Cuba stands with Palestine
Campaign News | Thursday, 27 November 2025
The Cuban and Palestinian people share a common struggle against colonialism and imperialism, and for self-determination and dignity.
Cuba has faced a 63-year-long brutal blockade by the US government to strangle its economy and “bring about hunger, desperation and overthrow of government.”
Palestine has suffered 75 years of ethnic cleansing, occupation, and genocide.
For more than six decades Cuba has stood with Palestine both in words and actions.
Less than six months after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, Che Guevara visited Al-Bureij refugee camp in Gaza and saw the devastation of the Nakba first-hand, promising to denounce the oppression “before all of humanity.”
Following Che’s visit, Cuba began providing practical assistance to Palestinians in multiple ways:
1959 Granted citizenship to displaced Palestinians
1973 Cuba severed diplomatic relations with Israel and recognised the PLO
1974 The PLO opened a diplomatic mission in Havana, its first in the Americas
1982 Granted free scholarships to Palestinian students
1987 Provided training to the resistance during the Intifada
2012 Helped Palestine gain observer status at UN
2024 Announced an additional 200 fully-funded medical scholarships
2025 Joined South Africa’s case against Israel at the International Court of Justice
Despite suffering under the longest sanctions regime in history, Cuba has given free places to study to more than 1,500 Palestinian students since 1982, 250 are currently studying medicine, and an additional 200 places were announced in 2024.
Israel backs US in UN blockade votes
The United Nations General Assembly has condemned the US blockade of Cuba in 32 consecutive votes. In 2024 the vote was 187:2. For more than 30 years, only the United States and Israel have consistently voted in favour.
The same US government that has bankrolled the genocide in Gaza has intensified its blockade and sanctions against Cuba. In addition, by adding Cuba to its ‘State Sponsors of Terrorism’ list, the US government has caused unprecedented shortages for the Cuban people and laid bare its hypocrisy once again.
Free Palestine - End the blockade of Cuba
Join the Cuba Solidarity Campaign
Donate to the Cuba Vive medical aid appeal
WATCH
How Palestinians Are Becoming Doctors in Cuba For Free
Cuba's medical internationalism is world renowned but especially in Palestine. One of the largest contingents at Cuba's Latin American School of Medicine is from Palestine. BT's Kei Pritsker spoke to Palestinian students at ELAM about why they admire Cuba's medical solidarity so much
From Gaza to Cuba
From Gaza to Cuba tells the story of Murid Abukhater, a Palestinian medical student from Gaza studying at Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).
FURTHER READING
Cuba and Palestine: A Bond Forged in Anti-Colonial Struggle
Stephen Wilkinson, Editor of The International Journal of Cuba Studies, writes the history and the ongoing support of Cuba for the Palestinians.
Israeli Aggression in the Middle East Must Stop
Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba
