Mohammed El-Kurd - His Own Words

You can buy El-Kurd's book Rifqa here Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd talks to CNN (2021) Appearance at the UN - The Palestinian Nakba — or catastrophe — happened decades ago, but the people of Palestine continue to suffer under Israeli colonialism, asserts writer and poet Mohammed El-Kurd. Following the air strikes of May 2021, the people of Gaza City have had their homes destroyed or occupied, facing homelessness and heartbreak. But change is still possible, says El-Kurd, as people protest and pressure their leaders to act. In a moving speech at the UN's event for the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, he called for justice, liberation and a free Palestine in his lifetime. Democracy Now - October 10 2023 - Palestinian writer Mohammed El-Kurd says Western reaction to Israel’s assault on Gaza has once again highlighted the double standard when it comes to how Israeli and Palestinian lives are valued. Israel is bombarding the densely populated coastal territory in retaliation for Saturday’s Hamas attack on southern Israel, as well as tightening the existing siege even further. Israeli officials have vowed to wipe out Hamas despite warnings of massive civilian casualties inside Gaza. “One wonders how much bloodshed, how much Palestinian death is necessary for people to realize that violence begets violence and that the occupation and the colonization of Palestine, the blockade of the Gaza Strip needs to end for all of this violence to end.” El-Kurd also accuses Israeli officials and Western media outlets of using Islamophobic tropes by spreading as-yet-unverified claims of sexual violence and beheadings by Hamas fighters, while downplaying the documented death and devastation being inflicted on Gaza residents. On November 1st 2023 the Palestine Festival of Literature staged a free, public event in New York titled: But We Must Speak: On Palestine and the Mandates of Conscience. Palestinian poet, activist and journalist, Mohammed El-Kurd opened the evening. “When we try to dictate who is and who isn’t ‘mournable’, when we emphasise the death of women and children as though the death of our men isn’t heart-breaking we are shrinking the scope of humanity for everybody else” Palestinian writer, poet and journalist Mohmmed El-Kurd spoke at an event in London where he mourned the death of Palestinian academic Refaat ElAreer who was killed by an Israeli air strike in Gaza. (Dec 13, 2023) Mohammed el-Kurd spoke about the current situation in Palestine at UMass-Amherst on November 13, 2023. As always, edited by Ian Anderson (@starsalwayslost), with special thanks / credit to Sina Rahmani + The East is a Podcast. Robin Brickner is our social media coordinator. Our Twitter presence is @AntiImpArchive, and if you would like to reach out directly we have an email address at: [email protected] We have AIA business cards with QR codes - please email or DM us to have one mailed to you