This interview was conducted on June 11, 2026 in la Habana, Cuba
The Israeli genocide of Gaza, southern Lebanon and increasingly the West Bank all continue unabated– and thanks to the Orwellian “Board of Peace” created by Donald Trump to prevent UN and international law involvement, this has allowed the complicit western media to move daily attacks on Arab civilians off their front pages, and to reduce their editorial pages to attempting to label human rights defenders “antisemites” for questioning the impunity of the Zionist state.
In the past few days, the remaining stories still being told about the ongoing Gazan genocide have seen the revival of calls to release Dr Hussam Abu Safia– 52 year old director of care of Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza. Never formally charged with a single thing, he was abducted by the IDF after multiple attacks on the civilian infrastructure of the hospital more than 18 months ago as I write this.
His story– he has had seemingly daily beatings and tortures, such that on the last visit to see him, his own lawyer had a hard time recognizing him in person (the source for that statement is Physicians for human rights Israel). [1]
He isn’t alone in that treatment– not even from his own hospital, where multiple other health workers were abducted and labeled “unlawful combatants,” a term Israeli authorities use on health workers they hold without charge for indefinite levels of time.
Israel’s deliberate targeting of health infrastructure inside Gaza is not at all new– From the early months of the genocide, attacks on the Al-Shifa Hospital in November of 2023 produced widespread outcry, as targeting of medical facilities is strictly forbidden in International Law, and in those days western governments and western media still made a pretense of upholding human rights.
In the years since, it is now so common place to have attacks on medical workers that they don’t even rate being reported, and “double tap” attacks– where civilians are bombed, first responders arrive on the scene and then the same place is deliberately attacked a second time in order to kill paramedics, nurses and ambulance drivers– are now common place practice not only in Gaza, but across southern Lebanon, the West Bank and even Iran.
Since the attacks on Al-Shifa, of the 36 hospitals in the Gaza Strip none of them are still fully functional; Only 19 have even partial operating capacity in 2026. As Gaza has been completely cut off from the world, none of the attacked facilities have been able to repair, replace or even maintain their equipment.
Attacks on the medical infrastructure of Gaza (and elsewhere) are a long term strategy of genocide– if people cannot have access to medical care (or food or shelter), they will need to relocate and Israeli ethnic cleansing achieves its goals. Kill off the doctors as another means to kill off the people.
Gaza, as a means of resistance, is historically one of the more educated territories on the earth; Eradicating medical personnel is more than a tactic to cause suffering, it is also about humiliation, and deliberate indignity.
If there is a country that knows about dignity in the face of violent opposition to independence, it is the Republic of Cuba. For 67 years the United States has conducted an illegal blockade of almost all goods for Cuba– and in recent decades expanded to extra territorial punishments of other countries for daring to continue to associate with the Caribbean island.
Since January 29th of this year, Cuba has been in a full naval blockade, akin to the Siege of Leningrad in World War 2 without the bombs. Historically, Cuba has aided many countries throughout the world with doctors on medical missions that would be able to work in almost any circumstances, and it has raised the life expectancy of literal millions of human beings.
In the 1970’s and 80’s, Cuban soldiers fought alongside anti-apartheid movements in multiple African countries, helping end apartheid in countries such as today’s Angola, Namibia and South Africa itself.
When Nelson Mandela spoke often about the incredible thanks his people had for Cuban assistance– it was not just the military victories at Cuito Cuanavale he would reference, but the time and resources (as well as people) that Cuba gave to them free of charge.
Why did South Africa under Mandela hold Cuba in such reverence?
“Because your support has also come through teachers, builders and doctors whom you sent to our continent and through the training of many South Africans in your schools and universities, we are still reaping the harvest as we rebuild our country.”
Today, Cuba is not only being slowly starved of resources, energy, food, hospital functionality, medicine and more– it is threatened with Gaza like siege and possible Iranian like military invasions. Yet Cuban internationalism and solidarity against apartheid has never ended. There are many young medical students from all over Palestine (among other countries) training to become doctors, in order to preserve the existence of their people.
While the IDF deliberately targets the very existence of doctors in Gaza and elsewhere, Cuban medical scholarships– full ride, free of charge– guarantee the existence of medical practitioners in the future. Cuban medical teams are already famous for being able to function in the harshest conditions, where most western doctors could never endure. To be a doctor in Palestine today means to know how to make gauze out of scrap cloth; How to operate in the dark, how to work with only the barest of minimal resources. Being trained by not just some of the best doctors in the world– but the hardiest, most able to function in any adverse situation is an absolute necessity.
Since the beginning of the genocidal oil blockade– as it is correctly termed by Cubans– I have made three separate visits to Cuba, trying to take medications, badly needed hospital equipment, cardiovascular sutures, solar equipment and a lot more to the island– and on the last visit in June, I was able to speak with Murid Abukhater, a doctor who has learned his craft at Cuba’s Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM).
MA: My name is Murid Avocater. I’m a Palestinian from Gaza.
MS: And you’re originally from Gaza?
MA: No, I’m from a refugee family from Palestine, the occupied land of Palestine in 1948, Al-Falujah, which is close to the Gaza Strip.
MS: When did you first come to Cuba?
MA: I came to Cuba in 2017. Well, I came to study medicine here. I arrived a year later. I should have arrived at the beginning of 2017, but I arrived at the end of 2017, so I lost a year of medicine.
MS: What had you been doing before you began your studies here?
MA: I studied nursing in Gaza before coming to Cuba.
MS: Can you tell me how you were able to obtain the scholarship here?
MA: I came via the scholarships Cuba gives out every year as a way of support to Palestinian people, which enable young Palestinians to come to study medicine here. So, it is through these scholarships that I was able to come.
MS: How important has been the solidarity you have received from Cuba to come to study here, both, for yourself and for your community?
MA: This support as any other has been very important. Now, the support for education is fundamental for our struggle because here, we are forming ourselves as medics, and not as any medic, but as ones formed with science, consciousness and also as revolutionary medics, ready to lead in our struggle when we return to our homeland.
MS: Are there any places other than Cuba that have been able to give scholarships to Palestinians?
M Stainsby (L) with Doctor Murid Abukhater, June 11, 2026
MA: Yes, there are many countries that help the Palestinian people by giving them scholarships, not just medicine, but other specialties.
But there are very few countries that give free medicine to students, because it is a very expensive career. The biggest country that gives medical scholarships is Cuba.
MS: Do you intend to go back to Palestine to use the results of your work when you complete your studies?
MA: Yes, of course. That is a dream of every student… it is a goal, not a dream. But with the complications that Palestine is facing now, we cannot go back. For example, I cannot go back to Gaza Strip because it is blocked, the borders are closed. They don’t let people in. They don’t let humanitarian aid in. How are they going to get people in? So yes, we are waiting for the opportunity to go back to help our people.
MS: Do you believe that the occupiers are deliberately targeting medical facilities and medical personnel in Gaza at this point, that Israel is trying to eliminate medical care?
MA: Yes, of course. Israel is attacking everyone. It doesn’t matter if you are from the resistance, a doctor or a nurse, even if you are a civilian, a boy or a girl. They are attacking just because they are Palestinians. And yes, they have killed many doctors who stayed in hospitals, like Al-Shefa Hospital. The doctors who stayed in Al-Shefa Hospital. And they killed these doctors. And I myself lost many colleagues who were studying with me in the infirmary in this genocide for more than two years in Gaza.
MS: As Cuba is becoming increasingly blockaded these days, do you worry that the American campaign is starting to make parallels between Gaza and Cuba?
MA: Well, the situation is almost similar, but we cannot compare them completely. Because Cuba is an independent and sovereign country, but it is suffering from an economic blockade that is making life more difficult, stopping the development of the country, which is a nation that wants to advance but the United States does not like this… and in Gaza, we are a people under a colonial occupation that wants to steal our land. We are in this armed struggle and popular struggle to reach our independent, free country, where it is Palestine, from the river to the sea. But let’s say that the two peoples are suffering almost the same at the same time.
In Gaza, they are living without light, with a lot of difficulties in the health system, and they are starving. Here in Cuba, we are experiencing a blockade that makes the health system and other services more difficult. And it also makes Cuban life more difficult day by day.
So the two peoples are suffering from the same system, which is capitalism and imperialism with Zionism, which are two-sided currencies. The blockade affects many sectors here in Cuba. We are talking about how I am a doctor here, being a pediatric specialist here. In the health system, where we are in hospitals, we are not doing the necessary operations for children. I am doing an orthopedic specialty, which is a speciality that is necessary for children to grow well when they have some difficulties. But because of the blockade, because there is no oil and other blockades, because we cannot use many medical resources, this means that we cannot do these surgeries for these children to help them grow well so when they are grown up, they do not have any difficulties. And other sectors, also the light, the blackouts, and also transportation. This prevents doctors from reaching their hospitals. And as part of the light, when the doctor returns from a long, tiring day and wants to rest at home, he cannot find light and cannot sleep well, so he cannot come the next day to come to work well and pay attention as the doctor. This generally affects the entire population.
MS: Are Palestinian students here worried about being displaced again, possibly from Cuba, if the Americans were to succeed?
MA: We, as Palestinians, I will talk about me as I am here. Yes, what is the concern, as in the case of a Cuban resettlement or not? Well, as we Palestinians understand that the meaning of war, as we lived many years under the war; Each one who came here at least lived two or three wars, attacks like on the Gaza Strip, especially those of the people of the Gaza Strip.
We do not want to get to that point. We want peace, as Cuba is also calling for every day they want peace. Cuba is not a threat to any country, as the United States is saying.
Yes, this is a concern because Cuba is a country, one of the safe countries; We feel we are safe here because there are no bombs here, and we do not want to get to that point. I hope not to get to that point. But this does not create fear in us as Palestinians to be here to support, because as Cuba formed us as doctors to help the Palestinian people in their struggle, we are going to continue to help the Cuban people if this moment comes.
Well, my arrival was a special arrival, because I arrived on December 31, in the morning, and it was the end of the year. So there I went, where there is a Cuban family that received me, with food, parties, music. It was a very nice moment to feel the family support here. In general, the Cuban people are a very kind people, and they always open their arms for anyone who comes from abroad, because they are a very solidarity-based people who like to smile at people’s faces. And I felt this when I arrived, and I felt it among the workers at the ELAM school, and also among the people who live in the towns near the school.
MS: Do you believe it is a coincidence that the countries that the U.S. has been putting the most pressure on or attacking around the world are all the biggest supporters of Palestine? For example, Venezuela and Syria…
MA: [These countries] stand up to their decisions, against their thoughts, their policies, their ideology. And those countries that the U.S. has attacked, like Venezuela and Iran, and that are also trying to blockade Cuba, are countries that have strong solidarity with the Palestinian people and who reject the State of Israel.
And these countries on the political map, or these presidents that are on the political map, how much do they benefit from the narrative of the U.S. and the narrative of Israel that anyone who opposes the U.S. or Israel or on the side of humanity– the right side of history– that the U.S. is going to be there to attack it, to threaten them? What they are doing is using military force to force the government– because the people are never forced by any military force– to support the policy of the U.S. in favour of Israel.
MS: So, What would you like people who live in countries like Canada or Western Europe to know? And if they want, what should they be doing about today? What should people in other countries like Canada or outside of Cuba know? Especially those who have been living in Cuba for a long time– How do they face it? How do they speak about it?
MA: First of all, you have to be well educated about the information you can receive, where to receive it. Because now, with the issue of social networks, where you can receive a lot of false information, these countries support Cuba.
And what is necessary is not only not to think about politics, but to put politics aside and think about humanity, which is the right way for you to always support any human being who needs help. And here, in this moment that Cuba is going through the people are suffering too much. This is not an embargo, as the United States says, “we are blocking the Cuban government.”
It is a total blockade of the whole people who are suffering here. When you stop oil, you make the whole people suffer, who live without electricity, who can’t get transport, who can’t go to the hospital to help the children who need this help. And this is affecting everyone.
So, these people all over the world need to raise their voices against their governments to stop the United States from doing what it is doing to Cuba. And as we always say, all united people will never be defeated.
MS: How do you communicate with people who are still living in Palestine now? What do you tell them about Cuba when they ask? MA: Well, when I talk to my family about Cuba, when they ask me how it is there, of course, they are worried because each family is worried about their children, where they are, in whichever country they are. Well, before I came to Cuba, my family was worried about me coming to Cuba, but they didn’t know about Cuba because of the false narrative. They thought Cuba was a country of many wars, of mafias, of drugs, and all that. And all that was false. It is the false image that we have in our countries.
When I arrived here, it was a country of peace, a wonderful country, good people, and they lived very well. But now, in this very critical situation, my family is worried about what is going to happen, about what is happening in Gaza, what is happening in Palestine, and what is happening in Iran. So, yes, they are worried, but here we are.
MS: Would you like to see more international visitors to return in higher numbers to Cuba? Are you worried about the lack of tourism? Would you like to see more people coming to try to act in solidarity with Cuba here?
MA: Of course. This is a very important support for Cuba, that many brigades, many people come to come and bring humanitarian aid to come here to help Cuba and its people who are suffering. And it is also a message that reaches the US government that Cuba is not alone, that here Cuba resists with the help that comes from people who do not care about politics, who are more about humanity.
That these people do want to stand on the right side of history and be on the side of Cuba. And for Cuba, it is the time to pay the debt to Cuba– because Cuba has been a country of solidarity with many peoples in the world and helped too many people. And now it’s time for us to stop and help Cuba because we don’t want Cuba to fall. Because if Cuba falls, many people will be affected.
First, the Palestinians, because here Cuba has helped many Palestinians to become doctors and return to Palestine to help their people. We have many doctors who graduated from Cuba who are in Palestine helping the Palestinian people in their struggle.
And yes, it is very necessary that many people arrive who are not afraid of the sanctions that the United States is imposing on Cuba. Here Cuba will receive such solidarity with great affection, and Cuba continues to support us. It never stopped giving us loans, even with this economic crisis.
Cuba is always sharing what it has, not what it has left. And it is very valuable that Cuba is doing this, despite what is happening. So yes, it is very necessary and very important that people come here to show their support and also in their own countries, that they go out to the streets to call for the blockade to be brought down.
MS: Two more questions. First: What are your thoughts on Marco Rubio?
MA: I can’t say bad words. He is not Cuban. He is saying that he is Cuban. He is not Cuban. First of all, he was not born in Cuba. He does not know Cuba, it’s his lie. He does not care about the Cuban people because he is not Cuban. He is just following a policy of taking control of Cuba, of a revenge that he has. And not only Cuba. Marco Rubio is hated all over the world. He has a lot of hate.
He is the face of the empire in the world. So there is too much hate for him. And what he is doing is not human at all.
MS: You are wearing a football jersey. So my last question [asked in mid June 2026] is, are you cheering for Iran in the World Cup?
MA: Of course. We support Iran.
We hope that the United States is defeated in real life in football.
MS: Thank you very much and thank you for your time.
MA: You are welcome. Here we are.
The post Interview With a Palestinian Doctor in Cuba appeared first on CounterPunch.org.
This content originally appeared on CounterPunch.org and was authored by Macdonald Stainsby.