There has been a rush of support for Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu following attempts to unseat him as patron of the two South African Holocaust centres, with the number of people who have signed an online petition in Tutu’s defence rising from 381 to 1778 in the past 24 hours.
Among those who have pledged their support for the Nobel Peace laureate are singer Annie Lennox, Lord Joel Joffe, one of the lawyers who defended Nelson Mandela in the Rivonia trial, US author Adam Hochschild and former head of the Constitutional Court Arthur Chaskalson.
The pro-Tutu petition was launched this week to counter another online petition, started in December by three Jewish Capetonians, which called for Tutu to be axed as patron of the Holocaust centres in Cape Town and Joburg because of his “numerous anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements”.
Meanwhile, the SA Zionist Federation has distanced itself from the petition calling for Tutu to be removed, saying it does not reflect any official federation position.
The number of people who have signed the anti-Tutu petition had risen from 343 on Tuesday to 364 on Wednesday.
The counter-petition was launched by members of the local Open Shuhada Street organisation in their personal capacities. The organisation campaigns for full civil rights for all Israelis and Palestinians.
In a statement on Wednesday, Open Shuhada Street said Tutu had become a target for “slanderous attacks by those who reject his principled and fairminded stance on Israel’s occupation of Palestine territories”.
“The eminent human rights advocate has become a target because of his uncompromising position on Israel’s treatment of the Palestinian people. However, these attacks ignore his principled commitment to the safety and dignity of all people in Israel and Palestine,” it said.
The petition to have Tutu axed as patron of the Cape Town Holocaust Centre and the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre was started by Capetonians David Hersch, Joselle Reuben and Howard Joffe.
Hersch is one of four vice-chairmen of the SA Zionist Federation, but he launched the petition in his personal capacity.On Wednesday Ben Levitas, chairman of the Cape council of the SA Zionist Federation, said: “The petition was launched by three ndividuals without prior consultation or approval of the South African Zionist Federation and represents their personal view alone.”
However, he would not say whether the federation supported or condemned either petition.
Avrom Krengel, national chairman of the SA Zionist Federation, said on Wednesday: “We’ve got nothing to say on either initiative.”
He said the directors of the Holocaust centres had already indicated that they would meet Tutu later in January to discuss the petitions. The federation would “await the outcome” of this meeting.
Krengel confirmed that Hersch had been elected as one of four vice-chairmen of the SA Zionist Federation, and had a few months left of his four-year term of office.
But he added that Hersch was a vice-chairman only “in theory” and did not take part in federation meetings.
David Jacobson, executive director of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, also would not comment on either petition.
Krengel said: “The Holocaust centres are autonomous bodies entitled to choose their patrons. The Jewish community is not a homogenous body and we have no jurisdiction over other bodies. If it were an attack on the rights of the Jewish community, then we would step up and say something.” - Cape Times