Jeff Halper is an Israeli-American Jew who has stood in front of bulldozers to stop the Israeli government from demolishing Palestinian homes.

He believes that ending the occupation of Palestinian land is not only the moral thing to do, but is also in the best interest of Israel.

As Halper puts it, "We are against the Israeli policy of occupation and displacement. If you create an apartheid situation, if you lock another people into prison, in the end, you cannot develop a healthy, normal and prosperous society. As long as the occupation continues, Israel itself cannot be free."

Ironically, last week Israeli Prime Minister Olmert, a staunch supporter of the occupation while in the office he is now leaving to fight corruption charges, echoed these sentiments: "We have to reach an agreement with the Palestinians, the meaning of which is that in practice we will withdraw from almost all the territories, if not all the territories. We will leave a percentage of these territories in our hands, but will have to give the Palestinians a similar percentage, because without that there will be no peace."

Halper has been active in fighting oppression all of his life. By the time he moved from the U.S. to Israel in 1973, he had already participated in both the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements.

In Israel, where military service is mandatory, he refused to serve in the Occupied Palestinian Territories or take up arms.

An anthropology professor at Haifa and Ben-Gurion universities, Halper had long opposed the Israeli government's policy of settlements and confiscation of Palestinian land in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem.

In 1997, he co-founded the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, which organizes Jews, Palestinians and international volunteers to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to stop the demolition of Palestinian homes and build new homes for Palestinians.

Jeff Halper will speak on "An Israeli in Palestine: Resisting Dispossession, Redeeming Israel" at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Boulder's First Congregation Church, 1128 Pine St. Admission is $10, but no one will be turned away. Students with ID are free.

Carolyn Bninski is on the staff of the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center.