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• 03 / 18 / 2009

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He recalled that it was on April 4, 1979, when the Cuban-Arab communities of Lebanese, Syrian, and Palestinian origin united to found the UAC, for the purpose of preserving the identity, culture, traditions, and emotional bonds with the homelands of their ancestors.

Among the activities to be held, he mentioned the placing of wreaths by the monument of Cuba's National Hero José Martí at Revolution Square and in the mausoleum of this community at Havana's Colón Cemetery , and a meeting of UAC founders.

Deriche added that in May, the UAC will organize the 14th International Poetry Festival dedicated to Palestinian poet Mahmud Darwish; in June, it will celebrate the Day of Arab Pride and the International Symposium The Arab Imprint on the World; and in December, it will hold the award ceremony of the Abdala Literary Contest.

Likewise, it will focus its attention in book launches, the screening of an Arab film on national television, and the placing of a plaque in memory of the settlement of the Arab neighbourhood in Havana.

The UAC president underlined the patriotic and revolutionary nature of the Cuban-Arab communities, particularly the struggle for the Arab and Palestinian causes, and condemned the genocide committed by the Zionist regime of Israel in the Gaza Strip.

The president of the Cuban Association of Social Communication in Havana, Juan Ayús, acknowledged the work of Iraqi journalist Muntadhar al-Zaidi, who, to denounce the destruction and numerous deaths caused by the US war against his country, threw his shoes at George W. Bush, the US president at the time.

(ACN)