|
|
|
|
|
« Return
|
|
Tutu draws parallels between South African apartheid and Middle East policies
2002-155-2
6/18/2002
|
[Episcopal News Service]
Retired Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa has drawn a parallel against the struggle against apartheid and some Israeli policies in the Middle East.
'The end of apartheid stands as one of the crowning accomplishments of the last century--but we would not have succeeded without the help of international pressure,' Tutu said in an article in the International Herald Tribune. 'There is no greater testament to the basic dignity of ordinary people everywhere than the divestment movement of the 1980s.'
Tutu said that 'a similar movement has taken shape recently, this time aiming at an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.' He noted that 'moral and financial pressure is again being mustered,' pointing out that students on American campuses are 'demanding a review of university investments.' The tactics parallel the divestment strategy that helped demolish the apartheid policies of the South African government.
'To criticize the occupation is not to overlook Israel's unique strengths,' Tutu wrote, 'just as protesting the Vietnam War did not imply ignoring the distinct freedoms and humanitarian accomplishments of the United States. In a region where repressive governments and unjust policies are the norm, Israel is certainly more democratic than most of its neighbors.'
Yet Tutu warned that 'aggression is no more palatable at the hands of a democratic power' and that 'territorial ambition is equally illegal whether it occurs in slow motion, as with the Israeli settlers in the occupied territories, or in blitzkrieg fashion, as with the Iraqi tanks in Kuwait.'
'The Jewish people have always been on the side of the voiceless,' with deep and painful memories of 'massive round-ups, house demolitions and collective punishment,' Tutu wrote. 'The occupation represents a dangerous and selective amnesia of the persecution' they endured in their own history.
'More than 35 new settlements have been constructed this year,' Tutu added. 'Each one is a step away from the safety deserved by the Israelis, and two steps away from the justice owed to the Palestinians. If apartheid ended, so can the occupation, but the moral force and international pressure will have to be just as determined.'
|
|
|
|
|
|
