Nelson Mandela lecture 2025: Francesca Albanese on the occupation of Gaza

The annual Nelson Mandela lecture 2025 saw UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, speak about the theme of occupation and enhancing peace. The lecture, meant to have prominent people address social issues, has been taking place since 2003.

UN Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, addressed the 23rd Nelson Mandela Annual Lecture in Johannesburg, South Africa, on Saturday.

The theme of this year's Nelson Mandela foundation was taken under the decision to adopt the theme as enhancing peace and global cooperation. Various speakers shared how the war in Gaza has affected millions of people, with Albanese expressing support for the dire situation Palestinians are facing.

"The meaning of what this genocide means for all of us. For our collective understanding of politics, of solidarity, of humanity. Today we know Gaza, we see Gaza, hospitals bombed, parents gathering the limbs of their children, journalists and medics torn apart. Disorder is visible to us in real time on our phones all day long, if you dare to look. But this is also bringing social and political awakening everywhere. It is shaping the conscience, especially of the new generations," said Albanese.

Albanese recalled to the crowd how Nelson Mandela, along with his comrades, fought for freedom in South Africa and how this is no different to what Palestinians are facing.

“A law is applied universally and the crimes of colonialism for which Mandela and his comrades spent 27 years in prison, as hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have in theirs are finally accounted for otherwise it will be remembered as the greatest moral failure of our time and that is why no matter the repression we face, Palestine will increasingly stand at the centre of all struggle for justice worldwide," Albanese said.