Israeli occupation forces today detained Palestinian activists Muna el-Kurd, the leader of the #SaveSheikhJarrah campaign that has mobilized local and international action against Israel’s plan to displace dozens of Palestinian families from their homes in the occupied Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah.
Later on Sunday, lawyer Nasser Odeh, speaking outside the police station, confirmed to the reporters that Mohammed was also arrested and the siblings faced “committing acts that disturb public security” and “taking part in riots”.
Moment the 23 year old Muna el-Kurd is arrested from her home. She says “call the lawyer, don’t be afraid”.#SheikhJarrah pic.twitter.com/IbASAVpVYV
— لينة (@LinahAlsaafin) June 6, 2021
Nabil el-Kurd, Muna’s father, told reporters that an Israeli police force savagely raided their home in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, detained his daughter, and handed a notice ordering her brother, Mohammad, who was not at the home at the time of the raid, to turn himself to the police.
He said Muna was taken to an Israeli police station in Salaheddine Street in the occupied capital
Three months ago, Muna launched an online campaign under the hashtag #SaveSheikhJarrah to highlight the plight of the homeowners threatened with displacement. In a recent interview, she explained resiliently that “if their families are evicted, the rest of Jerusalem will be taken too”.
Muna and her brother, Mohammad, whose family has been living under the threat of displacement from their house in the Karm al-Jaouni quarter in Sheikh Jarrah, have been keeping the world well-informed about the situation there.
The el-Kurd family is one of four families who were initially set to be expelled at the beginning of May. Half of their home was seized by a group of Israeli settlers in 2009.
zionist occupation forces have arrested and detained muna el kurd and are searching for her brother, mohammed el kurd #FreeMunaElKurd #SaveSheikhJarrah pic.twitter.com/0U1cg9ePct
— #SaveSheikhJarrah #SaveSilwan (@lagzla) June 6, 2021
On May 2, the Israeli district court ruled that the four households must be evicted or reach a compromise with settler organizations by paying rent and recognizing them as landlords. The families resolutely refused in a sign of renewed resistance.
Following Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem in 1967, settler groups launched legal battles to take over the area, claiming the land of Sheikh Jarrah belonged to Jews prior to the 1948 war in Palestine, despite the fact that Palestinian families in the neighborhood have been there for generations.
(WAFA, PC, Social Media)
