My plea to the people of Israel: Liberate

yourselves by liberating Palestine

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, in an eclusive article for !aaret", calls for a
global boycott of Israel and urges Israelis and Palestinians to loo# beyond their leaders
for a sustainable solution to the crisis in the !oly Land$
A child next to a picture of Nelson Mandela at a pro-Palestinian rally in Cape
Town. August 9, 2!"Photo #y AP
By Desmond Tutu | Aug. 14, 2014
The past %ee#s have %itnessed unprecedented action by members of civil society
across the %orld against the in&ustice of Israel's disproportionately brutal response to
the firing of missiles from Palestine$
If you add together all the people %ho gathered over the past %ee#end to demand
&ustice in Israel and Palestine ( in )ape To%n, *ashington, D$)$, +e% ,or#, +e%
Delhi, London, Dublin and -ydney, and all the other cities ( this %as arguably the
largest active outcry by citi"ens around a single cause ever in the history of the %orld$
A .uarter of a century ago, I participated in some %ell/attended demonstrations
against apartheid$ I never imagined %e'd see demonstrations of that si"e again, but last
-aturday's turnout in )ape To%n %as as big if not bigger$ Participants included young
and old, Muslims, )hristians, 0e%s, !indus, 1uddhists, agnostics, atheists, blac#s,
%hites, reds and greens 2 as one %ould epect from a vibrant, tolerant, multicultural
nation$
I as#ed the cro%d to chant %ith me: 3*e are opposed to the in&ustice of the illegal
occupation of Palestine$ *e are opposed to the indiscriminate #illing in 4a"a$ *e are
opposed to the indignity meted out to Palestinians at chec#points and roadbloc#s$ *e
are opposed to violence perpetrated by all parties$ 1ut %e are not opposed to 0e%s$5
Earlier in the %ee#, I called for the suspension of Israel from the International 6nion
of Architects, %hich %as meeting in -outh Africa$
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I appealed to Israeli sisters and brothers present at the conference to actively
disassociate themselves and their profession from the design and construction of
infrastructure related to perpetuating in&ustice, including the separation barrier, the
security terminals and chec#points, and the settlements built on occupied Palestinian
land$
3I implore you to ta#e this message home: Please turn the tide against violence and
hatred by &oining the nonviolent movement for &ustice for all people of the region,5 I
said$
7ver the past fe% %ee#s, more than 8$9 million people across the %orld have signed
onto this movement by &oining an Avaa" campaign calling on corporations profiting
from the Israeli occupation and:or implicated in the abuse and repression of
Palestinians to pull out$ The campaign specifically targets Dutch pension fund A1P;
1arclays 1an#; security systems supplier 4<-; =rench transport company >eolia;
computer company !e%lett/Pac#ard; and bulldo"er supplier )aterpillar$
Last month, 8? E6 governments urged their citi"ens to avoid doing business in or
investing in illegal Israeli settlements$
*e have also recently %itnessed the %ithdra%al by Dutch pension fund P44M of tens
of millions of euros from Israeli ban#s; the divestment from 4<- by the 1ill and
Melinda 4ates =oundation; and the 6$-$ Presbyterian )hurch divested an estimated
@A8 million from !P, Motorola -olutions and )aterpillar$
It is a movement that is gathering pace$
>iolence begets violence and hatred, that only begets more violence and hatred$
*e -outh Africans #no% about violence and hatred$ *e understand the pain of being
the polecat of the %orld; %hen it seems nobody understands or is even %illing to listen
to our perspective$ It is %here %e come from$
*e also #no% the benefits that dialogue bet%een our leaders eventually brought us;
%hen organi"ations labeled 3terrorist5 %ere unbanned and their leaders, including
+elson Mandela, %ere released from imprisonment, banishment and eile$
*e #no% that %hen our leaders began to spea# to each other, the rationale for the
violence that had %rac#ed our society dissipated and disappeared$ Acts of terrorism
perpetrated after the tal#s began ( such as attac#s on a church and a pub ( %ere
almost universally condemned, and the party held responsible snubbed at the ballot
bo$
The ehilaration that follo%ed our voting together for the first time %as not the
preserve of blac# -outh Africans alone$ The real triumph of our peaceful settlement
%as that all felt included$ And later, %hen %e unveiled a constitution so tolerant,
compassionate and inclusive that it %ould ma#e 4od proud, %e all felt liberated$
7f course, it helped that %e had a cadre of etraordinary leaders$
1ut %hat ultimately forced these leaders together around the negotiating table %as the
coc#tail of persuasive, nonviolent tools that had been developed to isolate -outh
Africa, economically, academically, culturally and psychologically$
At a certain point ( the tipping point ( the then/government reali"ed that the cost of
attempting to preserve apartheid out%eighed the benefits$
The %ithdra%al of trade %ith -outh Africa by multinational corporations %ith a
conscience in the 8BCDs %as ultimately one of the #ey levers that brought the apartheid
state ( bloodlessly ( to its #nees$ Those corporations understood that by contributing
to -outh Africa's economy, they %ere contributing to the retention of an un&ust status
.uo$
Those %ho continue to do business %ith Israel, %ho contribute to a sense of
3normalcy5 in Israeli society, are doing the people of Israel and Palestine a disservice$
They are contributing to the perpetuation of a profoundly un&ust status .uo$
Those %ho contribute to Israel's temporary isolation are saying that Israelis and
Palestinians are e.ually entitled to dignity and peace$
6ltimately, events in 4a"a over the past month or so are going to test %ho believes in
the %orth of human beings$
It is becoming more and more clear that politicians and diplomats are failing to come
up %ith ans%ers, and that responsibility for bro#ering a sustainable solution to the
crisis in the !oly Land rests %ith civil society and the people of Israel and Palestine
themselves$
1esides the recent devastation of 4a"a, decent human beings every%here ( including
many in Israel ( are profoundly disturbed by the daily violations of human dignity and
freedom of movement Palestinians are sub&ected to at chec#points and roadbloc#s$
And Israel's policies of illegal occupation and the construction of buffer/"one
settlements on occupied land compound the difficulty of achieving an
agreementsettlement in the future that is acceptable for all$
The -tate of Israel is behaving as if there is no tomorro%$ Its people %ill not live the
peaceful and secure lives they crave ( and are entitled to ( as long as their leaders
perpetuate conditions that sustain the conflict$
I have condemned those in Palestine responsible for firing missiles and roc#ets at
Israel$ They are fanning the flames of hatred$ I am opposed to all manifestations of
violence$
1ut %e must be very clear that the people of Palestine have every right to struggle for
their dignity and freedom$ It is a struggle that has the support of many around the
%orld$
+o human/made problems are intractable %hen humans put their heads together %ith
the earnest desire to overcome them$ +o peace is impossible %hen people are
determined to achieve it$
Peace re.uires the people of Israel and Palestine to recogni"e the human being in
themselves and each other; to understand their interdependence$
Missiles, bombs and crude invective are not part of the solution$ There is no military
solution$
The solution is more li#ely to come from that nonviolent toolbo %e developed in
-outh Africa in the 8BCDs, to persuade the government of the necessity of altering its
policies$
The reason these tools ( boycott, sanctions and divestment ( ultimately proved
effective %as because they had a critical mass of support, both inside and outside the
country$ The #ind of support %e have %itnessed across the %orld in recent %ee#s, in
respect of Palestine$
My plea to the people of Israel is to see beyond the moment, to see beyond the anger at
feeling perpetually under siege, to see a %orld in %hich Israel and Palestine can coeist
( a %orld in %hich mutual dignity and respect reign$
It re.uires a mind/set shift$ A mind/set shift that recogni"es that attempting to
perpetuate the current status .uo is to damn future generations to violence and
insecurity$ A mind/set shift that stops regarding legitimate criticism of a state's policies
as an attac# on 0udaism$ A mind/set shift that begins at home and ripples out across
communities and nations and regions ( to the Diaspora scattered across the %orld %e
share$ The only %orld %e share$
People united in pursuit of a righteous cause are unstoppable$ 4od does not interfere
in the affairs of people, hoping %e %ill gro% and learn through resolving our
difficulties and differences ourselves$ 1ut 4od is not asleep$ The 0e%ish scriptures tell
us that 4od is biased on the side of the %ea#, the dispossessed, the %ido%, the orphan,
the alien %ho set slaves free on an eodus to a Promised Land$ It %as the prophet
Amos %ho said %e should let righteousness flo% li#e a river$
4oodness prevails in the end$ The pursuit of freedom for the people of Palestine from
humiliation and persecution by the policies of Israel is a righteous cause$ It is a cause
that the people of Israel should support$
+elson Mandela famously said that -outh Africans %ould not feel free until
Palestinians %ere free$
!e might have added that the liberation of Palestine %ill liberate Israel, too$
Posted by Thavam