Mohammed El-Kurd

Mohammed El-Kurd (محمد الكرد‎, born May 15, 1998) is a Palestinian writer and poet from Sheikh Jarrah in East Jerusalem.[1] He was pursuing a Master's in the United States before returning to Sheikh Jarrah to protest the forced evictions there, including his family's.[2][1] He has gained prominence for his description of Israeli occupation, often referring to the evictions as a form of ethnic cleansing,[3] and the occupation as a whole as apartheid and settler colonialism.[4][5]

Mohammed El-Kurd
محمد الكرد
Born
Mohammed El-Kurd
محمد الكرد

(1998-05-15) May 15, 1998
Sheikh Jarrah, Jerusalem
NationalityPalestinian
OccupationWriter, poet
Known forActivism
RelativesMuna El Kurd (twin sister)

Early life

Mohammed El-Kurd was born in Sheikh Jarrah, a Palestinian neighbourhood in East Jerusalem. In 2009, when he was 11 years old, Israeli settlers took over part of his family's home in Sheikh Jarrah.[6] El-Kurd was the main subject of the 2013 documentary film My Neighbourhood by Julia Bacha and Rebekah Wingert-Jab.[7]

Campaigning for Sheikh Jarrah
Further information: Palestinian displacement in East Jerusalem and Sheikh Jarrah controversy

El-Kurd has been documenting and speaking out against Palestinians being forced out of their homes in Sheikh Jarrah.[8][9][10] Mohammed and his twin sister Muna started campaigning to raise awareness of the forced evictions in Sheikh Jarrah through social media channels.[11][12] In combination, the twins have hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitter and millions of followers on Instagram. Unlike his sister, Mohammed often posts in English for a Western audience.[13]

Mohammed and Muna were both detained by the Israeli police on June 6, 2021.[14][15] They were later released on the same day after being detained for several hours.[16] During the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, El-Kurd appeared on American TV channels CNN, MSNBC, and CBSN.[13]

In 2021, Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd were named to TIME magazine’s annual list of the 100 most-influential people in the world.[17][18]

Published works

Since 2021, El-Kurd has been the Palestine Correspondent for The Nation.[19]

El-Kurd writes his poetry and articles in English. He writes on the themes of dispossession, ethnic cleansing, systemic and structural violence, settler colonialism, Islamophobia and gender roles. Notable examples include:

  • Dear President Obama … I hope you won't remain silent, The Guardian, 2013.[20]
  • Palestinian women: An untold history of leadership and resistance, Al Jazeera, 2018.[21]
  • My Grandmother, Icon of Palestinian Resilience, The Nation, 2020.[22]
  • Tomorrow My Family and Neighbors May Be Forced From Our Homes by Israeli Settlers, The Nation, 2020.[23]
  • Why are Palestinians being forced to prove their humanity?, +972 Magazine, 2020.[12]
  • If they steal Sheikh Jarrah, Mada Masr, 2021.[24]
  • The Israeli Military Shot My Cousin—and the US Bears Part of the Blame, The Nation, 2021.[25]
  • Rifqa, Haymarket Books, 2021.[26]

References
  1. "This Palestinian Writer Is Going Viral For Challenging US Coverage of Israel-Palestine". www.vice.com. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  2. "Mohammed El-Kurd | Al Jazeera News | Today's latest from Al Jazeera". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  3. "Poet Mohammed El-Kurd Detained in Sheikh Jarrah After Condemning Israeli Apartheid on U.S. TV". Democracy Now!. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  4. HatuqaMay 15, 2021, Dalia HatuqaDalia; A.m, 10:00. "Settlement Push in East Jerusalem Neighborhood Shows Israeli "Apartheid"". The Intercept. Retrieved May 16, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. Dazed (May 14, 2021). "It's not a 'conflict': how to talk about Palestine". Dazed. Retrieved May 16, 2021.
  6. Alfred, Charlotte (January 29, 2016). "Young Palestinian Poet Brings To Life The Troubles Of Jerusalem". HuffPost. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  7. Wingert-Jabi, Rebekah; Bacha, Julia; Smith, Source: Just Vision Picture by Emily (March 17, 2013). "My Neighbourhood: a Palestinian boy's view of Israeli settlements – video". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  8. "A new generation of Palestinians will not abandon Sheikh Jarrah". Mondoweiss. May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  9. "'We're not leaving our rightful homes': Mohammed el-Kurd speaks to MEE on Sheikh Jarrah". Middle East Eye. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  10. "Palestinian poet and writer Mohammed El-Kurd on being forced out of his Sheikh Jarrah home by Israeli forces". MSNBC.com. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  11. "How East Jerusalem flashpoint Sheikh Jarrah got its own hashtag". SWI swissinfo.ch. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  12. December 3, Mohammed El-Kurd; Edit, 2020 | (December 3, 2020). "Why are Palestinians being forced to prove their humanity?". +972 Magazine. Retrieved May 12, 2021.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  13. Saba, Claudia (2021). "Mainstreaming Anti-colonial Discourse on Palestine: Mohammed El-Kurd's Discursive Interventions". Tripodos (51): 49–67. doi:10.51698/tripodos.2021.51p49-67. ISSN 2340-5007.
  14. "Israel arrests Palestinian activist Muna el-Kurd in East Jerusalem". BBC News. June 6, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  15. "Israeli police detain Palestinian activist twins from East Jerusalem's Sheikh Jarrah". BBC News. June 6, 2021. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  16. "Israel releases Sheikh Jarrah activists after hours-long arrests". Al Jazeera News. Retrieved June 6, 2021.
  17. "Sheikh Jarrah's El-Kurd twins make TIME top 100 list". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  18. "Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd: The 100 Most Influential People of 2021". Time. Retrieved September 16, 2021.
  19. Mohammed El-Kurd
  20. Kurd, Mohammed El (March 17, 2013). "Dear President Obama … I hope you won't remain silent". the Guardian. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  21. El-Kurd, Mohammed. "Palestinian women: An untold history of leadership and resistance". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  22. El-Kurd, Mohammed (July 1, 2020). "My Grandmother, Icon of Palestinian Resilience". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  23. El-Kurd, Mohammed (November 20, 2020). "Tomorrow My Family and Neighbors May Be Forced From Our Homes by Israeli Settlers". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  24. "If they steal Sheikh Jarrah". Mada Masr. Retrieved May 12, 2021.
  25. Aqel, Ryah; El-Kurd, Mohammed (March 2, 2021). "The Israeli Military Shot My Cousin—and the US Bears Part of the Blame". The Nation. ISSN 0027-8378. Retrieved May 17, 2021.
  26. EL-KURD, MOHAMMED (2021). RIFQA. [S.l.]: HAYMARKET BOOKS. ISBN 978-1-64259-586-4. OCLC 1243968289.
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