The Elders: Leveraging Mandela's Legacy of Peace to Demand Military Protection for Palestinians

In addition to his success in dismatling the race supremacist Apartheid regime in South Africa, Nelson Mandela was fearless in his political solidarity with oppressed people worldwide and stood shoulder to shoulder with the PLO in the struggle for liberation. Towards the end of his life, he built an institution to safeguard that legacy. In 2007, he brought together a unique council of global leaders — The Elders — including figures like Desmond Tutu, Graca Machel, and Kofi Annan. Their mission was clear: to wield their collective moral authority to confront injustice and protect the most vulnerable and oppressed.

Their founding vision — is being tested like never before.

Words Are Not Enough: The Grim Reality in Gaza

The Elders have spoken. They have rightly condemned the violence, called for arms embargoes, and urged for ceasefires. We commend these statements.

But in Gaza, declarations without decisive action are hollow. Israel's genocide of Palestinians continues while all judicial and diplomatic efforts stop Israel's ongoing extermination of Palestinian life and existence have failed.

Right now, statements are not enough. Palestinians need military protection. They need a protective international presence on the ground, NOW. Without it, Palestinians will continue to be massacred or expelled from their land until the annihalation is complete.

The Necessary Next Step: An International Protective Force

We believe The Elders' voice is among those that can help stop the livestreamed genocide. Their legacy demands they move beyond condemnation to champion a tangible solution. We urgently call on The Elders to publicly and forcefully demand the immediate deployment of an international protective force to Gaza to stop Israel's genocide of Palestinians.

This international force must urgently break the illegal siege of Gaza, implement a no fly zone, urgently distribute unhindered food and aid across Gaza, stop Israel's massacres and force all Israelis to evacuate from occupied Palestine as alrready ordered by the International Court of Justice and the United Nations General Assembly. It must be prepared to ensure that the genocide is not just put on pause, but to end the conditions of apartheid and occupation by dismantling all genocidal infrastructure across Palestine including checkpoints and the illegal Apartheid wall, and utlimately help create the conditions for all Palestinians to exercise meaningful self determination over their own land.

This is not a radical concept but a necessary one. Its purpose is to prevent the otherwise inevitable extermination of Palestinians in Palestine. It is the logical, legal and moral next step forward.

The Moral Obligation to Send Military Force

Nelson Mandela, whose moral clarity transcends nations and generations, once declared, “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”He understood that oppression anywhere threatens justice everywhere, and that to turn our eyes from suffering is to deny the essence of our collective humanity.

What Israel is doing in Gaza and throughout Palestinian territory is not a conflict, it is the crushing of a captive population. We have seen the images: children buried beneath rubble, entire families wiped out overnight, and a people condemned to statelessness, siege, and despair. This is the calculated and deliberate annihilation of a people’s right to exist.

When leaders choose peace by forcefully halting mass slaughter, they do not glorify war—they honour life. Intervention is not an act of aggression, it is the last resort of a humanity refusing to be indifferent. It is not done in the name of domination, but in the name of every child who deserves to wake up to the sunrise instead of a blazing fire. Stopping Israel’s genocide is a duty upon all people who still believe in decency, in compassion and in the possibility that justice can triumph over brutality. History will not absolve those who stand by and watch. Just as the world now mourns failures during genocides that have taken place throughout history, so too will future generations judge our response to Israel’s genocide of Palestinians

What You Can Do

1. Snap a photo of you holding a sign that says: "Dear Elders, Demand an international protective force to end the genocide in Gaza."

2. Post it to your social media account.

3. Tag The Elders

4. Instagram: Tag @palestine_protect for collaboration and tag the elders: @theelders_org @helenclarknz

   X: Tag @protectpal @theelders @DenisMukwege @HelenClarkNZ

   BlueSky: Tag @protectpalestine.bsky.social @theelders.bsky.social

   Facebook: Tag @theElders @DrDenisMukwege @helenclarknz