JERUSALEM: He’s viewed by some Palestinians as their Nelson Mandela, and he’s a prime candidate to become their president in the future. He’s also the highest-profile prisoner held by Israel. Now Marwan Barghouti‘s freedom is at stake in cease-fire negotiations between Hamas and Israel. Hamas leaders demanded Friday that Israel release Barghouti, a leader of … Read more
JOHANNESBURG: Days after his release from 27 years in prison in February 1990, anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandela gave Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat a bear hug, symbolising his embrace of a cause his country’s governing ANC party continues to champion. It was a gesture as controversial then as South Africa’s support for the Palestinian cause is … Read more
TEIZEIRO: At a jail in northwestern Spain, a sole female inmate played football with 21 male convicts, part of a push towards mixed prison living that remains rare in Europe.“Let go of the ball!” Ambra, a 25-year-old Albanian who did not want to give her surname, shouted at one of her male teammates.She pushed them … Read more
In the West Bank city of Ramallah, sits a six-meter-high bronze statue of Nelson Mandela, donated by the South African city of Johannesburg in 2016. A reminder of the long-standing bond and kinship the Nobel Peace Prize winner shared with the Palestinian people. “Despite South Africa being liberated from the senseless violence and oppression, he … Read more