Arab Solidarity Meeting with the Palestinian People condemns new measures to tighten the US blockade against the Cuban people
With the participation of a large group of Arab and Palestinian national and intellectual leaders, an Arab Solidarity Meeting with the Palestinian people was held to commemorate the 57th anniversary of the founding of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine.
The virtual forum was attended by more than 60 Palestinian leaders and intellectuals and served as a platform to denounce the Israeli genocide against the Palestinian people, condemn the US aggression against Venezuela, and condemn the intensification of the US economic, financial, and commercial blockade imposed on Cuba.
The speakers who took part were:
- Zahra Abu Shaaban, member of the Front's leadership in Egypt
- Muhammad Barakeh, Head of the Follow-up Committee for Arab Citizens in Occupied Palestine 1948
- Qasim Saleh, Secretary General of the Conference of Arab Parties
- Maher Al-Taher, Secretary General of the Arab Conference
- Samir Diab, from the Arab Left Meeting
- Ahmed Bahaa El-Din Shaaban, Secretary General of the Egyptian Socialist Party
- Jamal Al-Asri, Secretary General of the Unified Socialist Party of Morocco
- Jorge P. León Cruz, Cuban Ambassador to Lebanon
- Ali Faisal, Deputy Secretary General of the Democratic Front and Vice President of the Palestinian National Council
In his presentation, the Cuban diplomat reiterated his deep concern about the growing deterioration of the economic and social conditions of the Palestinian people as a result of Israel's illegal practices and reaffirmed the call on the international community to assume its responsibilities to provide protection to the Palestinian people, in accordance with international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, and to pressure Israel to end its repeated attacks on innocent civilians and infrastructure.
He took the opportunity to recall that this year, 2026, we are commemorating the centenary of the birth of Commander-in-Chief Fidel Castro Ruz, to whom a well-deserved tribute is being paid in various countries around the world, and he thanked the messages of admiration and respect we have received from our Palestinian and Lebanese friends in solidarity.
He denounced the intensification of the US blockade with Trump's new decree imposing tariffs on imports from countries that sell or supply oil to Cuba. This is a brutal measure aimed at depriving a country of energy and a vital source of sustenance for transportation, food processing, production, and basic services such as water supply and medical care.
In the face of this cruel and brutal imperialist aggression, he called on all friends and international solidarity to denounce this imperialist policy of the United States government against Cuba.
He took the opportunity to reaffirm that Cuba recognizes and appreciates the solidarity of the Palestinian and Lebanese people with the Cuban people in the struggle against the genocidal blockade imposed by the United States for more than six decades and the demand for Cuba's exclusion from the spurious list of countries that allegedly sponsor terrorism, on which it should never have been included.
Finally, he reaffirmed his unconditional support and solidarity with the Palestinian people, their right to self-determination, the enjoyment of an independent state with pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the legitimate claim for the return of refugees to their homeland.