Media ignores Desmond Tutu
Shoshana Weiss
Issue date: 11/12/10 Section: Ed-Op
Years ago, there was a strong international campaign to sever all commercial and diplomatic links with South Africa because of its policy of apartheid - the official segregation of races in the realms of economics, politics and law. It struck the world as particularly heinous that blacks were relegated to a second-class citizenship by whites in a country in which they had been the original inhabitants. Many South African whites felt the same way. Not surprisingly, Jewish South Africans were at the forefront of opposition to the oppression of their fellow black citizens. There were many South Africans who became famous - or infamous - during the course of the struggle for equal rights for South African blacks, including F.W. de Klerk, the president who both presided over apartheid and then helped end it, and Nelson Mandela, a black civil rights lawyer imprisoned for years in South Africa who eventually became its leader.
Another South African who rose to international prominence was the black Christian (Anglican) Bishop Desmond Tutu. An outspoken opponent of apartheid, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He is still considered a voice to be taken seriously in matters of civil rights, oppression and all manner of injustice throughout the world.
He is, however, strangely anti-Israel and anti-Jewish and has made statements blatantly offensive to Jews for years. Because of his status, however, he is almost never called to account by the U.S. and world media. Last month, he called for the South African Opera to boycott Israel and also for an academic boycott of Israel. These calls are in addition to his ever-present call that sanctions be imposed against Israel - the very tool that eventually helped destroy apartheid in South Africa. As for the opera performance, he actually compared Israel to apartheid South Africa. He said Israel is "luring" international artists to the Tel Aviv Opera House to advance its "fallacious claim to being a 'civilized democracy.' " Even though his statements on international issues are usually reported worldwide, there has been no coverage of his latest vicious attack against Israel and the sharp increase in anti-Semitism his influence in South Africa has created.
Another South African who rose to international prominence was the black Christian (Anglican) Bishop Desmond Tutu. An outspoken opponent of apartheid, he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1984, the Albert Schweitzer Prize for Humanitarianism in 1986, the Gandhi Peace Prize in 2005 and the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2009. He is still considered a voice to be taken seriously in matters of civil rights, oppression and all manner of injustice throughout the world.
He is, however, strangely anti-Israel and anti-Jewish and has made statements blatantly offensive to Jews for years. Because of his status, however, he is almost never called to account by the U.S. and world media. Last month, he called for the South African Opera to boycott Israel and also for an academic boycott of Israel. These calls are in addition to his ever-present call that sanctions be imposed against Israel - the very tool that eventually helped destroy apartheid in South Africa. As for the opera performance, he actually compared Israel to apartheid South Africa. He said Israel is "luring" international artists to the Tel Aviv Opera House to advance its "fallacious claim to being a 'civilized democracy.' " Even though his statements on international issues are usually reported worldwide, there has been no coverage of his latest vicious attack against Israel and the sharp increase in anti-Semitism his influence in South Africa has created.
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Noah Weiss
posted 11/18/10 @ 7:08 AM EST
Fascinating, sad and disturbing article. Great work Shoshana.
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