policies, however. Their compelling presentation demonstrates how
Israelis and Palestinians, working together, can bring an end to those
policies and build a just, viable and lasting peace for both peoples.
Shwamreh and Halper's Canadian tour (Halifax, Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa,
Edmonton, Vancouver, Victoria---plus Seattle) is co-sponsored nationally by:
Canadian Arab Federation (CAF)
Mennonite Central Committee (MCC)
Canadian Auto Workers (CAW)
Near East Cultural and Educational
Foundation (NECEF)
Canadian Friends' Service Committee (CFSC)
Steelworkers' Humanity Fund
Christian Peacemaker Teams--Canada (CPT)
The Canadian Network to End Sanctions on Iraq (CANESI
Local sponsors:
The Ottawa Friends Meeting (Quakers),
Libby Davies, MP-Vancouver East,
the Middle East Discussion Group -Carleton University;
The Canadian Palestine Educational Exchange (CEPAL)
Dr Halper and Mr. Shawamreh will hold a public information meeting on
Parliament Hill Tuesday, February 6, 2001 at 7p.m. The title of their
presentation will be "TOWARDS A JUST and VIABLE PEACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST".
This event will take place on the evening that Israel selects a new Prime
Minister. They will also be having meetings with Canadian government
representatives. In addition they will meet with various non-governmental
groups in the region including the media.
For more information or to discuss booking an interview, please contact
either:
- Chris Hurst, Ottawa Tour Media Rep. H (613) 692-1117 W (613) 692- 1234
e-mail: a-hurst@home.com
- Peter Harkness, Ottawa Tour Coordinator. Tel: (613) 231 3442 e-mail:
peterh@ncf.ca
****************************************************************************
THE ISRAELI COMMITTEE AGAINST HOUSE DEMOLITIONS (ICAHD)
Rehov Tiveria 37, Jerusalem, Israel Tels: (+972-2) 624-8252; 050-651425
Fax: (02) 623-6210
e-mail: icahd@zahav.net.il Web Site: http://www.net-a.org/hdemol Jeff
Halper, Coordinator
What is ICAHD?ICAHD is a non-violent, direct-action group originally
established to oppose and resist Israel's demolition of Palestinian houses
on the West Bank and in East Jerusalem. Since 1967 some 7000 Palestinian
homes have been destroyed on the West Bank, in Gaza and in Arab East
Jerusalem, more than 2000 since 1987, leaving 30,000 people homeless,
destitute and living in fear and trauma. The work of ICAHD and other
organizations has made a difference: in 1999 "only" about 100 homes were
demolished, down from 277 in 1998. Yet 2000 demolition orders remain
outstanding in the West Bank, another 2000 for East Jerusalem, altogether
threatening some 6000 families. The Bedouin population, harassed and being
driven into tiny "reservations," is also targeted. The motivation for
demolishing these Palestinian and Bedouin homes is purely political and
violates all human rights covenants, although an elaborate system of
planning regulations, laws and procedures gives it a legal facade. The goal
is to confine the 3,000,000 residents of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and
Gaza to small, crowded, impoverished and disconnected enclaves, thus
effectively foreclosing any viable Palestinian entity and ensuring Israeli
control even if the Palestinians achieve some form of internal "autonomy."
ICAHD's activities, therefore, extend to resisting all aspects of the
Occupation - human rights violations; the massive expropriation of
Palestinian lands for Israeli settlements, by-pass highways and industrial
parks; "cantonization;" the closure, forms of economic warfare such as the
government's uprooting of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian fruit and
olive trees; exploitation to depletion of Palestinian natural resources;
environmental degradation (as Israel moves its most polluting industries to
the West Bank); as well as house demolitions. The 2000 Intifada has made
our work all the more pressing and important.
ICAHD is comprised of members of many Israeli peace and human rights
organizations, and works closely with Palestinian organizations, the
Palestinian Land Defense Committee in particular. Among our grassroots
activities, ICAHD resists demolition by the army and rebuilds "illegal"
houses together with Palestinian residents. House rebuildings have proven
effective vehicles of peace-making, bringing together hundreds of Israelis
and Palestinians for construction week after week. ICAHD works closely
with the international press, as well as peace and human rights groups
abroad, to raise the issue of house demolitions and other issues of the
Occupation. ICAHD conducts a Family Matching Program which links
Palestinian families who have received demolition orders with families in
Israel and abroad. ICAHD works with other human rights organizations to
present legal challenges to Israeli actions and policies in the Occupied
Territories. ICAHD provides strategic practical support to Palestinian
families and communities: aid in filing police claims; aid in dealing with
the Civil Administration and the army; assistance in applying for
buildingpermits; arranging and subsidizing legal assistance. We are
currently helping to build a kindergarten in the Jenin refugee camp. This
is the stuff of reconciliation between our peoples. ICAHD's work is
supported solely by donations.
-
This is the OPIRG-events@ox.org list. Announcement only please.
To unsubscribe, send email to opirg-events-request@ox.org, and put
"unsubscribe" in the body.
Archive at: http://www.sandelman.ottawa.on.ca/lists/html/opirg-events/