Cuba's president leads pro-Palestinian demonstration in Havana
Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel led a demonstration in Havana on Thursday in support of the Palestinians in the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas. The Ministry of the Interior announced on the online service X (formerly Twitter) that 100,000 people had taken part in the one-hour protest march, which was called for by associations of youth groups in the communist country.
The demonstrators waved Palestinian flags and criticized the United States for its support of Israel as they protested on the Malecón promenade, where the US embassy is located. High school students, university students and employees of state-owned companies had been called to take part in the demonstration.
"What the young Cubans taking part in this march want is for the attacks on Palestine to stop," 22-year-old student Cristina Díaz told the AFP news agency. "All the victims of this conflict are deplorable," she said, but added: "It would be naive to think that this is a war." "This is a genocide." "What is happening in Palestine is a great injustice, a massacre," said 19-year-old Javier Ernesto Borroto, with a black and white Palestinian scarf around his neck.
President Díaz-Canel led the demonstration together with his wife Lis Cuesta and Prime Minister Manuel Marrero. The EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, was in Cuba at the same time as the demonstration.
It was the largest demonstration in Cuba since the beginning of the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas.
On 7 October, hundreds of fighters from Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the USA and the EU, invaded Israel and committed atrocities, mainly against civilians, including many women and children. According to the Israeli government, around 1,200 people were killed and around 240 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
In response, Israel began to massively attack targets in the Gaza Strip from the air and on the ground. According to Hamas, which cannot be independently verified, more than 14,800 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since then, including more than 5,800 children.
The Gaza war prompted Cuba's President Miguel Díaz-Canel to express his solidarity, leading a demonstration in Havana against Israel's actions. Despite Cuba's President's visit to Cuba during this time, the EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, chose to remain silent on the demonstration.
Source: www.ntv.de
