Nelson Mandela's Grandson Gets Passport Seized in Egypt During Global March to Gaza: 'Many Governments Have Failed Palestinians'

Nelson Mandela's grandson, Mandla Mandela, had his passport seized by Egyptian officials while attempting to break the siege in the Gaza Strip through the "Global March to Gaza," which began on June 15.

Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, who helped end apartheid in South Africa, Mandela joined more than 4,000 activists from 80 countries in traveling to Cairo on Sunday to break the siege and deliver humanitarian aid to more than 2 million starving Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. However, Egyptian authorities, acting in coordination with the Israeli and U.S. governments, have attempted to halt the march by detaining activists, including Mandela, and confiscating their passports.

Mandela acknowledged that he had anticipated "coming to Egypt would not be easy," but criticized the Egyptian government as hypocritical for calling for a ceasefire and the free flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza in the media while simultaneously detaining activists. He added that marchers who managed to enter Cairo have faced significant obstacles at tollgates, likening them to checkpoints in the West Bank. Some have even been beaten, according to Reuters.

In one incident, Mandela said his passport was confiscated and withheld for six hours, only returned on the condition that he board a bus and leave for Gaza, which he said he will not do.

"Unfortunately, we as the international solidarity movement in the Global March to Gaza are not here for the interests of Egypt. We are here for the interests of Palestinians," Mandela explained in a 7-minute interview with The Crispin Flintoff Show. "We can no longer sit idle while babies, children and women in particular are butchered, massacred on a daily basis through a genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity," he continued, adding that the Israeli regime must be held accountable "through the rightful institutions like the ICJ and ICC."

Mandela noted that many marchers have received support from their embassies, which have pressured Egyptian authorities to release detained nationals at Cairo International Airport. However, he emphasized that governments must do more to support the cause.

"We must send a clear and strong message that many governments have failed the Palestinian people and the Palestinians are now looking to civil society," Mandela stated. "Everyone that is here is not coming from government structures but are in touch and bound by humanity. These are civil society organizations that have come together to say that they cannot sit silent anymore and watch babies on a daily basis being massacred."

Thousands of trucks filled with aid are waiting to be distributed by participants in the Global March to Gaza to starving Palestinians across the Gaza Strip. The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), however, continue blocking any aid from entering.

Meanwhile, the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation aid sites have turned into daily massacres for Palestinian people. Since the four sites, run by U.S. and IDF soldiers, opened on May 26, nearly 400 Palestinians have been killed and thousands have been injured while trying to obtain food and aid for their families.