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Peace activist challenges Israel's security concerns

Jeff Halper spoke to a full house at Dal on the war in Gaza.

Israeli peace activist Jeff Halper spoke at Dalhousie last night. The title of the talk was "The Gaza Attack: An Israeli Jewish peace activist speaks out." And he did. For two hours he spoke on the conflict in Gaza and possible solutions.

More than 400 people crowded into the Potter Auditorium. They ranged from young to old and hailed from all over. When the seats were full, they sat in the aisles and on the stage.

They listened in polite silence as Halper explained his view that what Israel does in the name of security doesn't make the country any more secure.

"Security doesn't explain the uprooting of olive and fruit trees," he said. He also points to Isreali settlements in the West Bank.

"Israel has built 250 settlements in the occupied territories...250 settlements in the West Bank. Obviously, the settlements were not built for secuirty reasons. The settlements represent a proactive claim to the country," he said. "So I would even go so far as to argue that there's no element of the occupation that you can explain by security. "

Halper was born in in Minnesota in 1946 and immigrated to Israel in 1973. In 1993 he co-founded the "Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions," a group that challenges Israel's  policy of demolishing Palestinian homes. He's also written a book about his experiences, called "An Israeli in Palestine."

One of Halper's main arguments of the night was that he wasn't the only Israeli who felt that his government was oppressing the Palestinian people.

"The war wasn't brought on by the public," Halper said. Instead, he blamed Israel's militaristic politicians for generating war.

Not everyone in the crowd agreed. An older man in the audience said that he was "ashamed of the fact" he was an ex-Israeli. He said though he agreed that some Israelis want peace, the general public doesn't. He says he doubts he'll see peace in his time.

Others took issue with Halper's reason for being there.

Like Halper, Janet Kravetz is an Israeli visting Canada. She asked him and the crowd why people didn't come together when Israelis are killed. "If we want peace, and every party is being violent, we should gather here and oppose."

One man silently held up an Israeli flag for most of the talk. When it came time for question and answer, he booed while others cheered.

"You support terrorists!" he shouted after Halper said he supports boycotts of Israel.

Alia Saied says her family is Palestinian, but she's never gone there herself. She's a Dalhousie student and also a member of Canadian Arabs and Jews for Peace, one of the organizers of the event.
 
"I totally respect the rights of Jews and Israelis, and I long for Palestinian rights." She says that she'd be happy with the two-state solution that Halper suggested.
 
When the talk ended people filed out into the lobby of the Rowe building. Many stayed to talk to other people in the crowd, arguing and comparing views.
 
 As for Halper, he continues his cross-Canada tour. He was supposed to speak at McGill today, but the university cancelled the talk due to security concerns.