October 15, 2024
photo: Alejandro Azcuy
“Never has the Palestinian cause seemed more just than in contrast to the repulsive brutality of its adversaries. Humanity will forget neither the heroism of the attacked nor the barbarism of the aggressors” Speech delivered by Fidel Castro at the Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement, in New Delhi-India, on March 7, 1983.
On the first anniversary of Israel’s genocide in Palestine, now extending its brutal aggression to Lebanon, the Cuban youth have raised their voices of solidarity and internationalism in support of the right to peace, sovereignty and life.
On Monday afternoon, thousands of young people gathered to once again condemn the Zionist genocide, which has so far caused the death of 42,126 Palestinians, 69 percent of whom are children and women, 98,400 wounded in Gaza and more than 2,200 killed in Lebanon.
Cuba’s President Miguel Diaz Canel
photo: Alejandro Azcuy
Cuba has historically defended the right of Palestine to self-determination, the return of refugees and the right to be recognized as a free and sovereign state against colonialism and apartheid imposed by Israel 76 years ago.
Faced with the genocide televised a year ago, in an unprecedented escalation of aggression, the Cuban youth marched from the Forge Martiana to the Anti-imperialist Tribune; the emblematic square and witness of numerous demonstrations in the recent history of the country.
As has been the case in the different mobilizations carried out in Cuba over the past year, today’s demonstration was led by President Miguel Díaz-Canel and the main leaders of the Cuban revolutionary government. It should be noted that Cuba stands alone as the only country in the world where its president leads a pro-Palestine march, calling for an end to the U.S.-sponsored genocide of the Palestinian people.
photo: Víctor Villaba
Convened by the Union of Young Communists (UJC), thousands of young people denounced from Havana the genocide perpetrated against the Palestinian people under the complicity of the United States, its main arms and economic supporter. Cuba joins millions of voices clamoring around the world for the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestine and an immediate cease fire.
Accompanied by Esteban Lazo, President of the National Assembly of People’s Power, Prime Minister Manuel Marrero, Bruno Rodriguez, Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Hero of the Republic Gerardo Hernandez Nordelo, a crowd of young people flooded the broad street with banners, slogans and Palestinian flags, which also included those of Lebanon, Iran and Syria, along with Cuban and Latin American flags, in the parade along Havana’s Malecon.
The Anti-imperialist Tribune, in front of the Embassy of the US, was the propitious stage for the emotional political-cultural act, in which homage was paid to the victims of the Palestinian and Lebanese people, whose brutal aggression hides the main objective of Zionism and imperialism: to appropriate the entire region and its natural resources.
photo: Alejandro Azcuy
“We will not close our eyes in front of the massacre; we will not forget neither the heroism of the attacked nor the barbarism of the aggressors”, emphasized the First Secretary of the UJC, Meyvis Estévez; vindicating Fidel’s legacy and Cuba’s commitment to peace, justice and the defense of Palestine’s sovereignty.
Throughout Cuba, young people demonstrated through different actions, demonstrations and Open Tribunals to demand the end of genocide; ratifying Cuba’s historical solidarity with the Palestinian cause and its right to self-determination and sovereignty.
In the last 24 hours the Israeli occupation carried out four new massacres – leaving a tally of more than 60 dead and 230 wounded -, including the attack against a food distribution center of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip, against the tents that housed displaced people in the city of Deir al-Balah located in the center of the Strip, with at least 4 dead and more than 70 wounded.
photo: Estudios Revolution
Since October 7, 2023, 529 educators, 11,000 students, 175 journalists and more than 900 health professionals have been killed by Israel’s Zionism. 90% of the population has been criminally displaced.
The repeated calls of the UN Secretary General for a ceasefire have been ignored by Israel and the United States in clear violation of International Humanitarian Law and the founding Charter of the UN. It is estimated that the damage caused by the Zionist entity to Gaza’s infrastructure will take more than 16 years to rebuild.
To raise our voice for Palestine today, once again and for as long as necessary, is to defend the Peace of all Humanity.
Source: Cuba en Resumen