Statue of Nelson Mandela unveiled in Palestine

A six-metre bronze sculpture of Mandela, the first of its kind outside South Africa, has been unveiled in the Palestinian city of Ramallah. A gift from the Johannesburg Municipality, it has been erected at a traffic circle that will now aptly be called Mandela Square. The unveiling came after Ramallah mayor, Mousa Hadid, held a joint press briefing with the City of Johannesburg in central West Bank. Johannesburg mayor, Parks Tau, said the Madiba statue was “a symbol of hope and inspiration for the people of Palestine to realise their freedom”.
“Having overcome apartheid in South Africa with support of the international community, it is natural to extend our ubuntu principles as Africans and indeed stand in solidarity with those nations currently experiencing various forms of political and humanitarian unrests,” Tau said.
The statue, a donation from Johannesburg to Ramallah, represents a symbol of solidarity with the people of Palestine.  Hadid said the unveiling would be celebrated as a national day because the statue of Nelson Mandela “unites the people of Palestine and South Africa”.