Palestine to unveil Mandela statue on National Day

RAMALLAH - The city of Ramallah has declared Tuesday a national day as it prepares to unveil the statue of Nelson Mandela at a square named after the first democratically elected South African president.

“We see the statue as a symbol of friendship, as a symbol of demonstrating our solidarity but also hopefully as an inspiration to the people of Palestine that you indeed would be able to achieve your freedom,” said Johannesburg mayor Parks Tau.

He is in the city leading a South African delegation that will be present during the historic moment as well as President Mahmoud Abbas and Ramallah Mayor Mousa Hadid.

“We are here as the people of South Africa to say we stand in solidarity with you, we stand in solidarity with your struggles and we understand the difficulties that you go through.”

“Ultimately it is when you have experienced the real hardships of the people of Palestine that you understand the difficult situation that the people of Palestine are going through,” said Tau.

The two mayors held a joint press conference on Monday following their closed-door meetings at the Ramallah municipality offices together with some of their cabinet members.

Hadid told journalists it was all systems go for the big day. He said the statue represented hope and for Palestinian people as they continue their battle for an independent state.

“Nelson Mandela is now a symbol of dignity, a symbol of forgiveness, a symbol of peace and the symbol of freedom that we Palestinians are struggling to achieve.”

“Having Mandela with us is not about the statue – it is about the spirit of Mandela being with the Palestinians as we used to have it before he left us. Nelson Mandela is now in Ramallah and his spirit is around us,” said Hadid.

At the venue, on Monday, it was a hive of activity with last minute preparations underway.

Workers were cleaning the surrounds of the statue and finishing off polishing as they prepared for the large number of people expected for the unveiling.

“Tuesday is a national day for us. It is not an ordinary inauguration of a statue – it is a national day for the Palestinians. Most of Palestine is talking about the statue and Mandela.”

“It will be unveiled by our president Mahmoud Abbas who believes that this is a big event in Palestine. It will be a big ceremony,” he said.

The six metre tall bronze piece, overlooks the city of Ramallah including the presidential palace and it is situated next to a school on one of the main roads.

It is expected that the statue will be unveiled at 4pm local time (Ramallah is 1hr ahead of South Africa).

- eNCA