Christian leaders in\u00a0South Africa\u00a0have thrown their full support behind\u00a0Israeli Apartheid Week\u00a0(IAW), a global campaign to educate and mobilize the public against Israeli violations of Palestinian rights.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, Anglican Archbishop Emeritus of Cape Town\u00a0Desmond Tutu\u00a0reiterated his support for IAW and for the Palestinian-led campaign of\u00a0boycott, divestment and sanctions(BDS) on Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople who are denied their dignity and rights deserve the solidarity of their fellow human beings,\u201d Tutu said in a\u00a0statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have witnessed the racially segregated roads and housing in the Holy Land that reminded me so much of the conditions we experienced in South Africa under Apartheid,\u201d Tutu added.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir humiliation is familiar to all black South Africans who were corralled and harassed and insulted and assaulted by the security forces of the Apartheid government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Recalling the role of BDS in ending apartheid in South Africa, Tutu said the \u201csame issues of inequality and injustice today motivate the divestment movement trying to end Israel\u2019s decades-long occupation of Palestinian territory and the unfair and prejudicial treatment of the Palestinian people by the Israeli government ruling over them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI associate myself with the objectives of the 10th international Israeli Apartheid Week.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tutu\u2019s backing reflects much broader support among South African Christian leaders.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe urge churches to campaign for greater awareness on all Palestinian struggles in general and the plight of Palestinian Christians in particular,\u201d the\u00a0South African Council of Churches\u00a0said in the\u00a0concluding statement\u00a0of its conference last month.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe also request churches to dedicate Sunday services on 16 March during the upcoming Israeli Apartheid Week campaign to reflect and pray for peace with justice in Palestine and Israel.\u201d<\/p>\n
The statement urged \u201call parties concerned to work towards a just peace and reiterated our solidarity and support for all those working towards this goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
The campaign group\u00a0BDS South Africa\u00a0published several video statements from South African church leaders.<\/p>\n
In the video at the top of this post, Reverend Ziphozihle Siwa, presiding bishop of the Methodist Church of Southern Africa and president of the South African Council of Churches said, \u201cYes I am in full support of the Israeli Apartheid Week campaign\u201d and \u201cour conference last year did endorse BDS.\u201d<\/p>\n
Siwa spoke of his own experience visiting Palestine: \u201cIt was very traumatizing to see the type of restrictions and land invasions where the land has been taken away from the people for settlements.\u201d<\/p>\n
Siwa affirmed that Israel\u2019s abuses were \u201ceven more\u201d than what South Africans experienced under apartheid. \u201cI think they are very brutal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reverend Dr. Moss Nthla, pastor of the Ebenezer Bible Church and General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance of South Africa related similar \u201ctraumatic\u201d experiences visiting Palestine: \u201cI had to relive the experiences I had when I was in South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMany Christians around the world, including in South Africa, are not sufficiently informed about what is going on in the Middle East and what Israel is doing to Palestinians. Israeli Apartheid Week is a good opportunity to raise awareness,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom my own experience and many of us who\u2019ve been in the struggle against apartheid, the similarities are as clear as anything \u2013 there\u2019s no other way to describe what we\u2019ve seen in Israel.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have spoken to many Jewish people in this country who\u2019ve said to me \u2018what Israel is doing is not comparable to apartheid.\u2019 And I\u2019ve said to them, \u2018I am a Black South African and you are a white South African. Between you and I, who do you think would be the best one to tell whether or not what\u2019s going on in Israel is apartheid?\u201d<\/p>\n
In another video,\u00a0Reverend Pieter Grove, vice chair of the Cape Synod of the United Reformed Church in Southern Africa observed, \u201cIn my opinion the situation in Israel\/Palestine is worse than it was in apartheid South Africa.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reverend Dr. Frank Chikane, president of Apostolic Faith Mission International, and vice president of the South African Council of Churches\u00a0said\u00a0that after he had witnessed the situation firsthand, \u201cI made a statement and I paid a price for it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause once you say \u2018what I saw there is worse than what I experienced in the apartheid setting,\u2019 people thought, \u2018no, you are against the Israelis or the Jews.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI love the Jews and the Palestinians alike,\u201d Chikane said. \u201cWhen I look at what happens I look at it from the perspective of justice.\u201d<\/p>\n