[News] Israel ‘a Collapsing Entity’ – Mandla Mandela Says Flotilla Activists ‘Unshaken’

[Anti-Imperialist News]

palestinechronicle.com 
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/israel-a-collapsing-entity-mandla-mandela-says-flotilla-activists-unshaken/> 



  Israel ‘a Collapsing Entity’ – Mandla Mandela Says Flotilla Activists
  ‘Unshaken’

October 8, 2025
------------------------------------------------------------------------
A group of South African activists, including 'Mandla' Mandela, arrived 
in Johannesburg after being detained by Israel. (Photo: video grab)

*By Nurah Tape – The Palestine Chronicle 
<https://www.palestinechronicle.com/writers/nurah-tape>*


          Mandela and five other South African activists arrived home on
          Wednesday to a hero’s welcome from a crowd chanting ‘Free
          Palestine!’

South African activist Mandla Mandela, who was detained in Israel for 
his participation in the Global Sumud Flotilla, has called Israel “a 
collapsing entity” and emphasized that there would “never be justice on 
stolen land.”

Speaking at a press conference upon his arrival at the OR Tambo airport 
in Johannesburg on Wednesday, Mandela described 
<https://youtu.be/bcEtVUAFmlE?si=odv5X9rfbsK8Nlw3> the “harsh” 
experience endured by himself and five fellow South African activists 
who were abducted by Israeli occupation forces in international waters a 
week ago. The flotilla, a humanitarian aid mission of close to 500 
activists from over 40 countries, was en route to the besieged Gaza 
Strip to break Israel’s illegal blockade on the enclave.

The grandson of former South African president Nelson Mandela explained 
that the mission “anticipated two scenarios,” either that they would be 
successful in their mission and reach Gaza or “be intercepted by 
apartheid Israel.”

“As we now know, we were intercepted on international waters, which is a 
violation of international law, maritime law, and a violation of our 
human rights,” he stated.

He said 47 boats were intercepted, the activists detained and many 
denied food as they sailed to the port of Ashdod in Israel.


        ‘Handcuffed, Paraded’

“On our arrival in Ashdot, we came to the realization that there will 
never be justice on stolen land,” Mandela stressed, adding that the 
activists “were harshly dealt with by the brutal Israeli regime.”

He explained that they were handcuffed with cable ties “tied tightly 
behind our backs, taken off our boats, and put on the platform, paraded 
for all the Israelis and their allies in Europe and the West, and the 
global community to see.”

Describing Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir as “the 
best” Israel could send to the activists, he said the far-right 
politician attempted “to dehumanize us.”

Mandela said Ben-Gvir tried to get onto the boat where he and other 
activists were still being held.

“He insisted he wanted to come and address us, particularly because I 
was on the boat. But the irony of this is that what you would regard as 
the second in command in Israel was rejected by an ordinary captain in 
the police and told, ‘No you can’t address individuals, move!’’

Ben-Gvir was then “ushered to the side and denied that opportunity 
because he wanted to dehumanize us.”

As the activists were taken to join the others already sitting on the 
port’s platform, he continued, Ben-Gvir, in “his desperate attempt still 
wanted to walk side by side with me so I can be captured on video.”

Mandela stated, “This is the desperation of a collapsing entity.”


        Called ‘Baby Killers, Terrorists’

Ben-Gvir later stood before the activists who were forced to sit in rows 
on the ground, “and wanted to give an intellectual speech,” the activist 
continued.

The minister then yelled, “You support baby killers, you terrorists!” 
Mandela said, adding that he then “froze in disbelief,” wondering 
whether “this was the best Israel could send?”

Mandela continued, “In our unity, we all started shouting, ‘Free, free 
Palestine. We are not baby killers. You are the baby killers!” adding, 
“And he had no response.”

The activist said the power of “a people united, can never be defeated” 
was illustrated at Ashdod.

Mandela emphasized that although they were subjected “to all forms of 
brutality,” it was “nothing” compared to the daily humiliation of 
Palestinians.

“We were kidnapped on international waters. Palestinians are attacked, 
maimed, and killed,” he stressed, urging the journalists present to 
report on the number of babies, women and men that have been killed in Gaza.

“So this can never be about us. The narrative has to constantly be about 
the Palestinians and the atrocities that are daily metered against 
them,” Mandela stated.


        ‘Blood Stains on Walls’

At the Ketziot prison, he said, “every single item we had was stolen. 
Just as the Palestinian culture has been stolen, Palestinian lands have 
been stolen and everything of the Palestinians has been systemically 
erased.”

The former parliamentarian stressed that the South African nation, 
“dared through our goverment to take apartheid Israel to the 
International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court and 
hold them accountable not for the two years of genocide but for the 77 
years of the catastrophe that has gone unabated since the Nakba.”

Mandela emphasized that the experience of being held for six days in 
Israel “will never be about us but but it will be about the memory of 
what was on the walls within those prisons.”

“We came to the realization of all Palestinians that have been detained 
there, who have left their names on the walls, who have left their blood 
stains on the walls, who have been martyred within those walls. This is 
the memory we will continue to carry until Palestine is liberated.”

The South African delegation also included award-winning writer Zukiswa 
Wanner, Dr Zaheera Soomar, Dr Fatima Hendricks, gender activist Carrie 
Shelver and community leader Reaaz Moolla.


        Planning ‘Flotilla Number Two’

Denied legal representation as well as engagement with the South African 
diplomatic representatives, he said the Israelis “in an attempt to save 
face”, simply brought them in for two minutes “so that we could see we 
had representation.”

Mandela said that as the group was leaving, “With a smile, I said to 
them (the Israelis), we will return, we are unshaken.”

He said planning will begin on ‘flotilla number two,’ adding, “We will 
not rest until the genocide has been brought to an end.”

The activist urged the adoption of the resolutions taken by The Hague 
Group earlier this year, which call for all companies that are complicit 
in the genocide to be arrested, “prosecuted and dealt with.” He also 
urged the South African government to “stop any coal that is being 
exported to apartheid Israel” with immediate effect.


        Latest Flotilla Intercepted

Six Global Sumud Flotilla activists remain in Israeli custody, Mandela 
said, and urged all solidarity groups to demand their immediate release.

In the early hours of Wednesday, another flotilla en route to break the 
Israeli blockade in Gaza was intercepted, and around 145 activists have 
been illegally detained.

Comprising ten vessels, the flotilla departed from the Italian island of 
Sicily on September 25, with dozens of activists, including 
parliamentarians, doctors, and journalists from around the world on board.

/(The Palestine Chronicle)/


/– Nurah Tape is a South Africa-based journalist. She is an editor with 
The Palestine Chronicle./

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