Two South African winners of the Nobel Peace Prize on Friday urged Israel and the Palestinians to negotiate peace, with former archbishop Desmond Tutu comparing the regional crisis to apartheid.
Their comments came as Pretoria condemned Israel’s ground offensive into the Gaza strip and several prominent South Africans of Jewish descent called for the country to cut ties with Israel.
“It is not a Muslim or Jewish crisis. It is a human rights crisis rooted to what amounts to an apartheid system of land ownership and control,” Tutu said at a news conference on this year’s annual summit of Nobel Peace Prize winners to be held in Cape Town in October.
Criticism of Israel from South Africa is not new, but the Jewish state is always outraged by any comparison of its policies toward Palestinians with the racist apartheid system.
Fellow Nobel Peace Prize winner and former South African president F.W. de Klerk said Israel and the Palestinians needed to work for peace.
“For the Israelis and Palestinians, the lesson to be learned from South Africa is that there is no dispute which cannot be resolved by meaningful negotiation if there is the will on both sides to negotiate,” said De Klerk, the last white president of South Africa, who is to cohost the summit with Tutu.
The feisty cleric, who won the prize in 1984 and has drawn the apartheid analogy in the past, said the latest flare-up in the Middle East crisis was the result of a void in global leadership.
“Yes, we condemn those who fan the flames, who launch the missiles against Israel, but missiles do not justify Israel’s excessive response,” he said.
“As an old man, my appeal to my fellow laureates and peacemakers is to step into the leadership void, to make your voices heard from all corners of the globe, to advocate or pressure your government and institutions to cajole, to persuade,” Tutu said.
Speaking on the day former president and peace prize winner Nelson Mandela would have turned 96, Tutu said helping to overcome what he called “the greatest peace challenge of our times” would be a fitting tribute to the late South African leader.
Mandela died on Dec. 5 last year, but his birthday is commemorated internationally as Mandela Day.
South Africa’s African National Congress government, which came to power under Mandela, issued a strongly worded condemnation on Friday of the latest Israeli military action in Gaza.
“South Africa is gravely concerned that the illegal ground invasion, which had been rejected by the international community, will continue the endless killing of innocent Palestinian civilians, especially vulnerable groups — the elderly, women and children,” the government said in a statement.
In a letter to the Cape Times, more than 50 prominent South Africans of Jewish descent said: “We believe the time has come for the South African government to sever all links with Israel, including trade and investment, and to expel Israel’s ambassador and recall ours.”
The signatories included academics and anti-apartheid activist and renowned cartoonist Jonathan Shapiro, who draws under the name Zapiro.
Meanwhile, thousands of Palestinian supporters protested outside the Israeli embassy trade office in Johannesburg, calling for a boycott of Israeli goods and chanting: “Hey, hey Israel, how many kids have you killed today?”
OPTIMISTIC: A Philippine Air Force spokeswoman said the military believed the crew were safe and were hopeful that they and the jet would be recovered A Philippine Air Force FA-50 jet and its two-person crew are missing after flying in support of ground forces fighting communist rebels in the southern Mindanao region, a military official said yesterday. Philippine Air Force spokeswoman Colonel Consuelo Castillo said the jet was flying “over land” on the way to its target area when it went missing during a “tactical night operation in support of our ground troops.” While she declined to provide mission specifics, Philippine Army spokesman Colonel Louie Dema-ala confirmed that the missing FA-50 was part of a squadron sent “to provide air support” to troops fighting communist rebels in
PROBE: Last week, Romanian prosecutors launched a criminal investigation against presidential candidate Calin Georgescu accusing him of supporting fascist groups Tens of thousands of protesters gathered in Romania’s capital on Saturday in the latest anti-government demonstration by far-right groups after a top court canceled a presidential election in the EU country last year. Protesters converged in front of the government building in Bucharest, waving Romania’s tricolor flags and chanting slogans such as “down with the government” and “thieves.” Many expressed support for Calin Georgescu, who emerged as the frontrunner in December’s canceled election, and demanded they be resumed from the second round. George Simion, the leader of the far-right Alliance for the Unity of Romanians (AUR), which organized the protest,
ECONOMIC DISTORTION? The US commerce secretary’s remarks echoed Elon Musk’s arguments that spending by the government does not create value for the economy US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Sunday said that government spending could be separated from GDP reports, in response to questions about whether the spending cuts pushed by Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency could possibly cause an economic downturn. “You know that governments historically have messed with GDP,” Lutnick said on Fox News Channel’s Sunday Morning Futures. “They count government spending as part of GDP. So I’m going to separate those two and make it transparent.” Doing so could potentially complicate or distort a fundamental measure of the US economy’s health. Government spending is traditionally included in the GDP because
Hundreds of people in rainbow colors gathered on Saturday in South Africa’s tourist magnet Cape Town to honor the world’s first openly gay imam, who was killed last month. Muhsin Hendricks, who ran a mosque for marginalized Muslims, was shot dead last month near the southern city of Gqeberha. “I was heartbroken. I think it’s sad especially how far we’ve come, considering how progressive South Africa has been,” attendee Keisha Jensen said. Led by motorcycle riders, the mostly young crowd walked through the streets of the coastal city, some waving placards emblazoned with Hendricks’s image and reading: “#JUSTICEFORMUHSIN.” No arrest
RSS