Israel Reliigious Affairs Minister Zevulun Hammer meets with Nobel Laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu from Capetown, South Africa, in Hammer's office on December 26, 1989. The meeting provided some awkward moments for Israeli authorities. Tutu attended prayer services at the Anglican Church at Shepherd`s Field in Beit Sahur, known for its much-publicized tax revolt, and the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem. Tutu spent most of his time in the company of his Arab hosts. Although the visit was ostensibly a religious pilgrimage, it had strong political overtones as the prelate drew analogies between Israel`s treatment of Palestinians and South Africa`s treatment of blacks. `I feel right at home here,` he quipped. Hammer, a member of the National Religious Party, was a Member of Knesset, and Deputy Prime Minister. He died on January 20, 1998 from cancer, at the age of 61. Tutu helped organize the boycott of South Africa which helped bring down apartheid. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama in 2009. Tutu died in Capetown on December 26, 2021, exactly 32 years to the day this photo was taken when he was a young whippersnapper of 58. He died after battling prostate cancer for many years. He was 90 years old.
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