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R. Daneel Olivaw

(12,606 posts)
Mon Jun 16, 2014, 11:16 PM Jun 2014

Economic pressure is all that will end apartheid, Tutu says in calling on Presbyterians to dives

http://mondoweiss.net/2014/06/economic-apartheid-presbyterians.html

The Presbyterian church’s biennial general assembly is taking place this week in Detroit. Desmond Tutu, the retired Anglican bishop who was active in the struggle against apartheid in South Africa, has released this letter calling on the Presbyterians to pass measures supportive of Palestinian human rights, including divestment from three companies that profit from the Israeli occupation.

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. 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. Both are worthy of adoption, by speaking truth in the first instance, and owning up to the Church’s complicity in maintaining the occupation through its investments in the second.
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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’s about naming an unjust system and refusing to participate in it. The stubbornness of Israel’s leaders in wanting to hold onto and settling land that is not theirs can only lead to tragedy for both peoples. For the sake of them both as God’s cherished, the strong witness of the two overtures is the only peaceful route left in the cause of justice and ultimate reconciliation. My prayers today are with the members of the General Assembly and with all the peoples of the Holy Land in Israel and Palestine.



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Economic pressure is all that will end apartheid, Tutu says in calling on Presbyterians to dives (Original Post) R. Daneel Olivaw Jun 2014 OP
THis part sticks out... Scootaloo Jun 2014 #1
Yes, that may be all true, but at the same time R. Daneel Olivaw Jun 2014 #2
 

Scootaloo

(25,699 posts)
1. THis part sticks out...
Mon Jun 16, 2014, 11:20 PM
Jun 2014
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.


The trouble is that for a lot of Israel's supporters, that suppression is exactly what makes Israel "legitimate." That is, in their minds, Israel cannot exist without the apartheid, without the occupation, they believe Israel would wither away and blow off in a light breeze.
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