Articles by Desmond

We found 20 results.


Desmond Tutu: Dearly Beloved Younger Sister Aung San Suu Kyi
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service, 11 Sep 2017

I am now elderly, decrepit and formally retired, but breaking my vow to remain silent on public affairs out of profound sadness about the plight of the Muslim minority in your country, the Rohingya. In my heart you are a dearly beloved younger sister. For years I had a photograph of you on my desk to remind me of the injustice and sacrifice you endured out of your love and commitment for Myanmar’s people. You symbolised righteousness. In 2010 we rejoiced at your freedom from house arrest, and in 2012 we celebrated your election as leader of the opposition.

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Tutu: The Slow Genocide against the Rohingya in Myanmar (Burma)
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate – Newsweek, 27 Jul 2015

I would be more inclined to heed the warnings of eminent scholars and researchers including Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate in economics, who say this is a deliberately false narrative to camouflage the slow genocide being committed against the Rohingya people. There’s evidence, they say, that anti-Rohingya sentiment has been carefully cultivated by the government itself.

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My Plea to the People of Israel: Liberate Yourselves by Liberating Palestine
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate - Haaretz, 25 Aug 2014

Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu calls for a global boycott of Israel and urges Israelis and Palestinians to look beyond their leaders for a sustainable solution to the crisis in the Holy Land.

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Archbishop Desmond Tutu Urges US Presbyterians to Adopt Divestment
Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Jul 2014

Israel will either end its occupation through a one or two state solution, or live in an apartheid state in perpetuity. The latter option is unsustainable and an offense to justice. We learned in South Africa that the only way to end apartheid peacefully was to force the powerful to the table through economic pressure.

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We Need an Apartheid-Style Boycott to Save the Planet
Desmond Tutu – The Guardian, 28 Apr 2014

10 Apr 2014 – We must stop climate change. And we can, if we use the tactics that worked in South Africa against the worst carbon emitters.

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US Efforts to Curb Freedom of Speech on Israel and Palestine are of Grave Concern
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Apr 2014

I am writing today to express grave concern about a wave of legislative measures in the United States aimed at punishing and intimidating those who speak their conscience and challenge the human rights violations endured by the Palestinian people. Whether used in South Africa, the US South, or India, boycotts have resulted in a transformative change that not only brought freedom and justice to the victims but also peace and reconciliation for the oppressors.

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‘Cuban Twitter’ Heads to Hearings in Congress
Jack Gillum, Desmond Butler and Alberto Arce, Associated Press - TRANSCEND Media Service, 7 Apr 2014

4 Apr 2014 – The head of the U.S. government agency that secretly created a “Cuban Twitter” communications network designed to undermine the communist government in Cuba is expected to testify next week before a senator who thinks the whole idea was “dumb, dumb, dumb.”

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Archbishop Tutu Adds Voice to Israeli Apartheid Week
Desmond & Leah Tutu Legacy Foundation – TRANSCEND Media Service, 17 Mar 2014

“In South Africa, we could not have achieved our democracy without the help of people around the world, who through the use of non-violent means, such as boycotts and divestment, encouraged their governments and other corporate actors to reverse decades-long support for the apartheid regime. I associate myself with the objectives of the 10th international Israeli Apartheid Week.”

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Where Is the Ethical Leadership over Syria?
Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate – Al Jazeera, 4 Nov 2013

It was tragic to see Western politicians who spoke out against military intervention get slammed for somehow being cowardly. Although their effort would not stop the killing outright, to hold back the war designs of their own leaders was a brave act.

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Syria: The Failure of Our So-Called International Community
Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Laureate – The Guardian, 1 Apr 2013

How can the country be abandoned in its hour of need? Power plays have taken priority over the terrible suffering of Syrians. The massacre in Syria rages on and yet we stand idle. We must realise that, to millions of Syrians trapped in the country, the virtual absence of humanitarian relief is nearly as arbitrary and cruel as the war itself.

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Nuclear Weapons Must Be Eradicated for All Our Sakes
Desmond Tutu – The Guardian, 11 Mar 2013

Why would a proliferating state pay heed to the exhortations of the US and Russia, which retain thousands of their nuclear warheads on high alert? How can Britain, France and China expect a hearing on non-proliferation while they squander billions modernising their nuclear forces? What standing has Israel to urge Iran not to acquire the bomb when it harbours its own atomic arsenal?

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Drones, Kill Lists and Machiavelli
Desmond M. Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate – The New York Times, 18 Feb 2013

Do the United States and its people really want to tell those of us who live in the rest of the world that our lives are not of the same value as yours? That President Obama can sign off on a decision to kill us with less worry about judicial scrutiny than if the target is an American? Would your Supreme Court really want to tell humankind that we, like the slave Dred Scott in the 19th century, are not as human as you are? I cannot believe it.

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Bradley Manning Deserves Americans’ Support for Military Whistleblowing
Nobel Peace Laureates Desmond Tutu, Mairead Corrigan-Maguire and Adolfo Pérez Esquivel – The Guardian, 19 Nov 2012

16 Nov 2012 – Last week, PFC Bradley Manning offered to accept responsibility for releasing classified documents as an act of conscience – not as charged by the US military. As people who have worked for decades against the increased militarization of societies and for international cooperation to end war, we have been deeply dismayed by his treatment. Thanks to WikiLeaks, US citizens are better informed about wars prosecuted in their name. We owe Manning honour, not jail time.

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Why I Had No Choice But to Spurn Tony Blair
Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace Laureate – The Observer, 3 Sep 2012

I couldn’t sit with someone who justified the invasion of Iraq with a lie. Leadership and morality are indivisible. Good leaders are the custodians of morality. The question is not whether Saddam Hussein was good or bad or how many of his people he massacred. The point is that Mr Bush and Mr Blair should not have allowed themselves to stoop to his immoral level.

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NBC’s ‘Stars Earn Stripes’ Continues an Inglorious Tradition of Glorifying War
Nobel Peace Laureates Jody Williams, Desmond Tutu, Mairead Maguire, Shirin Ebadi, José Ramos-Horta, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Oscar Arias Sanchez, Rigoberta Menchú Tum and Betty Williams – TRANSCEND Media Service, 20 Aug 2012

As Nobel Peace Prize laureates, we call on NBC to cancel this reality TV show that likens military combat to Olympic athletics.

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Justice Requires Action to Stop Subjugation of Palestinians
Bishop Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace laureate – Tampa Bay Times, 7 May 2012

These are among the hardest words I have ever written. But they are vitally important. Not only is Israel harming Palestinians, but it is harming itself. A quarter-century ago I barnstormed around the United States encouraging Americans, particularly students, to press for divestment from South Africa. Today, regrettably, the time has come for similar action to force an end to Israel’s long-standing occupation of Palestinian territory and refusal to extend equal rights to Palestinian citizens who suffer from some 35 discriminatory laws.

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Our Duty to Sri Lanka, And Human Rights
Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson – The Guardian, 27 Feb 2012

This week the UN Human Rights Council has an opportunity and a duty to help Sri Lanka advance its own efforts on accountability and reconciliation. Both are essential if a lasting peace is to be achieved. In doing so, the council will not only be serving Sri Lanka, but those worldwide who believe there are universal rights and international legal obligations we all share.

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Climate Justice
Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson – Project Syndicate, 5 Dec 2011

The richest countries caused the problem, but it is the world’s poorest who are already suffering from its effects. In its latest report, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concludes that it is virtually certain that, in global terms, hot days have become hotter and occur more often; indeed, they have increased in frequency by a factor of 10 in most regions of the world. Moreover, the brutal paradox of climate change is that heavy precipitation is occurring more often as well, increasing the risk of flooding.

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The Devil in the Tar Sands
Jody Williams and Desmond Tutu, Nobel Peace laureates – Project Syndicate, 14 Nov 2011

If the nearly 1,700-mile pipeline were to be built, it would run from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, through the heartland of the US, all the way to the Texas coast on the Gulf of Mexico. Should the project go ahead, Obama will have made one of the single most disastrous decisions of his presidency concerning climate change and the very future of our planet.

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God Is Not A Christian: And Other Provocations
Archbishop Desmond Tutu, 1984 Nobel Peace Laureate – TRANSCEND Media Service, 6 Jun 2011

‘God is clearly not a Christian. His concern is for all his children. To claim God exclusively for Christians is to make God too small… God is bigger than Christians and cares for more than Christians only.’

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