Archbishop of South Africa Desmond Tutu passed away in the last week of 2021. A Nobel Peace Prize laureate and the first Black Anglican Archbishop of Johannesburg, Tutu was a leading international human rights activist. Archbishop Tutu dedicated his life to end apartheid in South Africa and was a staunch supporter of the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice.
Tutu’s death is a great loss for Palestine. He consistently called for the end of Israel’s occupation and its racist policies toward the Palestinian people. Tutu described the Palestinian struggle against the Israeli occupation as part of the global fight against racist and colonial policies.
Tutu was one of the most prominent individuals to support the global movement to boycott Israel. He did so at a time when many leading Palestinian and international figures hesitated to endorse the Palestinian-led call for boycott, divestment, and sanctions. In 2014, he advocated for the Presbyterian General Assembly to adopt two measures at its biennial meeting. The measures named Israel an apartheid state and for the divestment of companies that were directly involved in Israel’s occupation. Tutu explained, “I know first-hand that Israel has created an apartheid reality within its borders and through its occupation. The parallels to my own beloved South Africa are painfully stark indeed.”
Tutu also called on Dutch pension fund ABP, the third largest in the world, to divest from 3 Israeli banks. Tutu frequently traveled to Palestine as part of “The Elders” and sought to bring attention to Israel’s apartheid policies and war crimes in Gaza.
Although he was criticized for his support of the Palestinians, Tutu did not retreat. Dr. Subhi Ali, Chairman of the Jerusalem Fund’s Board, met Archbishop Tutu at a 2002 event held at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. “The world did not treat your people well,” Tutu said. He repeated these sentiments publicly six years later while presenting a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2008. Discussing Israel’s 2006 attack on Beit Hanoun in Gaza, Tutu condemned international silence. “This silence begets complicity,” Tutu said.
Last December, Tutu called on recently elected U.S. President Joe Biden to end the practice of American presidents not acknowledging Israel’s secret nuclear arsenal. Tutu explained that Israel’s nuclear proliferation and its repeated violations of Palestinian human rights were in violation of U.S. law. “It’s quite possible that one of the reasons that Israel’s version of apartheid has outlived South Africa’s is that Israel has managed to maintain its oppressive system using not just the guns of soldiers, but also by keeping this nuclear gun pointed at the heads of millions,” Tutu wrote. “The solution for this is not for Palestinians and other Arabs to try to attain such weapons,” he added, “The solution is peace, justice and disarmament.”
Tutu’s example has been an inspiration to many Palestinian intellectuals and activists, including a number of speakers at the Palestine Center. Through his tireless efforts to achieve justice and equality in South Africa, Palestine, and around the world he had gained the love and respect of millions. Palestinians rightly mourn him as one of their own.
