Tutu criticises Israeli policies in West Bank

Archbishop Desmond Tutu has condemned Israeli treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank.

Speaking at a conference on violence in the Middle East in Boston, America, he said he supports the idea of Israel and its right to secure borders.

He also spoke out against suicide bombers and "the corruption of young minds through hatred".

The 1984 Nobel Peace Prize said: "What is not so understandable, not justified, is what (Israel) did to another people to guarantee its existence."

The Anglican archbishop added that his visits to the area reminded him of the way blacks were treated in South Africa.

"I have seen the humiliation of the Palestinians at checkpoints and roadblocks suffer like us when young white police officers prevented us from moving about," he told the packed conference, organised by Sabeel, a Jerusalem-based Palestinian ecumenical centre.

He said people in America were sometimes afraid to criticise Israel because they would be dubbed as anti-Semitic and because "the Jewish lobby is powerful, very powerful".

He also questioned coverage of the conflict in America, saying: "You do see the harrowing images of what suicide bombers have done, something we all condemn, but we see no scenes of what the tanks are doing to Palestinian homes and people."

Earlier he joined about 300 people gathered outside the church for a pro-Palestinian rally.

The rally, organised by the Boston Committee for Palestinian Rights, called for an end to US military aid to Israel and an immediate pullout of Israeli forces from the West Bank.