Mandela’s grandson, who was deported by Israel, returns to South Africa

In Johannesburg on Wednesday, the grandson of the late South African president and anti-apartheid crusader Nelson Mandela arrived after being arrested and deported by Israel, which stopped the flotilla he was a part of from sending aid to Gaza.

Mandla Mandela says he and the party he was with were detained in an Israeli prison for six days before being freed via Jordan. Mandela returned home with four other South Africans.

Supporters holding Palestinian flags greeted Mandela, 51, at the airport. “We were handcuffed with cable ties tied tightly behind our backs, taken off our boats, put on the platform and paraded for all… to see,” Mandela said.

He remarked, “But it’s nothing compared to what Palestinians have been subjected to on a daily basis,” alluding to Israel’s military campaign against Hamas since the terrorist organization’s brutal attack on Israel two years prior.

Israel denies that there is famine in Gaza and dismisses the flotilla as a publicity gimmick for Hamas. Swedish campaigner Greta Thunberg was among the hundreds of people it imprisoned, and it has denied mistreating them.