Category Archives: Cuba Palestine

It is time to admit Palestine to the UN

Madam President,
The United States government has once again blocked, through its abuse of the veto privilege in the Security Council, the efforts of the international community to put an end to the massacre perpetrated by Israel in Gaza. It thus confirms its historical complicity with the occupying power and guarantees impunity for genocide, extermination, ethnic cleansing, collective punishment, and apartheid, all of which are crimes against humanity.
Far from contributing to international peace and security, which is the very purpose of that UN body, it contributes through its veto to the perpetuation of Zionist barbarism against the Palestinian people and is also responsible for it.
It calls into question the supposed intention of fair mediation to reach a permanent and lasting ceasefire agreement. The sustained political, military, logistical, and financial support of the United States for Israel is a clear expression of the double standards and bias that characterize U.S. policy.
So too are the recent visit to Israel by the U.S. Secretary of State in support of the crime, and the intention to silence the voice of our Palestinian brothers and sisters in this universal forum. The unilateral and arbitrary decision to revoke and deny visas to members of the Palestinian delegation, which prevented their proper participation in the High-Level Segment of the 80th Session of this General Assembly, violates the 1947 Headquarters Agreement.
Fifteen Palestinians die every day from malnutrition, 12 of them children, hostages of a colonial operation, settlement and forced displacement from the territory that belongs to them. It is estimated that at least 132,000 children under the age of 5 suffer from acute malnutrition and more than 43,000 are at risk of dying. The total number of confirmed deaths due to Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip alone since October 7, 2023, stands at 66,148, with an additional 168,716 wounded and maimed.
It is unacceptable that Israel continues to use hunger, food distribution, and humanitarian aid as weapons of war. Depriving a besieged civilian population of water, electricity, medicine, and fuel is not a military strategy, but a crime against humanity, collective punishment, and genocide.
The Israeli government’s disregard for the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations, international law, international humanitarian law, and the international community’s calls for peace has also guided its attacks on other countries in the Middle East, such as Lebanon, Syria, Iran, and Yemen. The most recent case, the violation of the sovereignty of the State of Qatar, a nation that has played a constructive role in mediation efforts, is yet another example of the Zionist regime’s aggression against neighboring states.
An immediate and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces are urgently needed. Israel must allow sufficient humanitarian aid to enter without conditions or restrictions and must authorize the indispensable work of UNRWA.
Cuba reaffirms its commitment and support for the Palestinian cause and reiterates its firm condemnation of the genocide perpetrated by Israel in Gaza, with the aim of exterminating or expelling the population of that occupied territory.
It reaffirms its conviction that only through a two-state solution, with the creation of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, guaranteeing the right of return for refugees, can a just and lasting peace be achieved.
The agreements and commitments reached during the High-Level International Conference on the Implementation of the Two-State Solution must be implemented without delay.
It is time to admit Palestine as a full member of this Organization. If the Security Council, powerless in the face of the abuse of the irritating privilege of the veto, persists in imposing itself as an obstacle to that aspiration, this General Assembly, as the most universal and representative body of the international community, must declare that right unequivocally and single out those who prevent it with the utmost political rigor.
The General Assembly can do more. The Assembly has the power to declare Israel’s genocide and apartheid for what they are: crimes against humanity. It can urge Member States to impose an arms embargo on Israel and exclude that country from participation in international organizations and conferences under the auspices of the United Nations.
It must demand the opening of all border crossings, entry points, and humanitarian corridors to ensure safe and unrestricted humanitarian access under the direct supervision of the UN, and urge States in a position to do so to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population.
To that end, in light of other proposals and the impotence of the Security Council, a resumed session of the 10th emergency special session of the General Assembly must be convened urgently, at which a comprehensive set of measures can be analyzed and approved by majority vote to put an end to the inaction of the United Nations.
The Palestinian cause is not only a pending political issue, it is the litmus test for the credibility of the multilateral system, it is the litmus test for the UN’s ability to defend the purposes and principles for which it was founded, precisely on the 80th anniversary of its creation.
Thank you very much.

While Asking For Peace, The United States Denies Genocide

The left must unite in a common front

Photo: Prensa Latina

A declaration of solidarity with Palestine, which condemns the clear violations of human rights committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, and denounces the genocide against that people, and their forced displacement, as well as the complicity of imperialism in such crimes, marked the final day of the Second International Meeting of Theoretical Publications of Left Parties and Movements, which concluded yesterday in Havana.
In the wide-ranging debates held by 97 foreign delegates and 59 Cubans, from 43 organizations and 36 media, the formation of a collective thinking on the essential aspects that occupy the left in the world was stimulated.
Enrique Ubieta Gómez, director of the Cuba Socialista magazine and coordinator of the event, alluded, in his summary remarks, to significant issues that marked the meeting, such as the confrontation to cultural colonialism and the challenges of leftist youth in times of neo-fascism.
Ubieta referred that the call is to unity in the face of the great global problems, to the unity of the oppressed, which is strengthened from the diversity and plurality of the left movements, and the participation and criticism to find the necessary paths.
In this purpose of articulating a “symbolic common front”, some proposals were to create a permanent mechanism of work between meetings, which Cuba will cover; to establish a network that systematizes the diversity of publications, and a repository of contents; to create an international advisory council; and to stimulate cooperation between universities, research centers and organizations.
Rescuing the memory of Marxism, keeping revolutionary paradigms alive, denouncing blockades, and supporting just causes and struggles were other aspects mentioned by Ubieta, who recalled the need to generate confidence and certainty that a better world is possible and essential.

CUBA presents at The Int’l. Court of Justice

Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of ‘Israel’ in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem testimony was initiated in the United Nations in December 2022.

Fifty-two States and three international organizations have expressed their intention to participate in the oral proceedings before the Court.

Cuba will present its statement on Wednesday, Feb. 21 at 5 am ET, 2 am PT and 11 to 11:30 local time The Hague. And can be viewed at https://webtv.un.org/

On 30 December 2022, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution A/RES/77/247 with 87 votes in favor, 26 against, and 53 abstentions.[9][10][11]

Summary
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) holds public hearings in the advisory proceedings on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
Description

The International Court of Justice (ICJ), the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, holds public hearings on the request for an advisory opinion on the Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, from 19 to 26 February 2024, at the Peace Palace in The Hague, the seat of the Court. Session held under the presidency of Judge Nawaf Salam, President of the Court.