Acting Palestinian Authority chief Mahmoud Abbas has hailed late Nelson Mandela’s commitment to the Palestinian cause.

“This is a great loss for all the peoples of the world, and for Palestine,” Abbas said on Friday, describing Mandela as a “symbol of freedom from colonialism and occupation.”

Mandela, who passed away on Thursday at the age of 95, first visited the occupied Palestinian territories in 1999. The South African leader was a keen supporter of the Palestinian cause.

“The Palestinian people will never forget his historic statement that the South African revolution will not have achieved its goals as long as the Palestinians are not free,” Abbas said.


He further said that Mandela was the “most courageous and important of those who supported us.”

Mandela’s fruitful struggle against apartheid has inspired many Palestinians in their struggle to end the Israeli occupation.

The Palestinian resistance movement Hamas also paid tribute to Mandela as a “great fighter.”

Mandela was “one of the most important symbols of freedom and one of the most important supporters of the Palestinian people's cause,” said Hamas spokesman Mussa Abu Marzuq.

South Africans slam the treatment of the Palestinians by Israelis, equaling the move with that of the former apartheid regime in Africa abusing the blacks.