The Kurds Vs. Jewish Settlers : We Won’t Leave Sheikh Jarrah

Probably they have become the most famous twins in the Arab world now, Muna and Mohamed Al-Kurd of Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarrah are the stars of Arab Social media.

The young siblings have become a new face for a new era and a new generation in the long Palestinian resistance without big slogans.

Muna and Mohamed Al-Kurd along with their father Nabil and the rest of the Palestinian residents of Sheikh Jarrah are fighting for the fundamental right to stay in their own houses and not to be forcibly displaced. 

Young Muna and Mohamed Al-Kurd, citizen journalists and bloggers
since childhood

Before them, their grandmother Rifka Al-Kurd stood in her 80s stood from a decade ago against the Jewish settlers who invaded her family’s house and her neighbourhood.

Watch her in that short documentary produced in 2010 “We Won’t leave”.

It got English subtitles. Please watch it.

Um Nabil’s family originally was forcibly displaced from Haifa in 1948 and they lived in the outskirts of East Jerusalem as refugees and in 1956 She and her husband got the house from the UNRWA.

And They chanted death to the Arabs

On Tuesday, a group of Ultra-Nationalist Zionist Israelis organized their controversial Israeli flags rally to celebrate the so-called Unification of Jerusalem.

That rally was adjourned several times but it seems that the new Cabinet led by alt-right PM Naftali Bennett went to win more hearts and minds of the alt-right nationalists thus rally went.

The Israeli occupation forces closed by force parts of the Palestinian quarters and shops so the rally would pass peacefully.

The numbers were smaller than expected and declared by their chants were too loud to the level not to be ignored.

WATCH: Israeli settlers chant against Palestinians while taking part in the flag march, #Jerusalem, June 15, 2021.

شاهد: مستوطنون إسرائيليون يهتفون ضد الفلسطينيين خلال مسيرة الأعلام في #القدس، يونيو 15، 2021. pic.twitter.com/cY5Z9g3XMT

— Activestills (@activestills) June 16, 2021

“Death to the Arabs” and “Mohamed Is Dead”  chanted by all the hate in the world and you can just feel it. It is not the first time thought but it is the first time to be caught on camera like that. 

That’s hate speech in the simplest way to put it and it is protected by the Israeli government.

That video was mostly ignored by most mainstream media whether in the West or the Arab world despite its importance. 

I won't speak about the Western governments but if the opposite of this protest took place in an Arab capital where protesters chanted against Jews explicitly, we will hear more anger, unfortunately. 

This is from a protest two days later following the rally, the Palestinians
protesting the insults and honestly, I thought that after George Floyd, policemen
will stop assaulting the protesters like that "Activestills.org" 

It shows part of why it is hard to find real peace in the Middle East.

Many people think  the problem is in the Palestinians alone but let’s there is a dark side of the Moon and that dark side we know it very well.

Unfortunately the world used to see the videos translated and shared by Memri and Co to show the radical angry hateful side of Palestinians , Arabs and Muslims for years but not those people.

Those people are fed with radical ultra-nationalist and religious rhetoric that not less dangerous, in fact, more dangerous than you think considering the fact that those ultra-nationalists/religious Israeli fanatics got true voting power and political representation, unlike the Arab world where we all know how things are.

Kodak Agfa Presents: A quick visit to Egypt’s North Coast in 2020

As we are starting summer, here are some vibes from 2020 summer when Kodak Agfa and family managed to take some time off and headed for the North Coast.

We headed to North Coast’s Sidi Abdel Rahman.

This is how it looks like.

This is an Egyptian beach

Yes, this beach is in Egypt and not in the Maldives. I know it sounds cliché but I will use it anyway.

But first, there was a three-day- vacation in Porto Marnia but it was more of sick leave in August where I could not swim or stay long at the beach because I had a bad ear infection whose medication made me sleepy most of the time.

“It returned back this week mildly but thank God I treated it quickly”

At Porto Marina and the other side of the lagoon Marina 

It was a good break thought and my camera accompanied me in that break.

Coronavirus on the Nile: 16 months of COVID-19 in Egypt in graphs

Another monthly post as part of the COVID-19 coverage in Egyptian Chronicles.

Egypt's Healthcare workers in protective suits "Xinhua" 

This time it is a quick look into COVID-19 numbers in Egypt after 16 months since its arrival to the country in February 2020.

Coronavirus on the Nile: Egypt’s COVID-19 May 2021 numbers in Graph

This is the time of our monthly post about the coronavirus pandemic and its numbers in graphs.

The official numbers of coronavirus cases in Egypt continued officially surged and then declined in May 2021 following April 2021.

In the first half of May 2021, we had Ramadan, Orthodox Easter and Eid. It was like a big social gathering despite warnings and official preventative measures that actually were not to be seen on the ground.

Eid Prayer on 14 May 2021, foreign students wearing masks
before heading to pray Eid prayer at Al Azhar Mosque "AFP" 

May finished as the numbers of cases began to decline in its last week officially.

Disclaimer: According to Minister of Health Hala Zayed in early January, the official numbers of cases represent between 10%-15% of the real number of cases worldwide Egypt included.

Now to the graphs of May numbers.

#Coronavirus on the Nile : June’s Coronavirus “Live Coverage”

It is another new month under the coronavirus pandemic.

It is June and we supposedly start to witness the end of the third wave of coronavirus that hit the country in April and May.

The official number of cases began to decline in the last week of May.

At the same time, we began to witness a true increase in the number of people who got vaccinated “I got my first dose in the last week of May” as Egypt began to receive more shipments of coronavirus vaccines.

Still, Egypt got a long road to safety for real.

The majority of the people in Egypt still act as if there is no coronavirus unfortunately despite all the infections and fatalities.

Please stay safe, keep your social distance and get vaccinated as soon as possible.

Here is our monthly live coverage of everything coronavirus below

#SaveSilwan : Stop the Forced Displacement in the Occupied East Jerusalem

On Friday, an Israeli Jerusalem district court decided to postpone its final ruling in yet another case involving Palestinian citizens fighting eviction orders from their homes in their occupied city by the Israeli occupation authority.

It is not another new episode in the bitter fight over Sheik Jarrah neighbourhood, but it is rather another episode in the older fight over Silwan district of East Jerusalem.

Yes, the district court decided to postpone its final ruling in the case of Silwan’s Btan Al-Hawa neighbourhood till next December where seven Palestinian Jerusalemite families are appealing against the evict orders issued by the Israeli authorities.

Save Silwan from a protest organized by the Palestinians on Friday "AFP"

We are speaking about at least 700 people on the verge of losing their homes.

The Israeli court decided to adjourn its ruling because there are two appeals filed by other Palestinian families in Silwan against the Israeli evict orders.

Israeli authorities claim that those Palestinian families are living on land owned by Jewish owners, which is untrue historically and legally.

Before we go to the history of Silwan, I must state some fundamental facts.

Legally Silwan district is in East Jerusalem, an officially recognized occupied territory by international law, the UN Nations and its Security Council as well as most of the World Community.

Israel, its orders, its laws and courts have no jurisdiction officially in East Jerusalem.  So, all the past, present and future eviction orders are officially null.

It is also worth mentioning that forced displacement can reach the level of a war crime.

The History of Silwan

Historically, Silwan is from the ancient villages in Jerusalem and actually, it is one of the areas that were originally built by the Jebusite Canaanites. The Jebusites were the true builders historically of Jerusalem if we are going to speak ancient history.