Che in Gaza, 1959

Che Guevara’s brief visit to Gaza in 1959 marked the beginning of Palestine’s recognition as a global anti-colonial cause and established a lasting connection between Latin American revolutions and Palestinian resistance movements.

In June 1959, a few months after the success of the Cuban Revolution, Che Guevara visited the Gaza Strip, then under Egyptian administration, at the invitation of Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser. This visit lasted only two days but carried profound symbolic and practical significance. During his time in Gaza, Guevara toured several refugee camps, including Al-Bureij and Al-Nuseirat, meeting early Palestinian resistance figures and visiting training camps. He was greeted enthusiastically by Palestinian leaders and residents, who saw in him a symbol of anti-imperialist struggle.

Che meeting with local Palestinian leaders in Gaza.

The visit coincided with the aftermath of the 1948 Nakba and the ongoing displacement of Palestinians. Gaza had become a temporary home for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians expelled from their original villages, making it a focal point of resistance and humanitarian concern. Guevara’s presence highlighted the struggle against Zionist colonization as part of a global anti-colonial movement, linking Latin American revolutionary ideals to the Palestinian cause.

Che Guevara became an enduring icon among Palestinian activists, particularly within leftist factions like the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and the Palestinian People’s Party. His image—often displayed alongside slogans such as “Hasta la victoria siempre”—inspired a sense of transnational solidarity and the belief in armed resistance against occupation.

Some Palestinian training camps in Lebanon were even named after him, and cultural organizations, such as the Che Guevara Cultural Club in the Nuseirat camp, were established by youth groups embracing his revolutionary ethos.

Academically, Palestinian students engaging with Che’s writings and Latin American revolutionary texts found that his experiences in Cuba offered new ways of conceptualizing their own struggle, fostering political imagination beyond conventional discourses of state-building. His foco theory of guerrilla warfare provided a model for small revolutionary nuclei capable of sparking broader popular uprisings.

Che’s visit also facilitated international recognition of the Palestinian cause. Cuba subsequently provided scholarships to Palestinian students, granted citizenships to stranded individuals, and hosted conferences in support of Palestine. His visit marked a pivotal moment in integrating Palestinian liberation within a wider network of anti-colonial and socialist movements across Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

Even decades after his death, Che remains a symbolic link between revolutionary struggles worldwide and the Palestinian fight against occupation, exemplifying how a historical figure can inspire both local and transnational solidarity.

Che Guevara’s engagement with Palestine, although brief, carried lasting significance. He not only recognized Palestinian resistance as a legitimate national liberation movement but also contributed practically and symbolically to the globalization of their struggle. Today, his legacy endures in Palestinian popular memory, in youth activism, and in the broader narrative of anti-imperial solidarity across continents.

Nasser and Che