Mandela's statue unveiled in Ramallah

26 April 2016

Palestinians inaugurated a giant statue of Nelson Mandela donated by the city of Johannesburg to Ramallah, the political capital in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

The 6m 2-ton bronze statue was a gift from the City of Johannesburg with which Ramallah is twinned.

"I think that Nelson Mandela himself would have been extremely proud of what has been done today," said Parks Tau, the mayor of the Johannesburg.

Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas also attended the ceremony at the renamed Nelson Mandela Square in the Al-Tireh district.

Mandela, who died in 2013, was South Africa's first president after the era of apartheid, a regime of segregation that the Palestinians accuse Israel of also imposing.

He was an ardent supporter of the Palestinian cause and a champion for Middle East peace.

Ramallah several days ago installed huge posters celebrating the South African leader bearing his comment: "We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians."

Ramallah mayor Mussa Hadid said the statue "symbolises the shared suffering" of the South African and Palestinian peoples.

Embassy of Palestine in South Africa