Ferguson to Palestine & Hatuey to the Cuban Five

The racist attacks in Ferguson in the U.S. are nothing new in the history of the United States government's treatment of its downtrodden and, in particular, Afro-Americans who were being lynched until recently.  The police brutality meted out against Blacks and Michael Brown’s recent death, are the continuation of the same hegemonic-read imperialist democracy, approach and practices and nothing else could be expected!

This is why the U.S. government wholeheartedly stands behind the genocidal practices of the Zionist apartheid regime of Israel against the people of Gaza/Palestine and does not hesitate in arming it to its teeth with sophisticated military hardware and software paid for by U.S. taxpayers, through "assistance/cooperation" programs which amount to billions of dollars annually!

While in the history of struggles against colonialism/imperialism many characters are to be recognized.   In Cuba, Hatuey, a slave who led other slaves against Spanish colonialism/slavery, was burned at stake so that the rest of the society would not dare to challenge the unjust system which was in place at the time in 1512.

Today the Cuban Five, symbols of the struggles of nations for sovereignty and independence, are paying with their lives behind bars of the dungeons of U.S. imperialism, for the "crimes" they have committed in their youth and are committing today!  In their youth, the Cuban Five committed the “crimes” of joining the internationalist brigades of Cuban volunteers in Africa, to fight against South Africa’s apartheid regime for Angola and Namibia, along with their sisters and brothers from the continent, who were ready to die for the causes of justice and self-determination.

Today, the same U.S. government that classified Nelson Mandela as a "terrorist" until just a few years ago, is exacting revenge against the Cuban Five for their valour and their tenacity in daring to declare their solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza and, for sure, their heart goes out to the family of Michael Brown’s, who was gunned down by a racist policeman in Ferguson.

To build a "jury of millions" in order to bring the Cuban Five home to their loved ones, we won't stop marching in solidarity against the war in Gaza/Palestine and the racist murder in Ferguson, U.S..  While justice is denied to Michael Brown’s family and many others like them; while the people of Gaza/Palestine live under a genocidal land/sea/air blockade while resisting occupation; and while the Cuban Five anti-terrorist political prisoners of the empire and their fellow comrades like Oscar Lopez Rivera, Mumia Abu Jamal, Leonard Peltier and others are not released from the torture chambers of U.S. dungeons, WE WILL KEEP MOBILIZING!

Join us in Ottawa at the Peoples' Social Forum and come with us to Cuba for the X Int'l Colloquium to Free the Cuban Five and Against Terrorism in September.

Take care and have a nice day.
Brotherly,

Morteza Gorgzadeh
Toronto Forum on Cuba
www. torontoforumoncuba.com
[email protected]

PS. There are three workshops on Cuba and the Cuban Five at the Peoples' Social Forum.  Don't miss them!