Desmond Tutu Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====International affairs==== Tutu also turned his attention to foreign events. In 1987, he gave the keynote speech at the [[All Africa Conference of Churches]] (AACC) in [[Lomé]], Togo, calling on churches to champion the oppressed throughout Africa; he stated that "it pains us to have to admit that there is less freedom and personal liberty in most of Africa now then there was during the much-maligned colonial days."{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=347–348}} Elected president of the AACC, he worked closely with general-secretary José Belo over the next decade.{{sfnm|1a1=Gish|1y=2004|1p=130|2a1=Allen|2y=2006|2p=375}} In 1989 they visited Zaire to encourage the country's churches to distance themselves from Seko's government.{{sfnm|1a1=Gish|1y=2004|1p=130|2a1=Allen|2y=2006|2p=375}} In 1994, he and Belo visited war-torn Liberia; they met [[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]], but Tutu did not trust his promise of a ceasefire.{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=376–377}} In 1995, Mandela sent Tutu to Nigeria to meet with military leader [[Sani Abacha]] to request the release of imprisoned politicians [[Moshood Abiola]] and [[Olusegun Obasanjo]].{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=377}} In July 1995, he visited Rwanda a year after the [[Rwandan genocide|genocide]], preaching to 10,000 people in [[Kigali]], calling for justice to be tempered with mercy towards the [[Hutus]] who had orchestrated the genocide.{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=377–378}} Tutu also travelled to other parts of world, for instance spending March 1989 in Panama and Nicaragua.{{sfn|Gish|2004|p=130}} Tutu spoke about the [[Israeli–Palestinian conflict]], arguing that Israel's treatment of [[Palestinians]] was reminiscent of South African apartheid.<ref>{{cite web |date=29 April 2002 |title=Apartheid in the Holy Land |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2002/apr/29/comment |access-date=26 December 2021 |website=The Guardian }}</ref>{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=384}} He also criticised Israel's arms sales to South Africa, wondering how the Jewish state could co-operate with a government containing Nazi sympathisers.{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=382–383, 384}} At the same time, Tutu recognised Israel's right to exist. In 1989, he visited [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] leader [[Yasser Arafat]] in Cairo, urging him to accept Israel's existence.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=385}} In the same year, during a speech in New York City, Tutu observed Israel had a "right to territorial integrity and fundamental security", but criticised Israel's complicity in the [[Sabra and Shatila massacre]] and condemned Israel's support for the apartheid regime in South Africa.{{sfnm|1a1=Gish|1y=2004|1p=129|2a1=Allen|2y=2006|2p=383}} Tutu called for a [[State of Palestine|Palestinian state]],{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=382}} and emphasised that his criticisms were of the Israeli government rather than of Jews.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=388}} At the invitation of Palestinian bishop [[Samir Kafity]], he undertook a Christmas pilgrimage to [[Jerusalem]], where he gave a sermon near [[Bethlehem]], in which he called for a [[two-state solution]].{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=384, 386}} On his 1989 trip, he laid a wreath at the [[Yad Vashem]] Holocaust memorial and gave a sermon on the importance of forgiving the perpetrators of [[the Holocaust]];{{sfn|Allen|2006|pp=386–387}}<ref name=":0">{{cite web |date=28 December 1989 |title=Jews Stunned by Tutu's Suggestion Holocaust Perpetrators Be Forgiven |url=https://www.jta.org/archive/jews-stunned-by-tutus-suggestion-holocaust-perpetrators-be-forgiven |access-date=26 December 2021 |publisher=Jewish Telegraphic Agency }}</ref> the sermon drew criticism from Jewish groups around the world.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=387}} Jewish anger was exacerbated by Tutu's attempts to evade accusations of [[anti-Semitism]] through comments such as "my dentist is a Dr. Cohen".{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=385}} Tutu also spoke out regarding [[the Troubles]] in Northern Ireland. At the [[Lambeth Conference]] of 1988, he backed a resolution condemning the use of violence by all sides; Tutu believed that [[Irish republicans]] had not exhausted peaceful means of bringing about change and should not resort to armed struggle.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=381}} Three years later, he gave a televised service from [[Dublin]]'s [[Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin|Christ Church Cathedral]], calling for negotiations between all factions.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=381}} He visited [[Belfast]] in 1998 and again in 2001.{{sfn|Allen|2006|p=382}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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