Speaking to the throngs that had gathered at Parliament Square in London on Saturday during a pro-Palestinian march, Palestinian activist Mohammed el-Kurd called to “normalize the massacres as the status quo.”
According to The Guardian, thousands of people marched through London at the pro-Palestinian rally calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
El-Kurd spoke to the masses: “The atrocities that the Israeli regime is committing in Gaza are some of the horrific, brutal tragedies in all of our lifetimes.”
Blaming Zionism, he stated, “This genocide is not without a culprit. Zionism is the root cause of all that is happening in Palestine,” adding, “Zionism is apartheid, it’s genocide, it’s murder, it’s a racist ideology, rooted in settler expansion and racist domination and we must root it out of the world.”
Mohammed El Kurd at the pro-terror rally in London today: “We must normalize massacres as the status quo” pic.twitter.com/J0SclN88IE
— Emily Schrader – Emily Schrader اميلي شريدر (@emilykschrader) January 13, 2024
“We must de-Zionise because Zionism is a death cult,” he continued to the sounds of cheering and applause. He implored the crowd to continue marching until “Palestine is Free.” and quoting a statement by Gaza group, he called to “engage with tangible actions” for “language alone no longer suffices.”
El-Kurd later posted on X that his comment regarding the massacre were misunderstood. Advertisement
Obviously not an idiot and would never say that. I was clearly saying we shouldn’t be complacent, we shouldn’t normalize massacres. Willfully distorting my words is an indication of your own bankruptcy. I’m allowed to misspeak. Also: idagf. Call the police! Write a Yelp review!
— Mohammed El-Kurd (@m7mdkurd) January 13, 2024
Steeped with controversy
El-Kurd, originally from the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah in Jerusalem, became a prominent Palestinian activist following the 2021 clashes in the east Jerusalem neighborhood.
El-Kurd usually takes to X, where he has some 380 thousand followers, to voice his controversial statements. In the past, these have included praising the six terrorists who had escaped from the Gilboa prison in 2021, labeling them “political prisoners,” and calling the US military a “murderous, terrorist organization.”
Along with his sister Muna, he was named one of Time’s 100 most influential people for 2021 for “helping to prompt an international shift in rhetoric in regard to Israel and Palestine.”
