Several hundred Cuban students took part in a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana on Friday.
The event, which was also attended by workers and students from other levels of education, heard voices in support of US university students who are victims of police repression for demonstrating in favor of the Palestinians.
“There was no way that Cuban students, young Cuban revolutionaries, would stop supporting the Palestinian cause,” Ricardo Rodriguez, president of the Federation of University Students (FEU), told Xinhua.
Speaking from the top of the steps leading to the university campus, Palestinian Watan Jamil Alabed called for an end to the genocide against his people and accused the United States of complicity in the massacre.
“The students are the vanguard who believe in the victory of our cause because they know that to fight for Palestine is to fight for the world,” said the young doctor, who is now studying pediatrics at a Havana hospital.
Sami Sawalha, a young Palestinian, highlighted Cuban support for the Palestinian cause, which he said had historical roots in the political and revolutionary will of the late President Fidel Castro.
“Knowing of this unlimited support is an impulse to continue the struggle,” added the second-year student at the Latin American School of Medicine in Havana.
Meanwhile, American Shaquille Fontenot, who is part of the National Cuba Solidarity Network in the United States, denounced Washington’s complicity in what is happening on Palestinian land.
“Don’t spend more money on wars, spend it on health care and building affordable housing for our people,” she said.
Similar events were organised by the FEU in other centres of higher education in the Caribbean country’s capital, such as the Institute of International Relations and the Enrique José Varona University of Pedagogical Sciences. Also, in the Universities of Medical Sciences in the eastern provinces of Camagüey and Granma.
From yesterday until Thursday next week, Cuban university students will be carrying out a campaign with events throughout the country to reaffirm solidarity with the Palestinian people and with students in the United States who have been repressed for demonstrating in favour of Palestine.
Cuba, which broke off relations with Israel in 1973, supports the right of the Palestinian people to establish their own state within the pre-1967 borders.
Image taken on 3 May 2024 shows university students taking part in a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana in Havana, the capital of Cuba. Several hundred Cuban students attended a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana on Friday (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez).
A Cuban university student delivers a speech during a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana in Havana, capital of Cuba, on Friday. Several hundred Cuban students attended a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana on Friday (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez).
A picture taken on 3 May 2024 shows university students participating in a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana in Havana, the capital of Cuba. Several hundred Cuban students took part in a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana on Friday. (Xinhua/Joaquin Hernandez)
A picture taken on May 3, 2024 shows a university student holding a sign as she takes part in a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana in Havana, capital of Cuba. Several hundred Cuban students took part in a rally in support of Palestine on the steps of the University of Havana on Friday. (Xinhua/Joaquín Hernández)
