Distinction in travel journalism
Is independent travel journalism important to you?
Click here to keep it independent

20 Jul, 2017

On Nelson Mandela International Day, Palestinians say he was an inspiration

RAMALLAH, July 19, 2017 (WAFA) – On the occasion of the Nelson Mandela International Day, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Wednesday honored the anti-Apartheid South African leader saying the long struggle he led against apartheid and its defeat in 1994 was an inspiration for all those struggling for justice around the globe.

“The great role the late President of South Africa played in promoting and protecting human rights, freedom and equality for all will always be remembered and treasured by our people and peace loving people around the world,” it said in a statement.

The Foreign Ministry said that as the Palestinian people mark 100 years of continued and mounting injustice that started with the 1917 Balfour Declaration, 70 years for the Nakba, or Palestinian loss of their homeland, dispersion and dispossession, and 50 years since the Israeli military occupation of the Occupied Territory, including East Jerusalem, they look for Mandela and his struggle for freedom as an inspiration to be emulated.

“Their (Palestinian people) faith in the power of human solidarity, international law and principles is tested every day. But their conviction in the certainty of their freedom and the justice of their cause is never shaken. They tell the world every day that they will not go quietly into the night; that they will not be the exception to the universal truth of freedom, which God afforded all peoples equally,” said the ministry.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates thanked the people of South Africa for their support of the Palestinian struggle for freedom.

“The Palestinian people will draw on Mr. Mandela’s legacy and will always commemorate his life in recognition of his historic march for freedom, his legacy of peace and justice, and his unwavering solidarity with their just cause. Nelson Mandela will always be in the hearts and minds while mobilizing support for a comprehensive, just and lasting solution of the question of Palestine,” it concluded.