Speaker, the ANC finds it very unfortunate that a motion without notice on the launch of the Robben Island Declaration on 27 October 2013, which calls for the freedom of Marwan Barghouti and other prisoners in Palestine, was objected to by both the ACDP and the DA.
The global campaign for the freedom of Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian political prisoners has the support of many of our freedom- loving people and those who sacrificed and fought for our freedom, such as Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Ahmed Kathrada and the ANC.
Archbishop Tutu stated, and I quote:
As South Africans, we feel very proud to be able to put our experience of the power of solidarity into action for the benefit of others ...
South Africa could not have achieved its democracy without the contribution of friends around the world. ... We learned that when people unite behind a righteous cause there is nothing that can stop them.
We know first-hand that, had it not been for the people of the world uniting against the apartheid regime, our icons of struggle, Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Govan Mbeki and Ahmed Kathrada would not have been freed and we would not be standing here today calling for the freedom of Marwan Barghouti and other Palestinian political prisoners. The DA and ACDP must remember this. I thank you, Speaker. [Applause.]