desmond tutu speaks out

The former Arch-Bishop and Nobel Peace Laurate, Desmond Tutu gave The Atlantic one of his trademark serious & funny interviews: In addition to some peace building wisdom –  “If you want peace, you don’t talk to your friends. You talk to your enemies.” And: “How does peace come? Peace doesn’t come because allies agree. Allies are allies—they already agree! Peace comes when you talk to the guy you most hate.” – the tirless fighter for a more just and peaceful world also shares some thoughts on justice: “Most of us think of justice as being retributive. But I say, there is this other kind of justice—restorative justice—where the basic thrust is not punitive, it is healing. Healing both for the victim and the perpetrator.” 

Given the current conflict in Israel and Gaza one may also want to recall his critical and critized words in 2002: “In our struggle against apartheid, the great supporters were Jews. They almost instinctively had to be on the side of the disenfranchised, of the voiceless, fighting injustice, oppression and evil … (…) My heart aches. Why are our memories so short? Have our Jewish sisters and brothers forgotten their humiliation? (..) Israel will never get true security and safety through oppressing another people. A true peace can ultimately be built only on justice. We condemn the violence of suicide bombers, and we condemn the corruption of young minds taught hatred; but we also condemn the violence of military incursions in the occupied lands, and the inhumanity that won’t let ambulances reach the injured. The military action of recent days, I predict with certainty, will not provide the security and peace Israelis want; it will only intensify the hatred … .”