Why 'Israeli' is toxic, Gaza, settler terrorism recording Photo: Eight-month-old Salam Wadi at an UNRWA clinic in Gaza City, 9 July 2025. (Hussein Owda/UNWRA) - 972 ICAHD's Name Change - Removing "Israeli" Photo: ICAHD work camp for internationals - clearing rubble after home demolition - Anata In Jeff Halper’s July video update, he referred to the decision to drop “Israeli” from our name. The full explanation about this is on the website in a letter from Jeff entitled 'ICAHD - Our History and Why Our Name Has Changed'. We encourage you to read about the ground-breaking journey that ICAHD has been on which has resulted in this decision. Jeff explains developments that led to the ICAHD chapters making this decision about our name. The conclusions are: We have not changed our acronym – ICAHD has become a brand name with a long and proud history that we are dedicated to continuing – but we have not found a suitable name change. (The natural choice, the International Coalition Against House Demolitions, while true with all our branches and affiliates, does not by itself locate us in Palestine/Israel.) And so, we will remain simply ICAHD, defined by our strap line: Resisting Apartheid, Constructing a Shared Democracy in Historic Palestine. If people ask what ICAHD means, we can refer them to our political history, which itself is instructive. But our name change reflects what we truly are: a political organization dedicated to decolonization and the rise of a just and inclusive post-colonial state and society in historic Palestine, one that evolves as the political situation demands. ICAHD continues its critical political work. We call on you to continue supporting ICAHD! Read the full article on the website Human Rights Defenders: Resisting Settler Terrorism Photo: Settler violence in Masafer Yatta - Palestinian Return Centre Last year, 69 settler outposts were established where in previous years that average was for between five to seven new outposts to be approved in any one year. All Palestinians living in Area C are very much at risk of settler terrorism as settlers seek their displacement for more Israeli settlement construction (which is illegal under international law). In addition, new Israeli road construction going east to west in various localities such as between Bethlehem and Hebron will further fragment the West Bank, cutting off Palestinians from one another. Israeli courts have also moved to the right so nowadays, it is much harder to get justice from cases presented to it. Nevertheless, Rabbi Arik spoke about a case that will be heard in the Israeli High Court on 1st September because one of the shepherding communities that was pushed off their land by settlers wants to return to it. Both Issa and Rabbi Arik spoke of the vital need for internationals to demonstrate their solidarity by being with them to provide protective presence. The webinar ended with a plea to push our government to not run scared of Trump but to step up to the plate to do what has to be done to stop this violence, this terror, this re-drawing of the maps and eliminating what is left of Palestinian living space. Visit our website for information on our speakers and to access the webinar recording Follow Rabbi Arik Ascherman on his Facebook page for video clips of settler attacks that he resists. To keep abreast of what is happening to Issa Amro in Hebron and within the wider Hebron district, follow the Facebook page for Youth Against Settlements . Marching through Driving Rain in Defiance of the Government Photo: National Demonstration for Palestine, London, 19th July 2025 - S Plummer Despite torrential rain in London on Saturday, 19^th July around 100,000 people, including ICAHD UK supporters, took to the streets to demand Israel end the genocide, stop the arms trade, and prevent starvation in Gaza. Posters were wrapped in cling film and masses of umbrellas, many in the colours of the Palestinian flags, made the march more colourful than ever. There were no complaints about the inconvenience of demonstrating in such wet conditions because everyone’s thoughts were concentrated on what the Gazans were suffering. In the last few weeks, Israeli ministers have taken its genocide to another level with plans unveiled to build a “humanitarian city” in Gaza which is in effect a concentration camp. News of Israel’s military shooting Palestinians at aid centres, the starving children and our government’s complicity were reflected in the posters. The demonstration happened at a time when the British government is increasing its attacks on the right to protest and there were many references to this repression. A sign was lit up saying that it was an offence to support a proscribed organisation and we all knew what that was about. Marchers felt that the state is going after the Palestine movement, trying to suppress it because it cannot justify its own action thus revealing its own weakness. Photo:Armed settler in the Palestinian shepherding community of Mukmas - 15th July 2025 - Rabbi Arik Ascherman. Despite all our demonstrations in support of Palestine and lobbying of our MPs, they have not been enough because the UK government has not shifted in its colluding with Israel on its war on Gaza and its move to annex the West Bank. With Gazans reaching stage three in starvation, following stored fat reserves being used up and then with muscle wastage, increasing numbers of people are too weak to leave their homes (tents) to attempt to search for food. Israeli authorities understand this. Even if humanitarian aid was allowed in tomorrow, due to severe malnutrition, bodies will not recover. Their aim, as highlighted in articles by Jeff Halper that we have featured since 7^th October 2023, has always been to reduce Gaza’s population through death and forced displacement. Israel retains its aim to move Jews back into Gaza and to take control of the oil and gas fields off its shores. Therefore, what has unfolded was predicted and planned. This year, more than 29,000 Palestinians were forced to flee from Tulkarem, Jenin and Tubas, in the north of the West Bank, due to Israeli military incursions. ICAHD’s monthly Demolition and Displacement Reports reveal an increase in demolitions done for administrative reasons meaning that the Palestinians did not have permission to construct or extend their homes, so they were demolished. It must be remembered that Israeli authorities rarely, if ever, grant such permission to Palestinians and because of desperate need for accommodation, Palestinians are forced to construct their homes without Israeli authorization. This is all part of Israel’s long-standing, systematic policy to annex large parts of the West Bank, an intention that was confirmed in the Knesset on Wednesday evening, 23 July. At the end of its final session before the summer recess, Members of the Knesset confirmed the statement on the imposition of Israeli “sovereignty” over the occupied West Bank. Although the statement is symbolic and non-binding, it is part of the right-wing’s plan for continued gradual annexation and more formal legislation in its control of the West Bank. This is again something that ICAHD has warned would happen. The UK government has not abided by the 2024 decisions of the ICJ regarding the plausible genocide in Gaza and that Israel’s occupation is illegal. Only once sanctions are placed on Israel can we expect anything to change. Be relentless in taking every opportunity to educate those around you and in pressurising our Government. Sanctions now! “Being able to connect across the distance reminded us how powerful and life-giving these moments of solidarity can be,” so said Amjaad Musleh, Guest Relations Officer. ”The idea of involving more former study tour participants is wonderful. Please know how welcome they would be — your presence brought light and hope to our students, and I know others would be just as inspired.” If you are interested in joining future sessions, please email info@icahduk.org Extended Study Tour to Palestine/Israel Photo: Jerusalem's Old City & Mount Scopus - S Jack Visit our website for more information on the tour and to apply online. Thursday, 23rd October – Sunday, 26 October - Gaza Tribunal , Istanbul. Saturday, 1st November – ICAHD UK Annual Conference, Bloomsbury Central Baptist Church, 235 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, WC2H 8EP. Details to follow nearer the time but please note the date in your diary. From all at ICAHD UK. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Israeli-Committee-Against-House-Demolitions-UK/366423593418140 Facebook https://www.twitter.com/ICAHDUK/ Twitter http://icahduk.org Website mailto:info@icahduk.org Email Newsletter - July 2025 * ICAHD’s Name Change * Resisting Settler Terrorism – webinar recording * July National March for Palestine * Israel’s Ethnic Cleansing Advances * Engagements with Bethlehem University * November Issue-Based Study Tour to Palestine/Israel * Dates for Your Diary If you are not already a member of ICAHD UK, please join us (https://icahd.org/join-us/) to enable our campaign to spread at this critical time in history. In the one-state program, “Israeli” has no political legitimacy That has led us to a one-state program in which there is no “Israeli” component in the political sense of a national group with the right to a state of its own. Since “Israel” is a settler colonial entity with no political legitimacy that will be replaced by the post-colonial polity, the term “Israeli” loses the political signification it had [DEL: meaning :DEL] when ICAHD was formed. To the degree that ICAHD still represents critical Israeli Jewish voices that in the present context still have a role to play, [DEL: however, :DEL] it will continue to amplify them, important as they are. We will not be known as the Israeli Committee, however, since that implies the acceptance of an Israeli political nationalism that continues to support the existence of a “Jewish” state, which ICAHD does not. The term “Israeli” has become toxic An additional reason for removing the term “Israeli” from our name is that it has become toxic, even to its Israeli and Jewish members. We can no longer justify, let alone represent, a genocidal state even as we work towards its end. Nor can we expect our Palestinian partners, the Palestinian people as a whole or progressives everywhere to cooperate with an organization that defines itself as “Israeli.” For both these reasons, the anti-colonial nature of ICAHD and the justified inability of other organizations to work with an “Israeli” group, we have removed the term. ICAHD UK Webinar with Issa Amro & Rabbi Arik Ascherman recorded on 15th July Our two speakers spoke powerfully as they provided many examples of how settlers, with full governmental support behind them, feel totally emboldened to violently terrorize the Palestinian population. The full report and a selection of photos are on the website Israel's Ethnic Cleansing Advances In Gaza We are now at a critical tipping point in Gaza with death by starvation. For months only minimal humanitarian aid has been allowed in, so hunger is everywhere. Those attempting to reach aid stand in long queues in the baking sun in the hope of getting something to eat and with the risk of being shot and killed while attempting to do so. In the West Bank Since 7 October 2023, there has been a sharp increase in the forced displacement of Palestinian families in the West Bank due to Israel’s drive to confiscate more land to construct settlements. Double Standards Keir Starmer, David Lammy and Yvette Cooper are hypocrites. Any words condemning Israeli actions or concerns about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza mean nothing while they continue to host Israeli officials in London, allow Tzipi Hotovely, Israeli Ambassador to the UK to remain, sell arms to Israel, continue with other trade agreements and more. Engagements with Bethlehem University Invitation for Previous Study Tour Participants Opportunities are being arranged for our study tour participants who have previously visited Bethlehem University to engage with students at specially arranged Zoom meetings. A pilot session was arranged earlier in July when four of its students who are part of its Ambassador Programme met with participants from our Spring 2025 Study Tour. At a time when few internationals visit the university, the students were keen to talk to us about their life and the additional challenges they are experiencing during Israel’s war on Gaza. Monday, 10th - Thursday, 20th November 2025 £1,460 + flights, insurance, lunches Applications are being received for our next tour that is: * Grounded in ICAHD analysis * Visit both the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel * A total of around 30 encounters * Daily debriefing sessions * Hotel accommodation in Bethlehem and Nazareth “The tour was brilliantly organised and led, and through the variety of encounters with both Palestinians and Israelis, felt like a genuinely life-changing experience. I was able to witness for myself how things actually are ‘on the ground’, so that I not only gained a deeper understanding of the many issues faced by Palestinians but also feel better equipped in campaigning for their freedom.” S Jack – Spring 2025 Read reports from the Spring 2025 study tour Dates for your Diary Saturday, 6th September – National March for Palestine, noon, central London – details to follow Monday, 10th - Thursday, 20th November - ICAHD issue-based study tour. Details here Many thanks for your ongong support. If you're not already a member of ICAHD UK, please join us (https://icahd.org/join-us/) or make a donation (https://icahd.org/donate-now/) to enable our campaign to spread at this critical time in history. — ICAHD (icahd.org) /newsletter/why-israeli-is-toxic-gaza-settler-terrorism-recording