[News] Sheikh Jarrah: Israel's arrest of outspoken Jerusalem activists sparks outrage

[Anti-Imperialist News]

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/Israel-arrest-muna-and-mohammed-al-kurd-outrage
Sheikh
Jarrah: Israel's arrest of outspoken Jerusalem activists sparks outrage
By Nur Ayoubi - June 6, 2021
------------------------------

The arrest of the Palestinian activist and journalist Muna al-Kurd and her
brother Mohammed al-Kurd in Jerusalem on Sunday has sparked popular and
international outrage.

The twins, who both face the threat of displacement from their family home,
have become the voice of the online campaign to halt the imminent evictions
of Palestinian residents from the flashpoint East Jerusalem neighbourhood
of Sheikh Jarrah.

Videos posted by friends of the al-Kurds showed Muna being detained from
her home in the presence of her father by armed Israeli police forces,
while Mohammed showed up hours later at the local police station after
receiving a summons warrant.

Online, scores of social media users rallied to the support of the al-Kurd
siblings following the news of their arrest.

The Arabic hashtag #الحرية_لمنى_الكرد, which translates to freedom for Muna
al-Kurd, as well as #FreeMunaalKurd, have been widely circulated online as
thousands reacted to the arrest of the prominent activist.

With a collective social media following of over one million people, both
Mohammed and Muna have established themselves as sources of evidence of
Israeli aggression against Palestinians in Jerusalem.

Many have noted how crucial Muna al-Kurd has been in sharing updates and
information directly from Sheikh Jarrah and Jerusalem on her Instagram
<https://www.instagram.com/muna.kurd15/> account which has so far amassed
1.3 million followers.

Meanwhile, Mohammed has been active on his Twitter
<https://twitter.com/m7mdkurd> account, uploading videos and live updates
from Jerusalem, all the while making appearances on international news
outlets such as Middle East Eye
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/were-not-leaving-our-rightful-homes-mohammed-el-kurd-speaks-mee-sheikh-jarrah>
, CNN <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOrL7fPjPLM&ab_channel=Mvslim>, CBS
News
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S454q_qlJZI&ab_channel=AJ%2BAJ%2BVerified>,
and AJ+ <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPeN0HYIu1c> for which he has been
widely praised online.

On social media, users have highlighted how important the al-Kurd siblings
have been in raising awareness on a global scale and calling for their
immediate release.

the occupation forces have arrested Muna El Kurd today. the El Kurd family
are the reason we’ve gotten the coverage that we’ve gotten and have been at
the forefront of the struggle in the past couple of weeks. the occupation
is afraid of their instagram stories. #freemunaelkurd
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/freemunaelkurd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
— #SaveSheikhJarrah | آية 𓂆 (@ayaghanameh) June 6, 2021
<https://twitter.com/ayaghanameh/status/1401485800609570824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Muna & Mohammed have documented the violence of iof & have been an
important source of accurate information from Sheikh Jarrah. These two have
been reporting about the violent expulsions in Sheikh Jarrah all through
their teen years. All I want right now is their safety.
— sahar 🇵🇸 (@faIasteeny) June 6, 2021
<https://twitter.com/faIasteeny/status/1401485624360661000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Others have suggested that the arrests of the al-Kurds are a continuation
of Israel’s attempt to silence Palestinian voices, noting that without the
siblings, direct updates from the area are almost non-existent

The El kurd siblings have done so much to fight the occupation and raise
awareness , Israel is trying to silence them because of their influence. It
is NOT okay #FreeMunaElkurd
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeMunaElkurd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
#SaveSheikhJarrah
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveSheikhJarrah?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
— Zikes 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@Zikes_) June 6, 2021
<https://twitter.com/Zikes_/status/1401448517214904321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

if you don’t know how serious of an issue the arrest of muna el-kurd is,
imagine everything that you get updates from just suddenly shuts down. the
el-kurds are very crucial to the #FreePalestine
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePalestine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
movement esp spreading info to non-palestinians. #FreePalestine
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePalestine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
#FreeMunaElKurd
<https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeMunaElKurd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>
— adele 🇵🇸 (@moonhyjs) June 6, 2021
<https://twitter.com/moonhyjs/status/1401455403079065602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Many have sympathised with the twins’ father, Nabil al-Kurd as an image of
him sat in front of the police station, waiting for his children to be
released has widely circulated online.

Generally, social media users are rallying for the release of the siblings,
with some even providing
<https://twitter.com/AdalahJustice/status/1401474001747296258> the phone
number of the police station in which Muna and Mohammed are held, asking
people to phone and demand their release.

btw, it is to muna & mohammed el kurd that you owe being informed on the
current climate in occupied palestine to. if it weren’t for them, NONE OF
US wld have known how far things were escalating in sheikh jarrah. pls
speak out to put pressure 4 their release from israeli prisons
— ً (@oldshoujo) June 6, 2021
<https://twitter.com/oldshoujo/status/1401506504474247171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Mohammed el Kurd and Muna el Kurd have inspired us so much, have led an
authentic, brave Palestinian rhetoric that has been missed, overlooked and
silenced. Their arrest is a threat to all of us. Free them now. Free all
Palestinian prisoners. Free them all.
— islam (@outvertigo) June 6, 2021
<https://twitter.com/outvertigo/status/1401492362707312646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw>

Both widely active online, Muna and Mohammed al-Kurd have been at the
forefront of recent activism, battling against the threat of an imminent
court ruling that would see Palestinian occupants in the Sheikh Jarrah
neighborhood displaced from their homes to give way to Israeli settlers.

The siblings have spent their lives defending their home in Sheikh Jarrah
from Israeli settlers. In a home-style video
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksnLom8OD9E&ab_channel=TheGuardianTheGuardianVerified>
uploaded nine years ago to the YouTube channel of The Guardian, teenagers
Mohammed and Muna show their lives in their neighbourhood.

In a previous interview
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-sheikh-jarrah-women-resilient-fight>,
Muna told Middle East Eye, “I will not leave my home in Sheikh Jarrah.”
Meanwhile, Mohammed
<https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/were-not-leaving-our-rightful-homes-mohammed-el-kurd-speaks-mee-sheikh-jarrah>
insisted “we’re not leaving our rightful homes”.

In October 2020, an Israeli court ruled in favour of Israeli settlers who
claim that some eight Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah are living on
land that used to belong to Jews.

Palestinians have appealed the decision at Israel's Supreme Court, and the
evictions are currently on hold.

On Sunday 9 May the Supreme Court hearing on the evictions was postponed. A
new session is due on 8 June.

Meanwhile, Israeli forces aggressively clamped down on solidarity protests
in Sheikh Jarrah and other Palestinian towns in Israel last month,
and raided al-Aqsa Mosque. In retaliation, Hamas fired rockets into Israel,
and Israel pummelled Gaza with bombs.

At least 248 Palestinians were killed by the Israeli bombardment of Gaza,
while 29 were killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem by
Israeli forces. Another two Palestinian citizens of Israel were killed by
Israeli fire in the same period.

In Israel, rockets fired from Gaza killed at least 12 people.
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