Archbishop Tutu, a defender of Palestine

Archbishop Desmond Tutu who passed away today, was a veteran of South Africa's struggle against the apartheid regime in his country was a fearless advocate of Palestinian rights.
Tutu who
was also a Nobel Peace prize laureate, died on Sunday aged 90 and is remembered
in South Africa and around the world.
A
contemporary of Nelson Mandela, Tutu was known not just for his role in ending
a dark chapter of racial discrimination in his country but also for speaking
out against injustices around the world, including in Palestine.
Human
rights organization #Africa4Palestine joined “fellow South Africans, Africans
and peace-loving people across the world” in mourning the death of Tutu.
An ally of Palestine
“Archbishop
Tutu was a close confidant of #Africa4Palestine – someone whom we consulted
with, asked for advice and sought support from. Tutu was an ally of all
oppressed peoples across the globe, and specifically of the Palestinian people
in their struggle against Israeli apartheid,” said #Africa4Palestine
spokesperson, Tisetso Magama.
#Africa4Palestine
board member, Professor Farid Esack, a personal friend of Tutu said the
Archbishop’s boundless love, his wit and humor and his unflinching and
principled commitment to a better world will inspire generations.
“We and
the Palestinians have lost an indomitable fighter, a courageous leader and a
moral icon, without equal. We are bereft of a prophet who consistently warned
against ideas of cheap peace which may come without justice,” said Esack.
“I am
immensely grateful for having travelled and worked with the Archbishop in the
Struggle against apartheid in South Africa, in solidarity with the Palestinians
against Israeli occupation, and in supporting various other causes. His
boundless love, his wit and humor and his unflinching and principled commitment
to a better world will always inspire us.”
#Africa4Palestine
paid homage to the life and struggle of “our comrade and father, Archbishop
Tutu” and offered deep condolences to Mama Leah and their children – Trevor
Thamsanqa, Naomi Nontombi, Theresa Thandeka, and Reverend Mpho.
“We, in a
profound and deeply painful way, say ‘Hamba Kahle’ (go well) our leader,
inspirer and energiser of the oppressed,” said Esack.
Earlier
on Sunday, President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that Tutu passed had away in
Cape Town.
Outspoken critic of the apartheid Israeli regime
Archbishop
Tutu was an outspoken critic of Israeli regime’s occupation in Palestine and
the regime’s inhuman siege on Gaza.
"I
wish I could keep quiet about the plight of the Palestinians. I can't! The God
who was there and showed that we should become free is the God described in the
Scriptures as the same yesterday, today and forever," he told the
Washington Post in 2013.
He drew
parallels between Israeli occupation and apartheid in South Africa.
"What's
being done to the Palestinians at checkpoints, for us, it's the kind of thing
we experienced in South Africa."
Gaza war probe
Tutu was
to lead a UN fact-finding mission with Professor Christine Chinkin to
investigate a November 2006 Israeli regime’s attack on Gaza's Beit Hanoun
district that led to the deaths of 19 Palestinians, including seven children.
The
apartheid Israel regime refused to grant Archbishop Tutu and Professor Chinkin
authorization to enter Gaza, but they were eventually able to travel to the
besieged territory via Egypt. They met with survivors and eye-witnesses and
produced a report to the Human Rights Council.
In a May
2008 statement about his mission, the archbishop decried the Israeli regime’s
siege on Gaza, in place since 2007, as "a gross violation of human
rights". He also said the Israeli siege contradicted the Jewish and
Christian scriptures.
Those
scriptures speak about a God: a God of the Exodus, a God notoriously biased in
favour of the weak, of the oppressed, of the suffering, of the orphan, of the
widow, of the alien," he said.
"We
are in a state of shock, exacerbated by what we subsequently heard from the
victims and survivors of the Beit Hanoun massacre. For us, the entire situation
is abominable," the joint statement by Desmond Tutu and Professor Chinkin
said.
"We
believe that ordinary Israeli citizens would not support this blockade, this
siege if they knew what it meant for ordinary people like themselves. No, they
would not support a policy which limits fuel supplies or automatically cuts off
the electricity supply.
"They
would not support a policy which jeopardizes the lives of ordinary men and
women in hospital, that cuts off water and food from hospitals jeopardizing the
lives of babies."
Support for boycott of Israel
Desmond
Tutu also declared his support for the international movement of boycott,
sanctions and divestment (BDS) as a peaceful means of opposing Israeli
occupation.
"Those
who continue to do business with Israel, who contribute to a sense of
'normalcy' in Israeli society, are doing the people of Israel and Palestine a
disservice. They are contributing to the perpetuation of a profoundly unjust
status quo," said.
The
archbishop voiced his opposition to acts of violence and described Israel's
response to Palestinian missiles as "disproportionately brutal".
Palestine lost a patriot
Wasel Abu
Youssef, a member of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation
Organization, said: “Father Desmond Tutu was one of the biggest supporters of
the Palestinian cause. He had always advocated the rights of the Palestinians
to gain their freedom and rejected Israeli occupation and apartheid.”
Former
member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee,
Hanan Ashrawi, has also mourned Tutu.
“Palestine mourns the passing of Desmond Tutu,
whose humanity & compassion were equaled only by his courage &
principled commitment in our shared struggle for justice & freedom,”
tweeted Ashrawi.
She
added, “His support for Palestine was an embrace of love & empathy. I’m
honored to have had him as a friend.”
Tutu’s death
was “a loss for justice, truth and peace in the world. ... He loved Palestine
and Palestine loved him,” Mohammed Shtayyeh, prime minister of the Palestinian
Authority has said.
The
Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement-Hamas- has also expressed its
condolences following the passing away of Archbishop Tutu,
Hamas
said in a statement. “Like South Africa, Palestine has lost a true patriot, a
great human rights defender, an opponent of racism, and a staunch defender of
the Palestinian cause in many international forums and arenas.”
“His career will remain a beacon for his supporters, his fans, and the friendly people of South Africa until his hopes for an end to the Israeli occupation are fulfilled and our Palestinian people live in freedom,” it emphasized.
The cause of death was cancer, the Desmond and Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation said, adding that Archbishop Tutu had died in a care facility. He was first diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1997, and was hospitalized several times in the years since, amid recurring fears that the disease had spread.