UK denies visa to Mandela’s grandson over his support for Hamas

JOHANNESBURG – The grandson of South Africa’s first black president, Nelson Mandela, said on Friday that the UK government had refused him an entry visa because of his support for Hamas and his stance on the issue. War between Israel and Hamas.

Mandela was unable to travel to the UK earlier this month to speak at pro-Palestinian rallies in Manchester, Edinburgh and Glasgow after he was told he would need a visa, despite holding a South African government passport which would normally allow he has visa-free entry. .

However, this week the UK Home Office wrote to Mandela saying his visa application had been refused because of his “support for Hamas” and because his presence in the UK was “not conducive to the public good”.

Mandela told the AP that he received the letter, dated October 21, Thursday.

“Your presence in the UK has been assessed as not promoting the public good on the basis that you have behaved inappropriately. “You have made numerous statements that openly support Hamas and its terrorist violence, including glorifying the October 7 attack on Israel and its recently deceased leader Ismail Haniyeh,” the letter, seen by The Associated Press, reads.

The letter references several of Mandela’s Instagram posts expressing his support for Hamas and the Palestinians, including one showing him with Haniyeh, who was killed in an airstrike in July this year.

It also noted that Mandela attended Haniyeh’s funeral in August, meeting him twice in January and April this year, and posted a photo of himself with a senior Hamas leader. Khaled Mashaal.

“Your presence in the UK is therefore considered a threat to British society as it is likely to cause tension among the UK’s Jewish communities. It is in the public interest to refuse your visa in order to protect public safety and prevent disorder or crime in the UK,” the letter said.

The Interior Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mandela said the visa denial would not stop him from continuing to express his support for the Palestinians.

“We will never be silenced and we will never allow visa denials to stop us from standing up for justice, peace and equality. We will continue to raise our voices against the unjust occupation, genocide and ethnic cleansing of Gaza and all of occupied Palestine sponsored by Britain and its ilk,” he said.

He said the visa refusal was an attempt to restrict his movement and freedom of expression, comparing it to the challenges faced by his grandfather Nelson Mandela, who spent 27 years in prison for his role in the fight against apartheid. The racist system implemented by the white minority government was overturned in 1994 and Nelson Mandela became South Africa’s first democratically elected leader.

“My grandfather’s movement and freedom were also restricted, but he refused a condition of release from prison that limited his stay in the Transkei. He remained steadfast in his commitment to justice and continued to be a symbol of freedom, justice and human rights for all,” he said.

Pro-Palestinian organizations including the Desmond Tutu Foundation in South Africa and the UK-based Sheffield Palestinian Coalition Against Israeli Apartheid criticized Britain for the decision.