Bust of Yasser Arafat unveiled in Havana

By Aliana Nieves Quesada
THE ambassador of the State of Palestine, Akram Samhan, stated on November 21 that his people are living in an exceptional situation due to Israeli acts of aggression, while assuring that "the force of right will prevail over the right of force."

Palestinian Leader Yasser Arafat

Speaking during the unveiling in Havana of a bust of Yasser Arafat, leader of the Palestinian Revolution, sculpted by Cuban artist Andrés González, the diplomat accused Israeli leaders of trying to prevent Palestine from requesting recognition as an observer state at the UN General Assembly on November 29.

Rodrigo Alvarez Cambras, president of the Cuban-Arab Friendship Association, read a joint statement with the Cuban Institute of Friendship with the Peoples (ICAP), condemning the acts of genocide perpetrated against Palestinian territories occupied by Israel.

Alvarez Cambras called on the international solidarity movement with Cuba and Palestine to make full use of the alternative media to denounce these crimes.

During the event, led by José Ramón Balaguer, a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party Secretariat and head of its International Relations Department, Kenia Serrano, president of ICAP, noted that despite the brutality with which the Israelis attacked the Mukata (presidential palace) in Ramallah, they were unable to assassinate Arafat, and the media campaign which attempted to discredit him in his people’s eyes only served to increase his status as a man who had become a martyr.