Al-Qalam 
By Shabnam Palesa Mohamed
I have been sitting with this for weeks now, trying to find the right words. I am not sure they exist. My father returned to God a few long weeks ago. He was in hospital, weak, barely able to speak or move. His body was there, but the man I knew, the one with the loud laugh and incisive opinions. The one who gave me my love for human rights, poetry, art and nature. He was fading before my very eyes.
Then something happened. George Galloway sent him a get-well message. At first he thought it was a video call. He tried to say “Hello George.” My heart broke into a million pieces. I told him it was a recording. He watched, and then I held it up to his ears and played it twice so he could understand. He could barely speak. He was not even eating. But when he heard that voice, a smile, small and fragile, but real, crossed his face. He said: ‘Thank you, George’. The words did not come out properly, but I understood. And so I sent a message to George saying my father smiled and said, ‘Thank you’.
That moment, one of many etched in my memory, did not save him. But for those moments, I saw my father again. Not the patient. Not the diagnosis. I saw my dad who raised his fist when he was readmitted to say ‘I will fight this.’ He lost his battle a few weeks later. I am not ready to talk about the rest. The way he was treated in those final days – the cruelty, the neglect, the indignities – that story is a heavy stone in my chest. For now, I just want to say this: Rest in peace Dad. I love you. I miss you. And in the way I feel, I think, the way I stand up, the way I find light in the dark – I am you.
My father would want the People Power Tour to make a difference
Grief does not stop the villains running the world. Action does. The world needs us to show up. That is why I am writing this from a place of both deep sorrow and fierce determination. Because when we buried my father, I promised him that I would tell him when South Africa and Palestine are free. The fight for justice did not pause. The people of Palestine are still being bombed. The people of Sudan and Congo are still starving. And in our country, we have to fight greed, corruption and poverty.
George Galloway and Yvonne Ridley are coming to South Africa. And Durban…we need to get ready.
George, politician, podcaster and author, showed up for us during apartheid when it was not popular. He stood with the liberation movements when it cost him. He has shown up for Palestine for decades – banned, smeared, attacked, and still refusing to shut up on The Mother of All Talkshows (MOATS)
Journalist, author and activist Yvonne Ridley’s life is incredible. While on a story, she was captured by the Taliban, and after reading the Quran, embraced Islam. She was also kidnapped by Apartheid Israel. That tells you a lot about her. She spent the years calling out injustice, no matter who it upsets.
They are not coming to talk down to us. They are coming to work with us, to unite, organise and mobilise. Let’s remind each other that the power of the people is stronger than people in power, that consistent solidarity is a strategy that changes everything. It’s why I chose that theme: People Power.
Two Projects Close to My Heart
During their visit, we aim to launch two projects that are urgently needed: Ubuntu and Ihsaan: Our Story, Our Voice, Our Role.
The first is a documentary series called Ubuntu and Ihsaan. It tells the story of Muslims in South Africa. We have been here for centuries. Cape Malay. Indians. Anti-apartheid. Everyday South Africans trying to raise kids, pay bills and keep faith. Authentic and beautiful. This series captures that.
Ubuntu is that beautiful South African philosophy that we are human because of others. Ihsaan is an Arabic word that calls to excellence, compassion and contribution. Together, they capture who we are. This project is not just about looking back. It is about reminding ourselves what we are made of, and what we can do to serve South Africa, so we can help lead Africa and the Global South to liberation.
Zionism in Africa: The Research We Cannot Ignore
The second project is called Zionism in Africa (ZIA). A research initiative. And it is critical. Here is what people do not talk about enough. For decades, American Christian Zionist groups, backed by the Israeli government, have been flooding Africa with ideology, money, policy, and influence.
African leaders who speak up for Palestine often find their lives or partnerships with Israel threatened. Congo’s president was just in Israel, the same Israel pillaging Congo’s resources. We must understand the terrain. That is what ZIA will do. It will map out how Zionist ideology, political influence and economics has taken root in Africa, who is funding it, and how we disentangle to protect ourselves.
Durban Must Lead Again
We need to remember what happened here in 2001. It was powerful. Durban hosted the World Conference Against Racism. And the declaration was clear: Zionism is racism. That was not diplomacy. That was truth. Decades later, we still stand by that declaration. But standing by it is not enough.
We need to act. The Galloway-Ridley tour is part of that action. We are here to remind each other that we have power when we exercise multipronged strategies. March and boycott. Educate and lobby. Use the law and the arts. Don’t let Zio -Imperialism confuse, distract, divide and conquer us.
What Is Happening in Durban
The meaningful and strategic Durban leg of the People Power tour includes:
- A press conference on the politics of division and the role of independent media
- A fundraising dinner with panel discussions, poetry and an art exhibition
- A university event with young people, activists and academics
Each event is designed to connect global struggles with local action. The fight for Palestine is not foreign. It is connected to our history of apartheid, which Israel supported. It is connected to our own struggles for dignity and justice. After all, Israel did steal our anti-missile tank technology, uses South Africans to commit genocide, and is still taking coal from our country to kill children, women and men.
Full details and tickets are at www.GallowayRidley.co.za
Turning Pain into Power
My father is not here. I carry that loss every single day. But he raised me to make a difference. He raised me to show up, even when showing up hurts. So I will. For you Dad, for the rest of my life.
I will show up in Durban and at other legs of the national tour. I will welcome Galloway and Ridley, other special guests and you, The People. I will help launch these key projects. And I will keep telling the story of my father, Yunus Mohamed. The way he smiled with a raised fist during a 1994 freedom march, his incredible books, the way he hated Trump the misogynist, and the cruelty that ended his life.
For now, I ask you to show up too. Support the events. Support the projects. Stand with South Africa. Protect Palestine. Build the Global South. Stand with everyone who is suffering the weight of empire.
That is ubuntu. That is ihsaan. That is who we are. And that is what my father taught me. Amandla!
*Shabnam Palesa Mohamed is a daughter, activist, journalist, lawyer, strategist, and Durban convener for the People Power: Galloway-Ridley in South Africa Tour. She is the founder of Wage Peace International, trustee of Palestine House S.A, board member of Nanda Soobben Arts Foundation, and parliamentary advisor to The Association for Medical Health and Legal Practitioners in Africa.
