Marwan Barghouthi to Nelson Mandela: "Our freedom seems possible because you reached yours"

During the long years of my own struggle, I had the occasion to think many times of you, dear Nelson Mandela. Even more since my arrest in 2002. I think of a man who spent 27 years in a prison cell, only to demonstrate that freedom was within him before becoming a reality his people could enjoy. I think of his capacity to defy oppression and apartheid, but also to defy hatred and to choose justice over vengeance.

How many times did you doubt the outcome of this struggle? How many times did you ask yourself if justice will prevail? How many times did you wonder why is the world so silent? How many times did you wonder whether your enemy could ever become your partner? At the end, your will proved unbreakable making your name one of the most shining names of freedom.

You are much more than an inspiration. You must have known, the day you came out of prison, that you were not only writing history, but contributing to the triumph of light over darkness, and yet you remained humble. And you carried a promise far beyond the limits of your countries' borders, a promise that oppression and injustice will be vanquished, paving the way to freedom and peace. In my prison cell, I remind myself daily of this quest, and all sacrifices become bearable by the sole prospect that one day the Palestinian people will also be able to enjoy freedom, return and independence, and this land will finally enjoy peace.

You became an icon to allow your cause to shine and to impose itself on the international stage. Universality to counter isolation. You became a symbol around which all those who believe in the universal values that found your struggle could rally, mobilise and act. Unity is the law of victory for oppressed people. The tiny cell and the hours of forced labor, the solitude and the darkness, did not prevent you from seeing the horizon and sharing your vision. Your country has become a lighthouse and we, as Palestinians, are setting sails to reach its shores.

You said “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians”. And from within my prison cell, I tell you our freedom seems possible because you reached yours. Apartheid did not prevail in South Africa, and Apartheid shall not prevail in Palestine. We had the great privilege to welcome in Palestine a few months ago, your comrade and companion in struggle Ahmed Kathrada, who launched, following this visit, the International Campaign for the freedom of Palestinian prisoners from your own cell, where an important part of universal history was shaped, demonstrating that the ties between our struggles are everlasting.

Your capacity to be a unifying figure, and to lead from within the prisoncell, and to be entrusted with the future of your people while being deprived of your ability to choose your own, are the marks of a great and exceptional leader and of a truly historical figure. I salute the freedom fighter and the peace negotiator and maker, the military commander and the inspirer of peaceful resistance, the relentless militant and the statesman.

You have dedicated your life to ensure freedom and dignity, justice and reconciliation, peace and coexistence can prevail. Many now honour your struggle in their speeches. In Palestine, we promise to pursue the quest for our common values, and to honour your struggle not only through words, but by dedicating our lives to the same goals. Freedom dear Madiba, shall prevail, and you contributed tremendously in making this belief a certainty. Rest in Peace, and may God bless your unconquerable soul.


Marwan Barghouthi
Hadarim prison
Cell n°28

CAMPAIGN LAUNCH: FREE MARWAN BARGHOUTI AND ALL PALESTINIAN POLITICAL PRISONERS

This Sunday, 27 October, the international "Free Marwan Barghouthi and all Palestinian prisoners" campaign will be launched from the historic South African landmark of Robben Island, where anti-apartheid struggle icons Nelson Mandela, Govan Mbeki, Walter Sisulu, Ahmed Kathrada and others were imprisoned during Apartheid in South Africa.

The Palestinian based Popular Campaign for the Release of Marwan Barghouti and all Palestinian Political Prisoners and the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation are the primary organisers of the Robben Island launch event. Ahmed Kathrada launched the "Free Nelson Mandela and all South African Political Prisoners" campaign in 1962, just prior to his own arrest and subsequent imprisonment with Nelson Mandela and others on Robben Island (click here for a short video by actor Morgan Freeman on the life and legacy of Ahmed Kathrada: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7c_Kg2hp5c). Now half a century later, the 84-year-old anti-apartheid struggle veteran, is launching yet another campaign for an iconic freedom fighter, Marwan Barghouti, commonly dubbed "Palestine's Mandela" (www.bdssouthafrica.com/2011/10/freeing-palestines-mandela-marwan.html). Barghouti is one of the most prominent --of over 5000-- Palestinian political prisoners currently detained in Israeli prisons and jails.

On Sunday, from Robben Island, BDS South Africa will also be announcing and detailing an upcoming South African boycott campaign against G4S Security, the international security company contracted in 2007 to equip and service Israeli prisons, torture centres and detention facilities where Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian political detainees are held (www.whoprofits.org/company/g4s-israel-hashmira).

Following Sunday's Robben Island launch, public events will be held in Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg.

Mairead Maguire is one of the 5 Nobel Peace Prize laureates who ...

Mairead Maguire is one of the 5 Nobel Peace Prize laureates who have accepted to join the International High Level Committee for the freedom of Marwan Barghouthi and all Palestinian prisoners.

Mairead Corrigan Maguire was awarded the l976 Nobel Peace Prize for her extra-ordinary actions to help end the deep ethnic/political conflict in her native Northern Ireland. She shares the award with Betty Williams.

Mairead was the aunt of the three Maguire children who died as a result of being hit by an Irish Republican
Army getaway car after its driver was shot by a British soldier. Mairead responded to the violence facing her
Family and community by organizing, together with Betty Williams and Ciaran McKeown, massive peace
demonstrations appealing for an end to the bloodshed, and a nonviolent solution to the conflict.

Together, the three co-founded the Peace People, a movement committed to building a just and nonviolent
society in Northern Ireland. Mairead currently serves as Hon. President. (www.peacepeople.com) The Peace People organized each week, for six months, peace rallies throughout Ireland and the UK. These were attended by many thousands of people, mostly women, and during this time there was a 70% decrease in the rate of violence.

Since receiving the award, Mairead has dedicated her life to promoting disarmament and peace, both in Northern Ireland and around the world. Working with community groups throughout Northern Ireland, political and church Leaders, she has sought to promote dialogue and conflict resolution, in order to bring about a nonkilling, nonviolent society and world.

A graduate from Irish School of Ecumenics, Mairead, a pacifist, works with inter-church and inter-faith organizations and is a councillor with the International Peace Council. She is a Patron of the Methodist Theological College, and Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education. She has worked extensively in the Middle East believing that Peace is possible and we can all do something to help each other,as the Human Family, to bring about peace and justice.

Mairead is Author of ‘The Vision of Peace: Faith and Hope in Northern Ireland’