Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions

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Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions
Founded1997
FounderJeff Halper
Amos Gvirtz
Rabbi Arik Ascherman
Meir Margalit
Yoav Hess
Yael Cohen
Focus"Israeli demolition of Palestinian houses in the Occupied Territories"[1]
Location
Area served
Israel, Palestinian Territories
Method"non-violent, direct-action", domestic and international advocacy, rebuilding of demolished homes, developing informational materials and tours[1]
Key people
Jeff Halper – Director/Coordinator
Itay Epshtain – Co-Director (formerly of Amnesty International)[2]
Meir Margalit
Salim Shawamreh
Hibat Mahroum
Employees
8
Websitewww.icahd.org

The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD) is an anti-settlement,[3] peace group[4] that states that it as "an Israeli peace and human rights organization dedicated to ending the occupation of the Palestinian territories and achieving a just peace between Israelis and Palestinians." ICAHD says it uses non-violent, direct-action means of resistance to end Israel's policy of demolishing Palestinian homes in the occupied territories."[5] ICAHD was founded by eight peace activists (see box), among whom was Jeff Halper, a long-time human rights advocate and professor of Anthropology, who serves as ICAHD's Director.

Activities

ICAHD's activities, which are based on nonviolent direct action,[6][7] include exhibits, films, workshops, tours of the occupied territories,[8] publication of books and articles on the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza, international advocacy[9][10].

ICAHD also organizes the rebuilding of demolished Palestinian houses using a network of Israeli, Palestinian and international volunteers.[11][12][13] In April 2012 founding member Meir Margalit estimated that the organisation had rebuilt 1,000 homes including 200 in East Jerusalem.[14] 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.[15]

In April 2012 one of ICAHD's founders, Meir Margalit was questioned by the Israeli Interior Ministry. Margalit, who admitted being involved in the rebuilding of over 200 homes, later commented, "I was asked if I did it on purpose and answered that I do not recognize the Interior Ministry's right to question me about my activities in East Jerusalem, which is occupied territory and where Israeli law is not valid". Margalit, a Jerusalem City Councilor, felt that he was being singled out for political reasons stating "we’re in the McCarthy era, and it will get to everyone sooner or later." In response, the Interior Ministry spokesperson said that "Mr. Meir Margalit was summoned for questioning on suspicion of building without a permit, which is a criminal act."[16][14]

ICAHD sends out action alerts and activists from different groups go out and engage in civil disobedience by stopping the bulldozers.[15]

ICAHD, in January 2005, called for a campaign of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions "until the occupation" is over.[17]

ICHAD supported the "Jewish Boat to Gaza" in 2010.[18]

International chapters

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 Tromsø.

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."[19] 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.[20][21] American folk-singing legend Pete Seeger also donates part of the royalties from his song "Turn, Turn, Turn" (To everything there is a season) (based on the words of King Solomon from the book of Ecclesiastes) to ICAHD. [22]

Reception

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."[23]

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

In 2008, Seth Freedman wrote in The Guardian that "the likes of Halper, ICAHD and all the others who are prepared to bring the truth into open should be praised to the skies for the invaluable work that they do." The article rues the fact that Freedman himself earlier condemned ICAHD and its work.[24]

Writing in The Independent, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown described the ICAHD as "valiant, peaceful activists trying to stop bulldozers that daily demolish Palestinian homes and who tenaciously campaign against the occupation and land grabs by their own nation, their own people."[25]

The pro-Israel advocacy groups CAMERA and NGO Monitor have criticized ICAHD for its activities. 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".[26]

In addition, Malcolm Hoenlein, in 2007, then executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, said ICAHD was "trying to talk about demolitions without presenting the reason or truth for it. They couch it in more moderate terms but the anti-Israel purpose is clear."[27]

In 2007, Seth Freedman wrote in The Guardian that after a day touring with ICAHD, while the visitors "had not been fed any factual inaccuracies [by ICAHD] as far as I could tell, the complete glossing over of the other side of the story should set alarm bells ringing". Freedman felt that Halper and ICAHD should have been willing to condemn wrongdoing "on both sides". Freedman changed his mind about ICAHD in 2008 (see above). [28]

NGO Monitor says that ICAHD "consistently ignores the context of ongoing Palestinian terror attacks, promotes the “Durban strategy” of demonizing the Jewish state, campaigns against the two-state solution, and partners with radical NGOs.[29] In addition, NGO Monitor says that "ICAHD routinely refers to Israel as an "apartheid" state, while its director promotes a one-state solution, which would mean the end of Israel as a Jewish state." Prof. Gerald Steinberg, president and founder of NGO Monitor, said, "In reality, ICAHD does nothing to advance coexistence and instead promotes extreme views which fuel the conflict."[30][31] Steinberg included ICAHD in a list of 11 "key local NGOs supporting radical pro-Palestinian (and antiIsraeli) positions".[32] In a July 2012 letter to the president of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, Steinberg wrote that ICAHD is a "fringe political NGO that fuels conflict by frequently accusing Israel of ‘apartheid’ and ‘ethnic cleansing.’ ICAHD officials are also active in promoting BDS [boycotts, divestment and sanctions] campaigns, particularly in churches in Europe and North America."[33]

Notes

  1. ^ a b "About ICAHD". ICAHD.
  2. ^ Itay Epshtain – Google. Profiles.google.com. Retrieved on November 20, 2011.
  3. ^ "group".
  4. ^ Shapiro, Samantha (February 16, 2003). "The Unsettlers". The New York Times. Retrieved 5/5/2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |newspaper= (help)
  5. ^ "What is ICAHD". Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. Archived from the original on August 21, 2007. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  6. ^ Tamar S. Hermann (2009). The Israeli Peace Movement: A Shattered Dream. Cambridge University Press. p. 163. ISBN 978-0-521-88409-9. ICAHD functions through two parallel tracks: legal - appealing to the courts, thereby forcing the state to explain why the demolition is unavoidable, and nonviolent resistance.
  7. ^ Terry Meade (2011). "Violence and domestic space: demolition and destruction of homes in the occupied Palestinian territories". The Journal of Architecture. 16 (1). Routledge: 71–87. doi:10.1080/13602365.2011.547011. a non-violent direct-action organisation, which specifically opposes the policy of house demolitions and questions the laws, rules, planning policies, security measures and language that allows or enables such violence to occur. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  8. ^ Singer, Merrill (2011). A Companion to Medical Anthropology. Wiley-Blackwell. p. 238. ISBN 978-1-4051-9002-2.
  9. ^ "'Prevent starvation of Gaza'". Ynetnews.com. September 20, 2006. Retrieved 2012-4-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ^ "NGO: Israel forcing Arabs out of East J'lem". Haaretz. 01.01.2011. Retrieved 2012-4-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Israelis and Palestinians build in east Jerusalem". Ynetnews.com. 07.30.07. Retrieved 2012-4-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  12. ^ "Volunteers rebuild houses demolished in Jerusalem". Ynetnews.com. 08.04.09. Retrieved 2012-4-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  13. ^ "Announcing – 2007 ICAHD Summer Rebuilding Experience July 14–29, 2007". Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions. December 11, 2006. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  14. ^ a b LIDMAN, MELANIE (04/30/2012). "J'lem councilman says Interior Ministry wants to remove him". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 2/5/2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
  15. ^ a b "American Israeli Jeff Halper arrested for the 8th time in Jerusalem". Online Journal. April 8, 2008. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved May 19, 2008. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  16. ^ Hasson, Nir (30 April). "Jerusalem council member questioned over helping to rebuild illegal Palestinian home". Haaretz. Retrieved 3 May 2012. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  17. ^ Manchester Boycott Model
  18. ^ ICAHD supports the Jewish Boat to Gaza
  19. ^ 'How you can help' (icahd.org)[dead link]
  20. ^ 'Middle East Peace Projects'. euromedinfo.eu. Retrieved on November 20, 2011.
  21. ^ 'EU Partnership for Peace Programme' by European commission's delegation to Israel. Delisr.ec.europa.eu. Retrieved on November 20, 2011.
  22. ^ [http://www.haaretz.com/news/pete-seeger-s-role-in-ending-israeli-house-demolitions-1.4618
  23. ^ "AFSC's nomination for the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize: Ghassan Andoni and Jeff Halper" (Press release). American Friends Service Committee. February 14, 2006. Retrieved May 16, 2008.
  24. ^ Freedman, Seth (May 22, 2008). "The Guardian: Comment is free". A true housing crisis. The Guardian. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  25. ^ Alibhai-Brown, Yasmin (March 28, 2011). "Yasmin Alibhai-Brown: Voices of protest that deserve to be listened to, not sneered at". The Independent. Retrieved May 2, 2012.
  26. ^ Alex Safian, PhD (May 12, 2005). "The Professor's Truth Demolition". Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America. Retrieved August 10, 2007.
  27. ^ Dickter, Adam. (2007-06-08) Group Against Arab Home Demolitions Seeks Support Here. Thejewishweek.com. Retrieved on November 20, 2011.
  28. ^ Freedman, Seth (February 14, 2007). "The Guardian: Israel". Missing half the picture. The Guardian. Retrieved April 26, 2012.
  29. ^ EU Funding Promotes ICAHD´s Ideological Agenda
  30. ^ EU ends funding for ICAHD
  31. ^ European Union Ends Funding of Anti-Israel NGO
  32. ^ GERALD M. STEINBERG (2006): Soft Powers Play Hardball: NGOs Wage War against Israel, Israel Affairs,12:4, 748-768
  33. ^ 'Peace mustn't become ‘orphan’ of Arab Spring'

Publications

See also


External links

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