South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu, himself a Nobel Peace Prize Laureate (in 1984 for his anti-apartheid activism), has nominated a mass murderer of Jews for the honor he holds. Long known as an anti-Israel activist, Archbishop Tutu has proposed a moral monster of a terrorist, Marwan Barghouti the architect of scores of terror bombings of Israeli civilians in the Second Intifada.

Israel National News reports:

South African archbishop and prominent anti-Israel campaigner Desmond Tutu has joined other activists in nominating imprisoned Palestinian arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Tutu tabled the nomination in a letter to the Norwegian Nobel Committee on Monday - cited by Al Arabiya - in which he hailed the Fatah-Tanzim commander as a symbol of the "struggle for freedom, [which] constitutes a clear signal of support for the realization of the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights, including to self-determination." (snip)

In his letter, Tutu characterized Barghouti's actions as fighting "for freedom and peace," and - even more ironically - hailed the mass-murderer as "an active advocate and defender of democracy and human rights, include women's rights, and of pluralism, both religious and political, in a region and a world that desperately needs such advocates.

Barghouti is currently serving 5 life terms for his role in mass murder of innocent Israelis. No doubt this move by Tutu is intended to build pressure for his release, unrepentant though he is.

Of course, the Nobel Peace Prize has already been disgraced by its award to Yasser Arafat in 1994, another murderous monster. But at least that prize had a shred of rationale to it, because it was jointly award to Shimon Perez and Yitzhak Rabin as well, for their efforts at peace talks. Barghuoti has no such leavening.

Tutu is a disgrace. But there can be no assurance that the Nobel Committee will not add to his disgrace with their own, and award a prize.

Hat tip: Clarice Feldman