The event took place at the Abelardo Estorino Theater, home of the Cuban Ministry of Culture, where guests made clear their position against the genocide committed by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
The meeting was chaired by Abdel Nasser, former Palestinian ambassador to Ecuador and advisor to the Palestinian National Council; Murat Al-Sudanni, Secretary General of the Palestinian Writers' Association; Akram Samhan, Palestinian ambassador to Cuba; and Cuban Culture Minister Alpidio Alonso.
Also present were the ambassadors of Algeria, Egypt, Syria and Yemen to Cuba, who expressed their support for the cause of the attacked Arab country.
As part of the cultural event, actors Simón Carlos and Irasema Cruz recited the poems “The Passport,” “Identity Card” and “We Love Life” by Mahmud Darwish, considered the Palestinian national poet.
At the meeting, Nasser reflected on the events of 1948 in Palestine, which led to the creation of the State of Israel, and the role of the United Kingdom and the United States. He described the latter as “the police of the world”.
Why do Israelis have the right to come to the West Bank and steal my land? Where is justice in this world? Palestinians love peace; They have been fighting for a life of peace in a free and independent state for 77 years, he said.
It's time for the bloodshed to stop; Palestine is the beacon of security in the world and Jerusalem is the gateway to peace; The war in Palestine was 70 years ago and not since October last year, said Al-Sudanni.
He also denounced how the Tel Aviv army detains even those who have died, and strongly reiterated that “despite this cruelty, Palestine and its citizens will continue to resist until an independent state emerges and the refugees return to our beloved land.”
During the activity, intellectuals Alex Pausides, Basilia Papastamatiu, Jorge Fuentes and Fidel Antonio Orta Pérez recited poems they wrote about the situation in Gaza, which they considered “horrific.”
“One must not give up on being heard so that everyone knows and is on the side of good, namely the Palestinian side,” said Cuban editor and poet Alex Pausides, who presented his poem “Minute of Silence” to the public.
For his part, Papastamatiu recited the work “With their souls still undiscovered” and confessed that he could not imagine how a people who had experienced something as terrible as the Holocaust could, years later, repeat the same thing with another people.
This forgetfulness of history and the complete lack of humanity seems terrible to me; “We will also live with guilt if we fail to unite people and governments, find a solution and stop this massacre,” the Argentine writer added.
Jorge Fuentes, author of “Gaza,” recognized that it is difficult for Cuban writers and artists not to go to Palestine and help and collaborate on just one poem, an action he described as “a very modest gesture.” to the great tragedy in which people are currently living.
The authors' presentation ended with the recitation of the poem “The Gaza Strip is Burning” by Fidel Antonio Orta, director of the Jesús Orta Ruiz Research Center.
The event ended with the performance of the musical theme “Palestine” by troubadour Ariel Díaz, who also explained that one cannot stop singing when there is injustice and that one must sing more even after victory.
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