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[[Category:Jewish anti-occupation groups]]
[[Category:Jewish anti-occupation groups]]
[[Category:Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict]]
[[Category:Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process]]
[[Category:Non-governmental organizations involved in the Israeli-Palestinian peace process]]
[[Category:Binational solution proponents]]
[[Category:Binational solution proponents]]
[[Category:Collective punishment]]
[[Category:Collective punishment]]
[[Category:Israeli activists]]


[[de:Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions]]
[[de:Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions]]

Revision as of 22:12, 22 May 2008

Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Founded1997
FounderJeff Halper, Amos Gvirtz, Rabbi Arik Ascherman, Meir Margalit, Yoav Hess, Yael Cohen
Location
Area served
Israel, Palestinian Territories
Key people
Jeff Halper, Director/Coordinator, Meir Margalit, Angela Godfrey-Goldstein, Salim Shawamreh, Hibat Mahroum
Employees
8
WebsiteICAHD, ICAHD-USA

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is nonprofit advocacy organization that uses non-violent, direct-action means to oppose and resist Israeli demolition of Palestinian homes in the Occupied Territories.[1] It was founded by Jeff Halper, an American human rights activist and professor of Anthropology who immigrated to Israel in 1973.

ICAHD opposes the continued Israeli occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and the building and enlarging of Jewish-only settlements in these areas. ICAHD states that "ending the Occupation is a prerequisite for peace and the primary goal of all of ICAHD's activities."[2] ICAHD also focuses on preventing the "longstanding and ongoing human rights violations" and asserts that Israel's actions have led to an emerging apartheid regime in the Occupied Territories.[3]

Activities

ICAHD's activities include publication of books and articles on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, international advocacy, and protest and non-violent resistance operations on the ground. It also organizes the rebuilding of demolished Palestinian houses using a network of Israeli, Palestinian and international volunteers.[4] In addition to rebuilding demolished Palestinian houses, ICAHD often takes legal actions on behalf of Palestinians whose houses have been demolished or are threatened with demolition (see example of Aqabah).

Members of ICAHD have been arrested numerous times by the Israeli army and police for attempting to prevent the demolition of Palestinian homes. Most recently, on April 3 2008, ICAHD Coordinator Jeff Halper was arrested for the eighth time while nonviolently protesting the bulldozing of the home of the Hamdan family in a Palestinian neighborhood of Jerusalem - a house that had already been torn down once by Israeli authorities and had been rebuilt by ICAHD. [5]

Typically, ICAHD will get a call at 5 a.m. from a Palestinian family telling them the bulldozers have arrived. ICAHD sends out an action alert and activists from different groups go out and engage in civil disobedience by standing up to the bulldozers. [5]

International chapters

Because of the worldwide interest in its activities, ICAHD has set up chapters in several countries. ICAHD-USA is headquartered in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and is incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

The United Kingdom branch, ICAHD-UK, is located in London, and the Norwegian branch is located in Tromso.

Funding

According to ICAHD’s website, its “activities . . . depend on assistance from individuals and organizations in Israel and abroad. ICAHD also receives financial support from the European Union.”[6] For example, in 2005, the EU provided ICAHD with €472,786 for a project called "Re-framing: Providing a Coherent Paradigm of Peace to the Israeli Public" under the Partnership for Peace program.[7][8]

Praise

In 2006, the American Friends Service Committee, a non-profit advocacy group that won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1947, nominated Jeff Halper for the Nobel Peace Prize due to his ICAHD-related work, citing ICAHD's work "to liberate both the Palestinian and the Israeli people from the yoke of structural violence" and "to build equality between their people by recognizing and celebrating their common humanity."[9]

In 2007, ICAHD received the Olive Branch Award from Jewish Voice for Peace.

Criticism

The pro-Israel advocacy groups CAMERA and NGO Monitor have criticized ICAHD for its activities. NGO Monitor alleges that ICAHD "consistently ignores the context of ongoing Palestinian terror attacks." CAMERA contends that Halper has made misstatements about Palestinian economic and agricultural growth, and has criticized Halper's view that a Jewish state with "exclusive "ownership"" is "politically, and in the end, morally untenable". NGO Monitor asserts that ICAHD, "promote[s] the “Durban Strategy” of boycotts and demonizing Israel, using terms such as "apartheid", and grossly distorting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict".[10][11][12]

Notes

  1. ^ "What is ICAHD". Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  2. ^ Jeff Halper. "The key to Peace: Dismantling the Matrix of Control". Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Retrieved 2007-08-10.
  3. ^ "A Call for an anti-apartheid campaign as Israel prepares to make its occupation permanent". Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Retrieved 2008-05-10.
  4. ^ "Announcing - 2007 ICAHD Summer Rebuilding Experience July 14 – July 29, 2007". Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. December 11, 2006. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  5. ^ a b "American Israeli Jeff Halper arrested for the 8th time in Jerusalem". Online Journal. 2008-04-08. Retrieved 2008-05-19.
  6. ^ 'How you can help' (icahd.org)
  7. ^ 'Middle East Peace Projects' (euromedinfo.eu)
  8. ^ 'EU Partnership for Peace Programme' by European commision's delegation to Israel
  9. ^ "AFSC's nomination for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize: Ghassan Andoni and Jeff Halper" (Press release). American Friends Service Committee. 2006-02-14. Retrieved 2008-05-16.
  10. ^ "EU Funding Promotes ICAHD's Ideological Agenda". NGO Monitor. March 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ Alex Safian, PhD (May 12, 2005). "The Professor's Truth Demolition". Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "EU Funding Promotes ICAHD's Ideological Agenda". NGO Monitor. March 26, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Publications

See also

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