Palestinians Mourn Fidel's Passing

by Stephen Lendman

Fidel stood up for what Frantz Fanon called "the wretched of the earth," a revolutionary hero for millions worldwide.

A longtime friend of Palestine's liberating struggle, their flags were lowered to half-mast in his honor after news of his death.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) eulogized him, saying "he consistently stood with the oppressed peoples of the world in their confrontation with imperialism, Zionism, racism, and capitalism."

"From Angola to South Africa, Palestine to Mozambique, Bolivia to El Salvador, Castro's legacy of international revolutionary solidarity and struggle continues to serve as an example in practice that transcends borders toward revolution, democracy and socialism."

Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) secretary-general Nayif Hawatmeh said "the departure of the comrade, the leader, the friend, the great revolutionary, the patriot, and the nationalist Fidel Castro is a great loss for all revolutionaries and nationalist forces around the world."

Hamas called him "a brother in the resistance. (He) stood in the face of colonialists, similar to Nelson Mandela."

He treated Yasser Arafat as a head of state, affording him a presidential welcome on visits to Havana. Former Arafat Foundation acting director Mansour Tahvoub said "Cubans trained Palestinian cadres, and Fidel himself was a staunch advocate of the Palestinian quest for freedom and independence."

He supported anti-colonial struggles worldwide, considered Zionism a form of fascism and institutionalized racism. He said Palestinians "will prevail sooner or later in spite of the betrayal by Arab reactionaries, imperialist maneuvers and Israeli aggression."

In 1973, Cuba severed diplomatic ties with Israel, the only nation consistently supporting Washington's embargo. It's represented in Cuba through an interest section in the Canadian embassy.

Palestinians are welcome in Cuba to study medicine, engineering and other disciplines at no cost. In 1975, Cuba co-sponsored UN Resolution 3379, calling Zionism "a form of racism and racial discrimination." Repeal in 1991 followed its earlier passage.

After Israeli summer 2014 naked aggression, Fidel wrote a "reflection" titled "Palestinian Holocaust in Gaza," saying:

"The Nazi genocide of Jews outraged all the earth's peoples. Why does (Israel) believe that the world will be insensitive to the macabre genocide which today is being perpetuated against the Palestinian people? Perhaps it is expected that the complicity of the US empire in this shameful massacre will be ignored?

He expressed concern about a "repugnant form of fascism…at this time in human history when more than seven billion inhabitants are struggling for their survival."

Others like him are sorely needed. America and other Western societies have no one remotely matching his stature and redoubtable anti-imperialist spirit.

I mourn his passing like millions of others worldwide.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. 

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: How the US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. 

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