Mandela Mandela, the grandson of anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela, has declared that Israel’s treatment of Palestinians exceeds the brutality of South Africa’s former apartheid regime. Speaking before joining the Freedom Flotilla to Gaza, he emphasised that anyone witnessing conditions in occupied Palestine would recognise a system of oppression more severe than that faced by Black South Africans prior to 1994.

His comments coincide with the launch of a major international civil society effort to break the siege of Gaza. Nearly 1,000 activists from 50 countries, including politicians, artists, and humanitarian worker are preparing to sail aboard 70 vessels in the largest maritime protest against the blockade. The flotilla follows a smaller contingent that departed Barcelona earlier this week carrying symbolic aid.

The humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to deteriorate, with a quarter of the population now facing starvation due to what aid agencies describe as Israel’s use of hunger as a weapon of war. Mandela’s comparison carries significant moral weight, drawing direct parallels between the international solidarity that helped end apartheid and the current struggle for Palestinian freedom.