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Up in arms over a twisted version of an old speech, we created an international incident in Minnesota. Tutu, symbol of conscience and courage to millions worldwide, gained a reputation as an enemy among Jewish community activists. Klein’s press release worked its way into other media, and over time it acquired the status of a factual account. Klein took the paraphrase - inaccurate to begin with - to be a quote, and he sent out a press release, according to JTA. Shortly after the Boston speech, ZOA president Morton Klein read an account of it in Ha’aretz presenting Israel-is-Hitler-and-apartheid as a paraphrase of Tutu’s comments. How, then, did this unexceptionable, five-year-old speech become a red flag? According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, the transmutation was the handiwork of the Zionist Organization of America. Did he suggest that Israel resembles Hitler? Actually, the one “Hitler” reference wasn’t about Israel but rather the American Jewish lobby - and only to argue, as a true Christian, that power need not be feared. Antisemitic? Not even remotely.ĭid he call Israel an apartheid state? On the contrary, he issued a warning but pointed out essential differences. But such fear is unnecessary, he said, because even fearsome powers such as Hitler, Stalin and Pinochet were eventually overcome. Tutu said that most people understood these things, but that many Americans feared to speak up because of the perceived power of the Jewish lobby. But he warned that conditions in the territories were increasingly reminiscent of apartheid. He noted that the restrictions were motivated by Israel’s security needs (as opposed, one could infer, to South African apartheid, an expression of racism). He bemoaned the restrictions on Palestinians’ daily lives. He urged greater efforts for peace and justice by all sides, taking time to recall the Jewish leadership role in bringing down apartheid.

His speech was an appeal for Middle East peace, for an end to Palestinian violence against Israel and an end to Israeli occupation of Palestinian towns. The president got the message and Tutu got the heave-ho.Īwkwardly enough, an examination of Tutu’s actual remarks (the text can be accessed via a link on the Web version of this editorial) shows that Tutu said nothing of the sort. The files indicated that Tutu had called Israel racist and compared it to Hitler. Not wishing to offend, the president contacted a local Jewish organization, which checked its files and found that the archbishop had reportedly made antisemitic remarks in a speech in Boston in 2002. Earlier this month, however, the college’s president got word that Tutu was persona non grata among elements of the Jewish community.

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Tutu was to have visited the campus next spring to participate in a lecture series that brings Nobel laureates each year to teach young people about peace and freedom.

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