“If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine.”
Che Guevara
By Logan Williams
Saturday, March 2nd saw the latest round of popular rallies in solidarity with the people of Palestine take place all over Cuba, an island with a proud history of internationalism.
These rallies were the latest initiatives organised in support of the worldwide call of progressive organizations and movements to take a stand against possible Israeli military action taking place on the town of Rafah, where one and a half million Palestinians are concentrated as a result of the Israeli state’s ongoing illegal action.
The events were organised in provincial capitals across Cuba – and in the case of Havana at the fitting, historic focus point of the José Martí Anti-imperialist Tribune – by the Federation of Cuban Women (FMC), the Union of Young Communists (UJC), the Federation of High School Students (FEEM) and the Federation of University Students (FEU), all of which are massive social movements of grassroots Cubans.
In their call for people to demonstrate – and in a clear illustration of how the anti-imperialist ideas of Che and Fidel live on today – the movements said that despite the difficulties faced by Cuba with fuel and transportation due to the United States’ 6 decades long blockade, Cubans must be part of the global movement against the war on Gaza.
Speaking to ‘Resumen English,’ Osmayda Hernández Beleño of the FMC, pointed out that women and children have been the main victims of Israeli aggressions in the Gaza Strip with over 10,000 children being killed.
Beleño’s call was echoed by Reudenys Salas Artemant, of the UJC, who pointed out that humanitarian aid enters Palestinian territory through the area around Rafah, making the current danger even more astute.
Saying “we call on all Cubans and especially the to gather in the Anti-imperialist Tribune, right in front of the US diplomatic headquarters, whose government has vetoed the ceasefire by Israel”, he correctly pointed at the role of US imperialism in extending what the ICJ has said is a plausible genocide against the people of Gaza.
Jenifer Perez Villa, of the National Secretariat of the Federation of University Students, added that “the moment requires that university students, the universities of the world, make their voices of solidarity with the Palestinian people felt with greater force”.
These actions join a long and proud history of solidarity with people of Palestine from the progressive people of Cuba which has ranged from early days of the Revolution until the recent ICJ case around the allegations of Genocide. Cuba’s role in global solidarity with the people of Palestine has been explored by Bernard Regan, National Secretary of the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, for Labour Outlook here.
It is vital that socialists in Britain not only step up our support for the people of Palestine in the current situation but also ensure that solidarity with progressive forces in Latin America remains a key cornerstone of our international politics.
In the words of Che, “If you tremble with indignation at every injustice, then you are a comrade of mine.”
- Logan Williams is an NEU activist and an organiser for Labour Friends of Progressive Latin America (LFPLA) and Arise – A Festival of Left Ideas.
- You can follow Logan on Twitter/X and follow LFPLA on Facebook and Twitter.
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