From Gaza to Cuba: Palestinian Medical Students Caught In Two Crises

While the U.S. government backs genocide in Gaza, Cuba has given refuge to hundreds of Palestinian medical students, providing them scholarships to study on the island.

Jenen Hani Alean Alzwaraa was studying to become a doctor in Cuba when Israel escalated its ethnic cleansing of Palestinians in Gaza after October 7, 2023. 

She had already lost family members, friends and her house to Israeli attacks.

After October 7, she struggled to study, worrying about her mother and other family members. She has been unable to return home.

“As a Palestinian, seeing my people being exterminated causes me indescribable pain and anger,” she told Belly of the Beast last year. “I suffer from stress, depression and insomnia. I can barely pay attention to my studies.”

“Thanks to Cuba, I can be the hope of my family and of many Palestinian women,” she said.

Murid Abukhater also came to Cuba to study medicine, enrolling at the Latin American School of Medicine (ELAM). 

His goal has always been to return to Gaza as a doctor to care for his family and community. Our documentary From Gaza to Cuba follows his journey.

The country where Jenen and Murid found refuge is now confronting its own deepening crisis.

U.S. sanctions and an oil blockade have worsened shortages of fuel, food and medicine in Cuba and contributed to blackouts lasting for hours—sometimes days.

In August, UN human rights experts warned that the measures risk creating a “silent Gaza” in Cuba and called on the international community to act before conditions deteriorate further.

Three years after October 7, Jenen and Murid remain caught between those two realities: fearing for loved ones in Gaza while enduring the U.S. government’s economic war in Cuba.

Watch From Gaza to Cuba HERE.