Mural in the West Bank Painted in Honor of Cuba and Venezuela

A large mural named "Al Ahrar" (Liberators in Arabic) was painted on a wall in the illegally occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank in honor of Cuba and Venezuela, local media reported Tuesday.

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The stone wall, which measures 10 meters wide by three high, is located on the highest summit of the city of Dura, in the southern West Bank. In Dura, and more generally in Palestine, murals are an important way to showcase the art and the political perspectives of the Palestinian people.

Faces of revolutionary leaders including historical Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara, and former Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez were recreated along with the face of Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat.

The idea of the mural, which is 90 percent complete, came up about one year ago, according to the president of the Palestinian-Cuban friendship association, Mohamed Abuatwan.

"We wanted to record the brotherhood ties between our peoples," said Abuatwan who pointed to the struggle that people in Palestine share with people in Venezuela and Cuba due to the illegal blockade imposed by the government of the United States.

Abuatwan also praised Cuba’s humanism and solidarity for sending medical teams in numerous countries worldwide to assist in the fight against the spread of the new coronavirus.

The occupied Palestinian territories including the West Bank and Gaza are struggling with a health and economic crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic, while the Israeli occupation is hampering effective responses to face the outbreak. Several organizations have warned of an imminent humanitarian disaster if nothing is done to relieve the Palestinians.

The head of Gaza's National Committee for Breaking the Siege Jamal al-Khudari said Sunday that the economy is in serious decline, especially in Gaza.

Since 2006, Israel has imposed a blockade on the Gaza Strip, where nearly two million Palestinians live in a densely populated coastal enclave. Key sectors including the economy, health and education have been adversely affected by the illegal siege that left the Strip unprepared for such a crisis.

As of Tuesday, there are 308 COVID-19 cases in Palestine and the death toll is two.