It takes a Tutu to tango

These days it seems that it takes a Tutu to tango. The Arch, once famous for his campaign to end apartheid in South Africa, has done one of those classic tango dance pivots and charged off in the opposite direction, straight into the arms (pun intended) of despots and lunatics like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The man whose name is synonymous with civil rights in South Africa and the man who’s most identifiable with the hatred he shows for Israel have become dance partners.

Iranian-funded activists plan to march on Jerusalem on the 30th of March in commemoration of Palestinian Land Day. Of course, no protest/rally/excuse to drum up condemnation of Israel would be complete without The Arch, who will act as adviser. The usual suspects will all be there: British MP George Galloway, he of the rabid Hezbollah flag-waving and anti-Israel invective; leaders of the BDS (Boycott Divestment and Sanctions) movement; and a healthy dose of convicted terrorists.

Friday’s event has the official stamp of approval from Abd al-Aziz Amru, a senior Hamas member who has been convicted for his part in the bombing of Cafe Hillel in Jerusalem, fresh back from a visit to South Africa, where he appealed to radical Muslim organizations to join in. Although it sounds like a plot for a bad B movie, in reality it is a very serious event.

The idea (not to mention the visuals and press coverage) of thousands of Palestinians and their supporters converging on Israel’s borders is unprecedented, and, coupled with the UNHRC’s intended probe into Israeli settlements, is nightmare fodder. An event like the Global March on Jerusalem that occurs under the guise of a peaceful human-rights protest is misleading, to say the least.

Dancing in the dark. Archbishop Desmond Tutu (photo credit: Wissam Nassar/Flash 90)

You can be sure that when an event like this has the endorsement of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh and the funding of Ahmadinejad, human rights and peace is not so much a priority as it is a wolf dressed in sheep’s clothing.

I would like to pose the following questions to the Arch and his merry band of terror supporters: Where was your march to Sudan to protest genocide? Why are you not marching on Syria’s Assad? Where are your calls for the freedom of Tibet? Archbishop Tutu, are you not concerned that your friend Mahmoud hangs 17-year-old homosexuals in the town square? Where is your march of indignation when a Moroccon woman is forced to marry her rapist and suicide is her only escape?

I would have assumed that, as someone who is considered a supporter of human rights and equality, you would take umbrage at your dance partner’s calls for the elimination of the state of Israel. You are aware, I hope, that elimination includes people.

Archbishop Tutu, where are your lamentations over the slaughter of a rabbi and three children, killed because they were Jewish, singled out and murdered in the name of religion?

Your silence is deafening.

But gather your cronies and march on Jerusalem, the Holy City that guarantees religious rights and freedom for all. We know it isn’t really about land. No, it’s far more pernicious than that — a dance with the devil.