Aleida Guevara delayed her return to Cuba after a solidarity visit to Asia and made an intermediate stop in Lebanon to honor the martyrs of the Al Mayadeen pan-Arab channel.
Amid rain and winter weather, the internationalist doctor arrived Monday at the home of journalist Farah Omar, not as the daughter of the heroic guerrilla Ernesto Che Guevara but “as a Cuban mother who defends her children”.
As far as the mountain village of Mashghara, in the West Bekaa region, the ambassador for the Palestinian right of return offered her embrace to the relatives of Farah, killed along with cameraman Rabih Al-Maamari and collaborator Hussein Aquil last week in an Israeli attack in southern Lebanon.
With tears in her eyes and her voice cut off, Aleida did not hesitate to denounce the Israeli crimes and called to keep alive the spirit of resistance of Farah, whom she described as the pride of the youth.
“I am here as a Cuban, we cannot remain silent in the face of this genocide, no one has the right to put an end to the dreams of our children,” she said.
Marked by the pain of the family loss, the internationalist conveyed a message of strength and assured the parents and siblings of the young reporter: “Feel proud, Farah did her duty and she is an example”.
Farah, as her Arabic name indicates, was the joy, affection, versatility and charisma of the family, said her father Hisham Omar, who showed gratitude for so many honors to his daughter.
“The Israelis were afraid of Farah and Al Mayadeen’s voice, they were mortified by the coverage and in their attempt to silence him they first censored them and did not finish until they attacked one of his teams in the south,” he said.
According to him, after assassinating Farah, the Zionists only succeeded in making Al Mayadeen the most committed channel in the coverage in defense of Palestine.
Present at the meeting, the head of the Cuban diplomatic mission here, Jorge León, endorsed the solidarity and support of the Antillean people and government with Farah’s family and the Al Mayadeen network.
During the tour, attended by Prensa Latina, Aleida Guevara placed a wreath at Farah’s tomb, located in the local cemetery of the martyrs of the Lebanese Resistance.
Tomorrow, the multi-media platform will hold an official tribute to correspondent Farah and cameraman Rabih, as well as to collaborator Hussein Aquil, and during the ceremony, Aleida Guevara delivered a speech on behalf of the Cubans.
To quote her at length:
Words cannot express our pain for the ascent of thousands of Palestinian children by these barbaric crimes.
I am the daughter of resistance fighters, and we have no choice but to either ascend as martyrs or to be victorious, but we have never known such a criminal enemy.
This enemy did not fight the resistance fighters but took revenge on the children of Palestine. It is an enemy of cowardice and filth like we have never known.
The zionist state has recorded a record number of its crimes in the history of humanity. It pains us that “israel” escapes punishment, with support from European countries and the United States. What hurts more than “israel’s” escape from punishment is the indifference of many towards these painful events.
The Palestinian people must regain their usurped land and their right to a dignified life.
We demand the truth defended by Al-Mayadeen, which the world needs to know, and which cost the lives of 70 resistant journalists. The martyrs who ascended revealed the glaring truth and the hidden lies of terrorism. Martyrs Farah, Rabie, and others are our motivation to prevent the fall of those seeking to reveal the truth.
We must continue the resistance until death or victory. Our motto will remain “Homeland or death… and we will triumph.”
Renowed Palestinian revolutionary, Leila Khaled, was also in attendance and spoke at length. She stated,
Here is the resistance triumphing on October 7th. We will remain on the martyrs’ path, each from their position.
The path of the martyrs is the path of life, and martyrdom has taught us how to live free. They are the killers and the criminals.
The Palestinian narrative has triumphed over the zionist narrative despite all this destruction and blood.
They will not be on our land for long, and every time our martyrs ascend, the signs of victory appear.
They can cut all of the flowers, but spring will bloom again.
Last Tuesday, Farah, Rabih and Hussein were attacked by Israeli drones in a bombing of the town of Tayr Harfa, while they were covering the events in the south of the country.