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Mandela’s grandson hails Nasrallah's legacy of fighting imperialism, occupation

Late South African President Nelson Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela, joins hundreds of demonstrators at a pro-Palestine march. (File photo by AFP)

The grandson of South Africa’s anti-apartheid revolutionary leader Nelson Mandela says the late Hezbollah Secretary General Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah dedicated more than three decades of his life to fighting imperialist occupation.

Zwelivelile Mandla Mandela in a recent statement said that history will record and remember Nasrallah as one of the great freedom fighters.

"He dedicated more than 30 years of his life fighting imperialist occupation and history will record him as one of the great freedom fighters whose lives will be celebrated in a liberated Palestine."

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his family, the leadership and followers of Hezbollah and the brave Lebanese people who have stood unwaveringly with the just cause of the Palestinian people."

In a violent bombardment campaign on Friday, Israel leveled several apartment buildings in the Dahiyeh area of southern Beirut, which led to the death of scores of civilians as well as the martyrdom of Nasrallah and several Hezbollah officials.

The latest aggression came against the backdrop of escalated tensions between the Lebanese resistance movement and the occupying entity, which included the targeted killing of top Hezbollah commanders and the detonation of telecommunication devices belonging to the Muslim resistance group.

Mandela also called on Hezbollah to continue its resistance to Israeli aggression following Nasrallah's assassination.

"The Great Cedar of Lebanon has fallen but in the shadow of his glorious sacrifice, the forests of freedom will flourish. May Allah Almighty accept the martyrdom of Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah. Nothing deterred him from fighting for al-Aqsa, blessed Gaza and all of Occupied Palestine." 

"Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah lived and died for the cause he believed in and dedicated his life to. Nasrallah may no longer be with us but the ideals for which he paid the highest price will live on until freedom dawns. We shall celebrate his life and plant a great cedar in his honor in a free and liberated Palestine."

The grandson of South Africa's legendary anti-apartheid icon further urged "all in the Axis of Resistance to stand firmly in the face of apartheid Israel and its allies deliberate plan to eliminate the leadership of the resistance."

"They will continue with their vile plan and eliminate more leaders. However, the fire of resistance and defiance burning in the chests of the people of Palestine and Lebanon will never be extinguished until freedom dawns. We cannot sit idle while our leaders are martyred, it’s either we submit or resist!!"

Elsewhere in the statement, he praised President Mandela's commitment to ending apartheid and establishing majority rule and rights for all in South Africa.

In bidding farewell to the great mujahid Nasrallah "we remember the words of our global icon President Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela when he said: 'I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal for which I hope to live for and to see realized. But my lord, if it needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.'"

Nelson Mandela, a revolutionary icon, rose to international fame following his incarceration in the 1980s, when he became the most famous political prisoner in the world, a symbol of resistance against apartheid, and an icon for millions who embraced and espoused the ideals of human equality and justice.

After his release in 1990, he was involved in negotiations to end apartheid, eventually leading to the first democratic elections in 1994 in which Mandela led the African National Congress (ANC) to victory and became president.


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