Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Israeli police detain Palestinian activist twins from East Jerusalem

Published 06/06/2021, 13:36
Updated 06/06/2021, 21:26
© Reuters. Prominent Palestinian activist Muna El-Kurd walks by Israeli border police, out from the courtyard of her house in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, June 6, 2021. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

© Reuters. Prominent Palestinian activist Muna El-Kurd walks by Israeli border police, out from the courtyard of her house in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, June 6, 2021. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

By Zainah El-Haroun

JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Israeli police detained two prominent Palestinian activists on Sunday who have become the faces of a campaign to halt Palestinian evictions from the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah.

Footage on social media on Sunday showed Muna El-Kurd, 23, whose family faces eviction from their home in Sheikh Jarrah after Jewish settlers won an Israeli court ruling, handcuffed and being escorted from her home by Israeli officers.

Her twin brother, Mohammed El-Kurd, later turned himself in at a police station after receiving a summons, their father said. Both were released hours later, he added.

Without explicitly naming Muna El-Kurd, an Israeli police spokeswoman said police had arrested a 23-year-old resident of East Jerusalem under court order, on suspicion of participating in riots that took place in Sheikh Jarrah recently.

The police did not immediately comment on Mohammed El-Kurd, who was later shown in a live Instagram video leaving the station, accompanied by father Nabil El-Kurd.

Their supporters said the twins' detention was part of a broader Israeli effort to halt opposition to the evictions in Sheikh Jarrah, where Jewish settlers want to move into the El-Kurds' home and others under court order.

"It's clear that these are policies to silence people, policies to pressure and scare people," Muna El-Kurd said in a statement on the Sheikh Jarrah Instagram page after her release.

Anger over the proposed evictions helped spark 11 days of violence in May between Israel and Palestinians in Gaza, whose Islamist rulers Hamas have called Israeli policy in East Jerusalem a "red line".

The detentions came a day after police in Sheikh Jarrah arrested a reporter with Qatar-based media network Al Jazeera who had been covering a protest there.

In October last year an Israeli court ruled in favour of Jewish settlers, who say some eight Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah are living on land that used to belong to Jews.

Palestinians are appealing the decision in Israel's Supreme Court, and the evictions are currently on hold.

© Reuters. Prominent Palestinian activist Muna El-Kurd walks by Israeli border police, out from the courtyard of her house in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah, June 6, 2021. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

Tensions could flare further in Jerusalem this week when a Jewish right-wing march is expected to pass through the Old City's Damascus gate. A similar march, its route diverted at the last minute, was held the same day that the Israel-Gaza fighting broke out.

Israel captured East Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and Gaza, in the 1967 Middle East war. Palestinians are seeking the territories for a future state.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.