{"id":44253,"date":"2014-07-07T12:00:23","date_gmt":"2014-07-07T11:00:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=44253"},"modified":"2015-05-05T21:33:42","modified_gmt":"2015-05-05T20:33:42","slug":"archbishop-desmond-tutu-urges-us-presbyterians-to-adopt-divestment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2014\/07\/archbishop-desmond-tutu-urges-us-presbyterians-to-adopt-divestment\/","title":{"rendered":"Archbishop Desmond Tutu Urges US Presbyterians to Adopt Divestment"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"desmond-tutu2\"<\/a><\/p>\n

As the Presbyterian General Assembly gathers for its biennial meeting I reach out in prayer and solidarity that the Assembly will make a strong witness for reconciliation, justice and peace.\u00a0 I am aware that the Assembly will consider eight overtures on the confounding and intractable conflict in Israel and Palestine, however I am especially urging the Assembly to adopt the overture naming Israel as an apartheid state through its domestic policies and maintenance of the occupation, and the overture calling for divestment of certain companies that contribute to the occupation of the Palestinian people.\u00a0 Both are worthy of adoption, by speaking truth in the first instance, and owning up to the Church\u2019s complicity in maintaining the occupation through its investments in the second.<\/p>\n

The sustainability of Israel as a homeland for the Jewish people has always been dependent on its ability to deliver justice to the Palestinians.\u00a0 I know firsthand that Israel has created an apartheid reality within its borders and through its occupation.\u00a0 The parallels to my own beloved South Africa are painfully stark indeed.\u00a0 Realistic Israeli leaders have acknowledged that Israel will either end its occupation through a one or two state solution, or live in an apartheid state in perpetuity.\u00a0 The latter option is unsustainable and an offense to justice.\u00a0 We learned in South Africa that the only way to end apartheid peacefully was to force the powerful to the table through economic pressure.<\/p>\n

The overtures proposed at the General Assembly are not about delegitimizing the State of Israel, but about ending its suppression of 4,000,000 Palestinian sisters and brothers. It\u2019s about naming an unjust system and refusing to participate in it.\u00a0 The stubbornness of Israel\u2019s leaders in wanting to hold onto and settling land that is not theirs can only lead to tragedy for both peoples.\u00a0 For the sake of them both as God\u2019s cherished, the strong witness of the two overtures is the only peaceful route left in the cause of justice and ultimate reconciliation.\u00a0 My prayers today are with the members of the General Assembly and with all the peoples of the Holy Land in Israel and Palestine.<\/p>\n

June 10, 2014<\/em><\/p>\n

_________________________<\/p>\n

Desmond Mpilo Tutu<\/em> is a South African activist and retired Anglican archbishop who rose to worldwide fame during the 1980s as an opponent of apartheid<\/a>. Tutu has been active in the defense of human rights and uses his high profile to campaign for the oppressed. He has campaigned for the rights of Palestinians, to fight AIDS, tuberculosis, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia<\/a>, and transphobia<\/a>. Tutu received the Nobel Peace Prize<\/a> in 1984; the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism<\/a> in 1986; the Pacem in Terris Award<\/a> in 1987; the Sydney Peace Prize<\/a> in 1999; the Gandhi Peace Prize<\/a> in 2005; and the Presidential Medal of Freedom<\/a> in 2009. He has also compiled several books of his speeches and talks.<\/em><\/p>\n

Go to Original \u2013 israelpalestinemissionnetwork.org<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Israel will either end its occupation through a one or two state solution, or live in an apartheid state in perpetuity. The latter option is unsustainable and an offense to justice. We learned in South Africa that the only way to end apartheid peacefully was to force the powerful to the table through economic pressure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[105],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-44253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nobel-laureates"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44253","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44253"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44253\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44253"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44253"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44253"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}