Nelson Mandela, and South Africa's Solidarity w/ Palestine

Following his release from prison in February 1990, South Africa's 1st President Nelson Mandela famously embraced Palestine Liberation Organization Chairman, Yasser Arafat in Lusaka, Zambia. He and his political party, the African National Congress (ANC), had long supported Palestinian statehood; comparing the Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank to South Africa's Apartheid, which barred Black South Africans from voting, owning land, and living outside of ethnically segregated areas called "Homelands."

In December 2023, the ANC continued Mandela's legacy of solidarity by bringing a case against Israel in the ICJ for acts of genocide against the Palestinian people.

After calling Israel an apartheid state, and pushing for a two-state solution, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa stated in an earlier October 2023 press conference: "We suffered under apartheid, we show support for Palestine."

Source: Al Jazeera, News 24, AP News, Reuters

Read the rest of the article in the #linkinbio

#oped #article #writing #goodreads #thenoticeblog #journalism #journalist #news #opinion #sociology #writing #newarticles #BIPOC #editing101 #editing #thoughpiece #writers #articles #journalists #opinion #oped #media