September 29, 2025. from Havana
Dr. Murid Abukhater
Poem by MURID ABUKHATER, Palestinian doctor accepted into ELAM, founded by Fidel Castro Ruz and inspired by the revolutionary values of Ernesto Che Guevara.
“From the rubble… heroes are born!”
Finally!
After years of sleepless nights and effort, after a sea of challenges…
I hold my medical degree high!
“It was not a dream… it was a promise!”
From the heart of suffering, under bombardment, among the ruins that the occupation wanted to turn into the tomb of our dreams…
I emerged as a Palestinian: with my scalpel as my weapon, my heart as my shield, and my degree as my cry against injustice:
We are an invincible people!
My parents, heroes… my uncles… my relatives… my friends…
You are the roots that resisted in burning soil,
the hand that held me when I stumbled,
the heart that drove me when I grew tired.
This success is a crown on your heads before it is on mine.
Yes…
I studied while my family was under fire,
my notes echoed with the sound of rockets,
and my tears for those far away were my fuel.
Why?
Because “our determination is born of pain,”
because we know that every class… every book… every exam…
was a bullet in the battle of reconstruction,
a step toward a return filled with healing hands and uplifting minds.
And today I give thanks to Cuba!
To its Revolution that lights the way,
to its supportive people who, with scholarships and support,
laid bricks on my path.
Their example of dignity was my beacon:
Thank you, Cuba, for being part of my victory.
Today I say to the world:
Look!
Here is the Palestinian student
building roads with stones,
lighting candles in the darkness.
Tanks will not silence our voices!
Bullets will not kill our dreams!
This degree is not just a piece of paper…
it is a victory…
Victory of a will that broke through the wall of the impossible,
victory of a homeland that will return free and dignified,
victory of every serene mother, every sacrificing father, and every martyr who taught us that
“knowledge in times of resistance is the highest degree of revolution”!
I swear by my scalpel and my heart:
I will be the doctor-soldier,
I will heal the wounds of my people,
and I will carry the flag of knowledge…
until the flag of victory flies over every inch of Palestinian soil!
Palestine will win!
Thank you, Cuba!
Cuba in my heart!