In an Interview with Haaretz newspaper, Archbishop Desmond Tutu stated that Israel must learn from the Holocaust that it cannot gain security through fences, walls and guns.
Archbishop Tutu was commenting on a statement made by Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in Germany, in which he said that "Israel should always defend itself". Tutu said that "the regime in South Africa never managed to get security from the barrel of the gun, but got security after recognizing and respecting every person".
The Nobel Prize laureate made his statement to Haaretz in Jerusalem and "The Elders" concluded their tour in Israel and Palestine, except the Gaza Strip. The Elders are hoping to be able to visit Gaza in the future.
Archbishop Tutu added that the west was consumed with the guilt for what happened to the Jews during the Holocaust, "and they should be, but the people who are paying the price for that are that Palestinians".
He also referred to a meeting he had in the past with a German ambassador who told him that Germany is guilty for two wrongs; what it did to the Jews, and the current suffering of the Palestinians.
Archbishop Tutu criticized some Jewish groups in the United States who intimidate any person who criticizes the Israeli occupation of Palestine, and accused them of being anti-Semite.
He said that such groups pressured many universities in the United States into cancelling his appearance on their campuses.
Tutu added that this is a very unfortunate issue, and that his opinions are derived from the Torah.
"God created us on his own image", he said, "God is always in favor of the oppressed".
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