Media coverage
Al-Quds Al-Arabi · 2021-09
The article reports that twin siblings Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd were selected among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for 2021 because of their role in defending Sheikh Jarrah and bringing the neighborhood’s plight under occupation to global attention. It cites Mohammed El-Kurd as saying the selection is a positive sign for centering the Palestinian cause internationally, while stressing that symbolic recognition is not enough without structural change in the media system and an end to pro-Zionist bias; the piece also notes broad Palestinian praise for the siblings.
The article reports that twin siblings Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd were selected among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world for 2021 because of their role in defending Sheikh Jarrah and bringing the neighborhood’s plight under occupation to global attention. It cites Mohammed El-K…
Gaza - Jerusalem - “Al-Quds Al-Arabi”: Once again, the name of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in the occupied city of Jerusalem, threatened with demolition by the occupation authorities, has returned to the forefront, after the American magazine “Time” selected two of the neighborhood’s champions, the twin siblings Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd, among the 100 most influential people in the world, for their major efforts in the ongoing battle to defend the neighborhood, which cost them arrest, harassment, and severe penalties imposed on them by the occupation.
The selection of Mohammed and Muna came after they had moved to the forefront of the neighborhood’s residents and led the battle to defend their homes threatened with demolition, and succeeded in highlighting the neighborhood’s cause and bringing it to global attention, as Muna became known for her image behind the slogan “We Will Not Leave” written on the wall of her home.
In addition to their participation in all activities defending the neighborhood, the two siblings also stood out greatly on social media, where they recounted the grave injustice the neighborhood’s families were subjected to by the occupation, through its attempt to forcibly displace them for the second time, the first having been the displacement of their parents in 1948.
Thus, their pages became a source of news carried by media outlets about what the residents of Sheikh Jarrah were facing, when the occupation forces imposed a tight siege on it, preventing journalists, Jerusalemites, and residents of the 1948 areas from entering it to support its residents.
"Through online posts and media appearances, sibling activists Mohammed (@m7mdkurd) and Muna El-Kurd provided the world with a window into living under occupation in East Jerusalem this spring," writes @sanya_mansoor #TIME100 https://t.co/N48T1QqKi9
— TIME (@TIME) September 15, 2021
Mohammed El-Kurd says that the selection of him and his sister Muna by the American magazine among the 100 most influential people in the world for 2021 is “a positive indicator toward centering the Palestinian cause in the global public sphere.”
He wrote on his Twitter account: “But the making of symbols that reduces the struggle of an entire people into a single face is not enough to support the Palestinian people,” and continued: “What we demand is a radical and tangible change to the media system that includes Time, to end its bias toward Zionism, and push it to be bolder in speaking about liberation movements and Palestinian resistance in all its forms.”
He stressed that “the new era being witnessed by Palestinian men and women was the result of organizing and cumulative struggle by hundreds of thousands of Palestinians,” adding: “The Palestinians’ struggle against the colonial system for seven decades took place without any thanks or international recognition.”
Statement. pic.twitter.com/UNpYZL4HdZ
— Mohammed El-Kurd (@m7mdkurd) September 15, 2021
It is worth noting that “Time” magazine, commenting on its selection of the El-Kurd siblings, said that through online posts and media appearances, the activists Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd opened a window for the world to understand “what it is like to live under occupation in East Jerusalem, helping to bring about an international shift in discourse regarding Israel and Palestine.”
The magazine also addressed what the neighborhood’s residents suffer, noting that for more than a decade, the El-Kurd family, along with dozens of their neighbors in Sheikh Jarrah, have been fighting against the forced eviction of their homes by Israeli settlers.
It said: “Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd, who were briefly detained by the Israeli authorities this summer, challenged prevailing narratives about Palestinian resistance through posts and interviews, humanizing the experiences of their neighbors and responding to suggestions that the violence was largely by Palestinians.”
“Time” indicated that the El-Kurd siblings possess “an engaging and bold personality, and have become the most prominent voices for those threatened with losing their homes in Sheikh Jarrah,” and said they helped inspire the Palestinian diaspora to renew protests. It added: “In the United States, long Israel’s strongest ally, polling shows increasing support for Palestinians.”
As a reminder, the twin siblings did not begin their journey of defending the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood only in the past year; they had been known since childhood for documenting the insults and attacks residents were subjected to by the occupation and settlers.
Following the American magazine’s announcement, Palestinians celebrated the El-Kurd siblings on social media. Palestinian government spokesperson Ibrahim Melhem commented: “Mohammed and Muna El-Kurd on the cover of Time among the 100 most influential figures in the world for 2021. The Prime Minister extends congratulations to the militant Jerusalemite twins,” while Husam Zomlot, Palestine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, wrote after posting the siblings’ images published in “Time”: “A new and great generation.”
As for Omar Shaban Ismail, an activist in the field of NGO work in Gaza, he said: “Palestine’s youth, Muna and Mohammed El-Kurd, are among the most influential in the world, according to the prestigious Time magazine. Popular diplomacy, youth, pride, and skill.”
Text © Al-Quds Al-Arabi — archived here with attribution to the source. — Machine translation for archival reference. — Original source