|
Desmond tutu { October 17 2002 } Original Source Link: (May no longer be active)
> > http://www.counterpunch.org/tutu1017.html> > http://www.counterpunch.org/tutu1017.html
> >
> > CounterPunch, October 17, 2002
> >
> > Of Occupation and Apartheid
> > Do I Divest?
> > by DESMOND TUTU
> >
> > The end of apartheid stands as one of the crowning
> > accomplishments of the past century, but we would not have
> > succeeded without the help of international pressure-- in particular
> > the divestment movement of the 1980s. Over the past six months, a
> > similar movement has taken shape, this time aiming at an end to
> > the Israeli occupation.
> >
> > Divestment from apartheid South Africa was fought by ordinary
> > people at the grassroots. Faith-based leaders informed their
> > followers, union members pressured their companies' stockholders
> > and consumers questioned their store owners. Students played an
> > especially important role by compelling universities to change their
> > portfolios. Eventually, institutions pulled the financial plug, and the
> > South African government thought twice about its policies.
> >
> > Similar moral and financial pressures on Israel are being mustered
> > one person at a time. Students on more than forty campuses in the
> > U.S. are demanding a review of university investments in Israeli
> > companies as well as in firms doing major business in Israel. From
> > Berkeley to Ann Arbor, city councils have debated municipal
> > divestment measures.
> >
> > These tactics are not the only parallels to the struggle against
> > apartheid. Yesterday's South African township dwellers can tell you
> > about today's life in the Occupied Territories. To travel only blocks in
> > his own homeland, a grandfather waits on the whim of a teenage
> > soldier. More than an emergency is needed to get to a hospital; less
> > than a crime earns a trip to jail. The lucky ones have a permit to
> > leave their squalor to work in Israel's cities, but their luck runs out
> > when security closes all checkpoints, paralyzing an entire people.
> > The indignities, dependence and anger are all too familiar.
> >
> > Many South Africans are beginning to recognize the parallels to
> > what we went through. Ronnie Kasrils and Max Ozinsky, two Jewish
> > heroes of the anti-apartheid struggle, recently published a letter
> > titled "Not in My Name." Signed by several hundred other prominent
> > Jewish South Africans, the letter drew an explicit analogy between
> > apartheid and current Israeli policies. Mark Mathabane and Nelson
> > Mandela have also pointed out the relevance of the South African
> > experience.
> >
> > To criticize the occupation is not to overlook Israel's unique
> > strengths, just as protesting the Vietnam War did not imply ignoring
> > the distinct freedoms and humanitarian accomplishments of the
> > United States. In a region where repressive governments and unjust
> > policies are the norm, Israel is certainly more democratic than its
> > neighbours. This does not make dismantling the settlements any
> > less a priority. Divestment from apartheid South Africa was certainly
> > no less justified because there was repression elsewhere on the
> > African continent. Aggression is no more palatable in the hands of a
> > democratic power. Territorial ambition is equally illegal whether it
> > occurs in slow motion, as with the Israeli settlers in the Occupied
> > Territories, or in blitzkrieg fashion, as with the Iraqi tanks in
> > Kuwait.
> >
> > The United States has a distinct responsibility to intervene in
> > atrocities committed by its client states, and since Israel is the
> > single
> > largest recipient of U.S. arms and foreign aid, an end to the
> > occupation should be a top concern.
> >
> > Almost instinctively, the Jewish people have always been on the
> > side of the voiceless. In their history, there is painful memory of
> > massive roundups, house demolitions and collective punishment. In
> > their scripture, there is acute empathy for the disfranchised. The
> > occupation represents a dangerous and selective amnesia of the
> > persecution from which these traditions were born.
> >
> > Not everyone has forgotten, including some within the military. The
> > growing Israeli refusenik movement evokes the small anti-
> > conscription drive that helped turn the tide in apartheid South Africa.
> > Several hundred decorated Israeli officers have refused to perform
> > military service in the Occupied Territories. Those not already in
> > prison have taken their message on the road to U.S. synagogues
> > and campuses, rightly arguing that Israel needs security but that it
> > will never have it as an occupying power.
> >
> > More than thirty-five new settlements have been constructed in the
> > past year. Each one is a step away from the safety deserved by the
> > Israelis, and two steps away from the justice owed to the
> > Palestinians.
> >
> > If apartheid ended, so can this occupation, but the moral force and
> > international pressure will have to be just as determined. The
> > current divestment effort is the first, though certainly not the only,
> > necessary move in that direction.
> >
> > Archbishop Desmond Tutu was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in
> > 1984 for his work against apartheid. This piece was written in
> > collaboration with Ian Urbina of the Middle East Research and
> > Information Project in Washington D.C.
|
|
