Report from Cuba and Palestine Together public meeting, Coventry

On March 25th Cuba Solidarity Campaign (CSC) National Secretary, Bernard Regan, was the keynote speaker at Coventry and Warwickshire CSC meeting.

The focus for the meeting was Cuba’s support for the struggle by the Palestinian people. The background and history of the Cuban people’s support for the Palestinians was explored by Bernard in his well-received presentation.

He highlighted some of the earliest examples of Cuba’s commitment to Palestine. He described how Fidel Castro’s recognised the fight that both his country and Palestinians were engaged in against imperialism and colonialism.

Soon after the Cuban revolution, Raul Castro and Che Guevara visited Gaza. The US has attempted to oppress the Cuban people ever since the revolution of 1959 threw off the imperialist yoke. Sixty six years later the US are still obsessed with destroying this socialist nation.

Therefore, Cubans, more than anyone, will sympathise and empathise with the terrible suffering of the Palestinian people. However, the sanctions being imposed on the Palestinian people pale into insignificance compared with the sight of seeing their children, their mothers, their fathers slaughtered every day.

Bernard Regan said that Cuban solidarity with the Palestinians has continued to this day with Palestinian students studying medicine and engineering in Cuba universities and the Cuban government’s support for the International Court of Justice case brought against Israel for genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Cuba has also indicated its willingness to send teams of medical workers to Gaza when it is safe to do so. The meeting was well attended and the audience included members from both local CSC and the Palestine Solidarity Campaign groups.