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[FILE IMAGE]: Former South African President Nelson Mandela at the UN.
The Nelson Mandela Foundation is gearing up to host the 23rd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture this coming Saturday.
It is considered one of South Africa’s most respected platforms for dialogue and reflection on global issues.
The foundation has invited Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, to give the lecture this year, despite US sanctions against her and sharp criticism of her by Israel.
Foundation’s CEO, Mbongiseni Buthelezi, says peace in Gaza requires dialogue, not one-sided violence or conflict.
“The end of apartheid in South Africa was not brought about by armed conflict. Unfortunately, of course, we are coming off the back of two years of what has been called a war, but really, it’s been a one-sided decimation of Gaza by Israel. And we see that it is something that is completely unconstructive, unproductive. And what we need to move towards is finding a constructive way of dialoguing towards finding lasting peace. And I think we’re in a moment in the world now with the opportunities presented by the Trump plan for us to really start seeing some movement towards a long-term sustainable peace for people of Gaza in particular and the West Bank as well,” says Buthelezi.
