Part of a letter from Archbishop Desmond Tutu

“Dear Robert,

My greatest anguish is beholding what the Israelis are doing to themselves.

We saw what apartheid did to the white people, making it possible for them to commit horrendous atrocities. In dehumanising others, they were themselves dehumanised in the process.

I saw it in the callousness of young Israeli soldiers at checkpoints when they could decide to let an expectant mother desperately needing a hospital to deliver her baby go through, or not, as the whim struck them.

I saw it when they bombed schools and hospitals in Gaza. I saw it when settlers uprooted hundreds-year-old Palestinian olive trees. And it pains me to no end, especially when I see this dehumanisation happen to a people that has suffered for millennia.

What gave us strength to rebuild after apartheid in South Africa was believing in every person’s capacity to turn pain into healing, and fear into love.”

There is no need for a comment from me. It was what all religions ought to be saying.

4 Comments

  1. It is not generally known that Israeli dual citizens man the Israeli section of the US State Department. Israeli dual citizens are allowed to represent the US in Israel itself, but not if they are a dual citizens with Palestinian backgrounds. (As a dual US- Canadian citizen I don’t think I could work for the Department if I wanted to). Meanwhile, everything is done to support a regime that runs counter to everything the United States is supposed to stand for. The American governing class is like an an enthusiastic puppy, doing the bidding of Netanyahu and his extreme supporters regardless, thus deeply damaging the American brand. The politicians don’t seem to care as long as the money keeps rolling in, and the extremist American Protestants choose to see nothing wrong. But the fact is that, worldwide, the Israeli argument is already all but lost. It is their own fault, entirely. This cannot last.

  2. I’m sorry Robert you are an excellent thinker and a wonderful person, but I fundamentally disagree with you on this one. The fact is that Hamas, following Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, have fired an average of 3 rockets a day into Israel since taking over. They have not offered any offers for peace, but instead openly express intentions of Jewish genocide. In constant, the israelis have shown remarkable restraint in not attacking Hamas sooner. I agree that some of the settlers are bad, but not all of them. The Jews have a right to live in East Jerusalem and most of the West Bank- Fatah demands for a Judenrein Palestinian state are both impractical and immortal. In any case, a two state solution would be unworkable because the Palestinian government would become increasingly radical, thus creating a Gaza within shooting range of Jerusalem. Finally, I would strongly dispute the notion that the Israelis are ‘occupying’ the West Bank, as Palestine has never been an autonomous country. The Palestinians are no different to Jordanian Arabs, with no right to claim exclusivity over the land. In constant, the Israelis will happily tolerate, even welcome, a substantial Arab community within their borders. Israel should annex the parts of the west bank with a significant Jewish population, and obviously give the Palestinians full civil rights. As for those not living in the regions given by Israel, they should be given a de-facto state but with no weapons of mass destruction.

  3. I very much enjoy your contributions, Owen. Shall we just agree to disgaree, and move on to another subject?

    But before I do and just for the record, I am a proud Pro- Semitic. By which I mean that the Palestinian “Arabs” are the direct descendants of the agrarian Jews who did not leave the area when the Romans devastated Jetrusalem and the Temple. Not all Jews left Judea, only those involved in rebellion. Those who quietly remained were later converted to be Moslems (by what means we have to guess) and over the years their Jewishness has been reduced by invasions and inter- marriage. But, if there were family records they could trace their ancestry back to Roman times. Precisely the same can be said for the Jews who have arrived in Palestine since the Second World War. How Jewish are they? We, and they, don’t really know. But displaced the “Arabs” of Palestine have been – by their very distant cousins. I have a tendency to be sorry for them! Does that seem reasonable?

  4. Like you I feel sorry for the Palestinian people, who have undergone far more hardships than the Israelis. However, that does not excuse the dispicable actions for their governments, nor does the responsibility for that suffering necessarily lie entirely with the Israelis. I would like to think that most people in Israel would not wish the Palestinians harm, even the far right Jewish Home party supports upgrading Palestinian infrastructure and improving their economy. What I feel very uncomfortable with, is the tendency amongst certain aspects of Western society to blame the Israelis alone for the failures of the peace process. I think comparisons to ‘aparteid’ are wholly inappropriate as they are inaccurate, and in any case, will not lead the Israelis to give in to Palestinian demands- nor will the efforts of the BDS movement. But do you think that the Palestinian demands are fair? And do you think that the Palestinian government will govern without abusing their citizens, or threatening Israel?

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