Arab Union of Cuba: Strengthening Ties between Brothers and Sisters

On April 4, 1974, the Arab community of Cuba realized its goal of having an organization around which to unite: the Arab Union of Cuba.

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Those arriving from distant lands sought to share their experiences in Cuban lands, to strengthen ties with their countries of origin, to help the new emigrants. To this end, they chose as a fundamental premise to build an organization without discrimination of origin, religion, having as its purpose the promotion and dissemination of Arab identity, traditions and culture.

Background 

The Arabs who arrived in Cuba came mainly from Syria, Libya and Palestine. According to scholars, "Between 1906 and 1920, 12,219 Arabs arrived in Cuba and between 1921 and 1937 the number of Arab immigrants increased to 21,700 Arabs. As a result of these two large waves and sporadic arrivals of Arab immigrants, the total number reached 33,919 people. In the case of Havana, these groups settled in the Calzada de Jesús del Monte, because that area was close to the port and commercial activity predominated. Undoubtedly, the topography of the place, similar to Lebanon, also had an influence."

The Arab immigrants gradually blended in with the island's population to the point of becoming fully Cuban. However, they never renounced their deep-rooted customs: religiosity, culinary art, clothing and the high degree of belonging to the family as the fundamental nucleus of their existence. 

With an important number of Arab immigrants already in Cuba who had settled definitively throughout the country, the need to group together in institutions, to organize themselves according to their needs, began to emerge.A wide range of activities began, from mutual aid and relief societies, at first, to recreational clubs, with pantheons in cemeteries and a broad social activity. 

Before the foundation of the Arab Union, they were grouped in different organizations according to their place of origin, social group. During those years the Arab Palestinian Society of Cuba stood out, which came to have a prominent role within the Cuban civil society. It influenced Cuba to vote no in the United Nations when it was decided to split Palestine into two states. Other important organizations were the Lebanese Society and the Syrian Progress Society of Havana. 

Finally, as a sign of strengthening ties between brothers and bridge the geographical distances of being far from their roots, they decided to create an organization that would group them without discrimination of origin or religion. Forty-five years later, the Arab Union of Cuba is the space where the Arab community converges to share and keep alive the love for its origins.