Che Guevara and Palestine: Sierra Maestra to Gaza
When the Latin American revolution met the spirit of Palestinian resistance
More than half a century ago, on 9 October 1967, the rifle of the Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara fell silent in the Bolivian mountains. Yet the echo of his words has remained alive across the Global South, from the Andes to the refugee camps of Gaza.
Today, 58 years after his death, the question returns: What connected the Argentine doctor who fought in the Cuban jungles with the Palestinian people, who have resisted occupation for decades? Was the connection merely symbolic, or did Che leave a tangible mark on Palestinian revolutionary thought?
From Buenos Aires to the Sierra Maestra to Gaza
Ernesto Guevara de la Serna — later known simply as Che — was born in Argentina in 1928. He abandoned his medical studies in pursuit of what he called “healing the world from injustice.” His journey across Latin America transformed him into one of the key figures of the 1959 Cuban Revolution that overthrew the US-backed Batista regime.
But Guevara was not content with Cuba’s victory. He believed that true revolution knows no borders, declaring that “every true revolution is a war of liberation against colonialism.”
This internationalist vision would eventually set the stage for a symbolic meeting between him and Palestine. In June 1959, only a few months after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara arrived in the Gaza Strip, which was then under Egyptian administration. Although his visit lasted only two days, it carried profound meaning. He toured the refugee camps of Al-Bureij and Al-Nuseirat, met with early Palestinian resistance figures, and visited several training camps in the Gaza Strip.
Photographs of him among the refugee tents quickly circulated in international newspapers, placing Palestine on the map of “global liberation movements.” Che’s visit bridged the struggle against imperialism in Latin America with the fight against Zionist colonialism in the Middle East. He was the first world leader to treat Palestinians as a national liberation movement, not merely a humanitarian issue.
Palestinian historian and researcher Salman Abu Sitta later described the visit as “a historic event that marked the beginning of the internationalisation of the Palestinian cause.”
From Guevara to the fedayeen: Deep roots in thought and practice
During the 1960s and 1970s, Palestinian factions — especially the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), began adopting the internationalist rhetoric inspired by Che’s ideas. His portrait was raised in refugee camps, alongside chants of his immortal slogan: “Hasta la victoria siempre – Until victory, always.”
Many Palestinian cadres trained according to the foco theory (foco meaning a small revolutionary nucleus) — the strategy Che developed in Cuba and Bolivia: small vanguard groups capable of igniting a mass uprising. Some Palestinian training camps in Lebanon were even named “Camp Che Guevara.”
To this day, Che’s name remains embedded in Palestinian popular memory: streets and cafés in Gaza and the West Bank bear his name; murals depict him alongside Gamal Abdel Nasser and Yasser Arafat; and in the Nuseirat refugee camp stands the Che Guevara Cultural Club, founded by leftist youth in the 1990s.
While his influence is often described as symbolic, historians note that such symbolism is an essential part of revolutionary power itself. Every liberation movement needs icons that transcend geography to inspire others.
On the 58th anniversary of his death, Che’s words still echo on the walls of Gaza and the West Bank: “If I return, I shall come back with all the poor who believed in me.”
Perhaps that is why a graffiti artist in Khan Younis once wrote beneath his portrait: “Guevara did not die in Bolivia… he lives in every street that resists occupation.”
Conclusion: When revolutions intersect
Che Guevara’s story with Palestine was not a passing diplomatic visit, but rather a symbolic meeting of two revolutions sharing the same goal – freedom.
From the mountains of the Sierra Maestra to the refugee camps of Gaza, Che embodied the idea that revolution has no nationality and justice is indivisible. “Wherever there is injustice,” he once said, “it is the duty of every human being to fight it.”
In his memory, we repeat his own words, ones that remain as urgent today as ever: “You cannot trust imperialism, not even for a single second.” “Hasta la victoria siempre – Until victory, always.”