Former member of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s (PLO) Executive Committee, Hanan Ashrawi, has mourned Desmond Tutu, South Africa’s retired archbishop and anti-apartheid icon, who died today at the age of 90.
Tutu, Nobel Peace Prize laureate and veteran of South Africa’s struggle against white minority rule, is famed for his support of the struggle of the Palestinian people for liberation and independence.
“Palestine mourns the passing of Desmond Tutu, whose humanity & compassion were equaled only by his courage & principled commitment in our shared struggle for justice & freedom,” tweeted Ashrawi.
She added, “His support for Palestine was an embrace of love & empathy. I’m honoured to have had him as a friend.”
Earlier today, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa mourned the loss of Tutu, saying his death “is another chapter of bereavement in our nation’s farewell to a generation of outstanding South Africans who have bequeathed us a liberated South Africa,”
He “distinguished himself as a non-sectarian, inclusive champion of universal human rights”, Ramaphosa added.
The South African The presidency gave no details on the cause of death.
Tutu was diagnosed with prostate cancer in the late 1990s and, in recent years, was hospitalized on several occasions to treat infections associated with his treatment.
“Ultimately, at the age of 90, he died peacefully at the Oasis Frail Care Centre in Cape Town this morning,” Dr Ramphela Mamphele, acting chairperson of the Archbishop Desmond Tutu IP Trust and Co-ordinator of the Office of the Archbishop, said in a statement on behalf of the Tutu family.
SOURCE: PALESTINE NEWS & INFORMATION AGENCY