A Decade after Mandela's Death, His Pro-Palestinian Legacy Lives On

Former South African president Nelson Mandela (R) and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (L) address the media after holding talks on the crisis in the Middle East May 3, 2001. JN/WS/ File Photo
Former South African president Nelson Mandela (R) and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (L) address the media after holding talks on the crisis in the Middle East May 3, 2001. JN/WS/ File Photo
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A Decade after Mandela's Death, His Pro-Palestinian Legacy Lives On

Former South African president Nelson Mandela (R) and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (L) address the media after holding talks on the crisis in the Middle East May 3, 2001. JN/WS/ File Photo
Former South African president Nelson Mandela (R) and Palestinian President Yasser Arafat (L) address the media after holding talks on the crisis in the Middle East May 3, 2001. JN/WS/ File Photo

Days after his release from 27 years in prison in February 1990, anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela gave Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a bear hug, symbolizing his embrace of a cause his country's governing ANC party continues to champion.
It was a gesture as controversial then as South Africa's support for the Palestinian cause is today, but Mandela brushed off criticism.
Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization had been an unwavering supporter of Mandela's struggle against white minority rule and many South Africans saw parallels between it and the Palestinian resistance to Israeli occupation.
"We were fortunate that with their support, we were able to achieve our freedom ... My grandfather ... said our freedom is incomplete without the Palestinian struggle," his grandson Mandla Mandela recalled in an interview ahead of the 10th commemoration of Mandela's death.
From Dec. 3 to 5 Mandla Mandela, who is also an ANC lawmaker, hosted a solidarity conference in Johannesburg for the Palestinians.
It was attended by members of Hamas, an organization Israel has vowed to annihilate in retaliation for its Oct. 7 attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and saw around 240 taken hostage, according to Israeli tallies.
Israeli bombing of Gaza since then has killed more than 15,500 people, according to Gaza's Hamas-run government, and displaced more than three-quarters of the Strip's 2.3 million population.
Last month, the ruling ANC backed a motion in South Africa's parliament to suspend diplomatic ties with Israel until it agreed to a ceasefire in Gaza.
"LAND ANNEXED"
"Palestinians still do not enjoy fully their freedom on their land. And instead their land has been annexed more and more, something that we also faced in South Africa," said the ANC's deputy chair of international relations, Obed Bapela.
Israel has disputed the comparison with apartheid as a lie motivated by antisemitism, but many South Africans follow Mandela's lead.
"That's something that he (Mandela) never compromised on and nor should we," poet and author Lebogang Mashile told Reuters.
Some in South Africa's Jewish community criticize the ANC's stance, pointing out that Mandela himself eventually tried to build bridges with Israel.
Historian and author of "Jewish Memories of Mandela", David Saks, noted that Mandela was the only South African president to have visited Israel since 1994 - albeit only after he left office - and that "he received a rapturous welcome from the Israeli public," addressing then-Prime Minister Ehud Barak and then-President Ezer Weisman as "my friends".
"He pointed the way which things should have gone (diplomatically with Israel), but (they) didn’t go that way," Saks said.



European Leaders on Possibly Sending Peacekeepers into Ukraine

 Ukrainian servicemen of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put up barbed wire as part of a system of new fortification, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukrainian servicemen of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put up barbed wire as part of a system of new fortification, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
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European Leaders on Possibly Sending Peacekeepers into Ukraine

 Ukrainian servicemen of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put up barbed wire as part of a system of new fortification, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine February 14, 2025. (Reuters)
Ukrainian servicemen of the 211th Pontoon Bridge Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine put up barbed wire as part of a system of new fortification, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine February 14, 2025. (Reuters)

European leaders were holding an emergency meeting in Paris on Monday to discuss their role in Ukraine's future after the United States announced it would sit down with Russia to seek an end to the three-year war.

Here is what some have said ahead of the meeting on the issue of sending peacekeeping troops into Ukraine:

BRITAIN

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has said he is ready to send British troops to Ukraine as part of any postwar peacekeeping force.

"We're facing a generational challenge when it comes to national security," Starmer told reporters.

"I think there's a bigger piece here as well, which is that this isn't just about the front line in Ukraine. It's the front line of Europe and of the United Kingdom. It's about our national security and I think that we need to do more."

SPAIN

"It is too early at this time to speak about deploying troops to Ukraine as there is no peace at the moment," Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told reporters.

Albares also told radio station Onda Cero: "A war of aggression cannot be rewarded, we cannot encourage others to launch wars of aggression.

"Today I'm convinced Putin will keep attacking and bombing Ukraine. So I do not see peace on the horizon at the moment."

GERMANY

Asked if German troops could be deployed in a future peace mission in Ukraine, Chancellor Olaf Scholz stressed the importance of a strong Ukrainian army.

"This will be a great task for Europe, for the US and international alliance partners," Scholz said. Future questions on security architecture would be addressed in due course, he said.

On the issue of European ground troops, a defense ministry spokesperson said: "If the framework is given, Germany will not shy away."

POLAND

"Poland will support Ukraine as it has done so far: organizationally, in accordance with our financial capabilities, in terms of humanitarian and military aid," Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters before boarding a plane to Paris.

"We do not plan to send Polish soldiers to the territory of Ukraine. We will ... give logistical and political support to the countries that will possibly want to provide such guarantees in the future, such physical guarantees."

SWEDEN

"There needs to be a very clear mandate for those forces and I don't think we can see that until we have come further in those negotiations," Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told Reuters. "But Sweden, we are normally a part of strengthening security in our part of the world, so I foresee us to be a part of that this time as well."

DENMARK

Ahead of the Paris meeting, Denmark's Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said: "We need to increase military support to Ukraine, we need to produce more, and we need to do it faster.

"And then we must remove the restrictions on the Ukrainians' use of weapons, so that they can actually defend themselves against the Russians without having one arm twisted around their back. A ceasefire must not lead to Russian rearmament, which is replaced by new Russian attacks."

THE NETHERLANDS

"We understand Europe needs to play a role. It is logical that the Netherlands is considered," Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof told reporters at the Munich Security Conference.

"There needs to be a strong mandate, because the Netherlands won't join any initiative whatsoever if there is not a clear mandate. (..) There also needs to be an escalation mechanism, in which the US needs to be prepared to be stand-by to act."