Printer Friendly
Email to FriendMIDDLE EAST: Tutu says only Gaza solution is for both sides to sit down and talk
"True security and peace will not come from the barrel of a gun," Tutu said, exhorting both sides to knuckle down and talk as the only way to bring about peace. "It happened in South Africa. It happened more recently in Northern Ireland. It will happen here too."
His words are being remembered in many countries during a worldwide week of action from June 4-10 for peace in Israel and the Palestinian territories, in which Orthodox, Protestant and Roman Catholic churches have joined in praying for a land "much in need of peace."
They are using a prayer from the heads of churches in Jerusalem that asks for political leaders "courageous enough to sign a treaty...that puts an end to the occupation imposed by one people on another, granting freedom to Palestinians, giving security to Israelis and freeing us all from fear."
As a special United Nations envoy, Tutu on May 29 ended a fact-finding mission to the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip at the behest of the U.N. Human Rights Council. He was investigating the deaths of 19 Palestinians belonging to a single family who were killed by Israeli artillery shells in Beit Hanoun, Gaza in November 2006. Two other Palestinians were also killed in the attack.
Tutu said he and his delegation co-expert Christine Chinkin, professor of international law at the London School of Economics, were "shocked" at the conditions they found in Gaza and the testimonies they heard from the survivors of the attack they came to investigate. Tutu also urged militants to stop launching rockets at Israel.
"We told Mr. [Ismail] Haniyeh that firing rockets was a gross violation of human rights," Tutu said, referring to the Gaza-based Hamas leader. "The culture of impunity on both sides must end."
The current Israeli blockade on Gaza is a "gross violation of human rights" and contrary to Holy Scripture, Tutu, the former Anglican archbishop of Cape Town, said after concluding his mission.
"The siege is contrary to the Jewish tradition of siding with the oppressed," Tutu said, noting that in South Africa some of the most dedicated opponents of apartheid were Jews. "Almost instinctively, Jews must be on the side of freedom, justice and peace. The siege must stop because it is not in the interests of Israelis," he said. Tutu chaired South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the fall of apartheid and the end of minority white rule in his country.
Israel, supported by the West, imposed a boycott of Gaza after Hamas won elections in January 2006. It demanded that Hamas, which Israel and some Western countries view as terrorists, recognize Israel, renounce violence and honor previous Palestinian agreements with Israel.
After Hamas gained control of the area from the Fatah movement almost a year ago, the blockade against Gaza was tightened leaving its 1.5 million residents in an increasingly difficult reality.
Tutu said he had a three-fold mandate: to assess the situation of victims, address the needs of survivors and to make recommendations on ways and means to protect Palestinian civilians against any further Israeli assaults. The mission would report to the Human Rights Council at its September session, said Tutu, noting that the May statement represented only some first impressions following the visit.
He described Gaza as being a "forlorn, deserted, desolate and eerie place" with hardly any pedestrians on the streets.
"We were struck particularly by the absence of the sounds of children shrieking and playing," he added. "For us, the entire situation is abominable. We believe that ordinary Israeli citizens would not support this blockade, this siege, if they knew what it meant for ordinary people like themselves."
After three attempts over the past 18 months to get a visa from Israel, Tutu said his delegation finally arrived in Gaza by crossing through the Egyptian border, which is not normally used for such VIP visits.
Israel has refused to cooperate with the mission as it has a long-held view that the U.N. Human Rights Council is politicized and biased.
Tutu said the delegation wanted to visit the Israeli town of Sderot which has been the target of repeated rocket attacks from the Palestinians but was unable to do so because they were refused the Israeli visas.
» Respond to this articleSearch
Browse by Topic:
