WATCH: Palestinian child activists inspired by SA's struggle

An 11-year-old Palestinan journalist has drawn strength from South Africa's struggle for freedom.

"I learned about your history. That taught me I have to have hope because it shows me … Palestine will be free‚” said Janna Ayyad‚ who has more than 246 000 followers on Facebook where she posts videos and images of conflict in the region.

Ayyad and two other young activists - Ahed Tamimi‚ 16‚ and Muhammad Nawajah‚ 12 - are in South Africa to create awareness about the plight of Palestinians and interact with local youth.

The group is being hosted by‚ among others‚ the Ahmed Kathrada Foundation.

On Thursday the three visited the Hector Pieterson Museum in in Orlando West‚ Soweto‚. "It was so good!'' said Ayyad.

Nadia Meer‚ who initiated the tour‚ said it was “quite a process” for the youngsters to travel to South Africa‚ but “this is something they have been really excited about”. Each child has made international headlines for their work.

Janna Ayyad started filming clashes of‚ among other things‚ children confronting soldiers when she was just eight years old. In March she was awarded the International Benevolence Award in Turkey.

“My camera is my gun‚” she told Al-Jazeera last year. "But the camera is stronger than the gun … I can send my message to people‚ and they can send it to others.” 

Ahed Tamimi has been involved in protest action. In 2012 a video of her went viral when she confronted a soldier. Last year she was shot in the leg with a rubber coated steel bullet. When she was 14 years old she bit the hand of a soldier who had a gun to her brother's head. Ahed and her family fought the masked soldier.

“All I did was help my brother. If the soldier’s mother was also present she would have hit me‚ because in the end he is her son and this is what we did‚” she told NBC News at the time. “There are many Palestinian children who went through the same thing or something more difficult‚ but there was no camera to film them.”