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<font size="1"><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/Israel-arrest-muna-and-mohammed-al-kurd-outrage">https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/Israel-arrest-muna-and-mohammed-al-kurd-outrage</a></font>
<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">Sheikh Jarrah: Israel's arrest of outspoken Jerusalem activists sparks outrage</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">By Nur Ayoubi - June 6, 2021<br></div>
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<div><p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>Online, scores of social media users rallied to the support of the al-Kurd siblings following the news of their arrest.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Many have noted how crucial Muna al-Kurd has been in sharing updates
and information directly from Sheikh Jarrah and Jerusalem on her <a href="https://www.instagram.com/muna.kurd15/" target="_blank">Instagram</a> account which has so far amassed 1.3 million followers.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, Mohammed has been active on his <a href="https://twitter.com/m7mdkurd" target="_blank">Twitter</a>
account, uploading videos and live updates from Jerusalem, all the
while making appearances on international news outlets such as<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/were-not-leaving-our-rightful-homes-mohammed-el-kurd-speaks-mee-sheikh-jarrah" target="_blank"> Middle East Eye</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EOrL7fPjPLM&ab_channel=Mvslim" target="_blank">CNN</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S454q_qlJZI&ab_channel=AJ%2BAJ%2BVerified" target="_blank">CBS News</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RPeN0HYIu1c" target="_blank">AJ+</a> for which he has been widely praised online.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<div><blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">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. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/freemunaelkurd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">#freemunaelkurd</a></p>— #SaveSheikhJarrah | آية 𓂆 (@ayaghanameh) <a href="https://twitter.com/ayaghanameh/status/1401485800609570824?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<div><blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">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.</p>— sahar 🇵🇸 (@faIasteeny) <a href="https://twitter.com/faIasteeny/status/1401485624360661000?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<p>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</p>
<div><blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">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 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeMunaElkurd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">#FreeMunaElkurd</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaveSheikhJarrah?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">#SaveSheikhJarrah</a></p>— Zikes 🇵🇸🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@Zikes_) <a href="https://twitter.com/Zikes_/status/1401448517214904321?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<div><blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">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 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePalestine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">#FreePalestine</a> movement esp spreading info to non-palestinians. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreePalestine?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">#FreePalestine</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/FreeMunaElKurd?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">#FreeMunaElKurd</a></p>— adele 🇵🇸 (@moonhyjs) <a href="https://twitter.com/moonhyjs/status/1401455403079065602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<p>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.</p>
<p>Generally, social media users are rallying for the release of the siblings, with some even <a href="https://twitter.com/AdalahJustice/status/1401474001747296258" target="_blank">providing</a> the phone number of the police station in which Muna and Mohammed are held, asking people to phone and demand their release. </p>
<div><blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">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</p>— ً (@oldshoujo) <a href="https://twitter.com/oldshoujo/status/1401506504474247171?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<div><blockquote><p dir="ltr" lang="en">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.</p>— islam (@outvertigo) <a href="https://twitter.com/outvertigo/status/1401492362707312646?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank">June 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
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<p>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.</p>
<p>The siblings have spent their lives defending their home in Sheikh Jarrah from Israeli settlers. In a home-style <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksnLom8OD9E&ab_channel=TheGuardianTheGuardianVerified" target="_blank">video</a>
uploaded nine years ago to the YouTube channel of The Guardian,
teenagers Mohammed and Muna show their lives in their neighbourhood.</p>
<p>In a previous <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-palestine-sheikh-jarrah-women-resilient-fight" target="_blank">interview</a>, Muna told Middle East Eye, “I will not leave my home in Sheikh Jarrah.” Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/video/were-not-leaving-our-rightful-homes-mohammed-el-kurd-speaks-mee-sheikh-jarrah" target="_blank">Mohammed</a> insisted “we’re not leaving our rightful homes”.</p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>Palestinians have appealed the decision at Israel's Supreme Court, and the evictions are currently on hold.</p>
<p>On Sunday 9 May the Supreme Court hearing on the evictions was postponed. A new session is due on 8 June. </p>
<p>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.</p>
<p>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. </p>
<p>In Israel, rockets fired from Gaza killed at least 12 people. </p>
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