'One of the most eloquent spokespeople for the Palestinians'

The Arabic sign reads: Save Shaykh Jarrah neighbourhood: We will not leave, we will remain steadfast

Fr David Neuhaus SJ, an Israeli Jesuit priest, born in South Africa to a Jewish family writes: I am often asked what we can do for equality, justice, and peace in Palestine/Israel today. One of the ways I answer is that we must listen to Palestinians and facilitate the hearing of their voices. Too often, Palestinian voices are marginalized and even outlawed.

One of the most eloquent spokespeople for the Palestinians in the West is Mohammed El-Kurd, a 28-year-old writer and poet. He came to fame as a child growing up in East Jerusalem's Shaykh Jarrah neighbourhood, when his family home was invaded by Jewish Israeli settlers. He and his twin sister, Muna, became active defending their home, their neighbourhood, their city, and their country.

In his newest book 'Perfect Victims' (2025), El-Kurd shows how Palestinians are expected to follow strict rules in protesting their being victims of Israeli colonization, ethnic cleansing, and genocide. They are expected to be passive, or else they are quickly labelled as a threat (terrorists, antisemites, fanatics, radicals), themselves becoming the aggressors. He challenges the strategy of pandering to respectability to establish credibility. Rather than begging for pity, the book affirms resistance, steadfastness (sumud), and political agency.

He has regularly condemned the characterization of Palestinian resistance as terrorism, while Israeli policies of ethnic cleansing and genocide are too quickly justified as self-defence. He is a supporter of mobilizing the West to impose boycott, disinvestment and sanctions on Israel in order to achieve freedom for Palestinians.

View Mohammed recently interviewed on French television: www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkM0mYPIYdU

View a clip showing 13-year-old Mohammed describing his neighbourhood: www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksnLom8OD9E

In 2019, Mohammed produced an album with Clarissa Bitar, an oud-player. His stark poetry against the background of the oud can be heard on this playlist: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhI8TNq2XXA