Thousands of people marched through London on Saturday in a pro-Palestinian rally calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Speaking to the crowds 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 protest calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Addressing the assembled masses, Mohammed el-Kurd said: “The atrocities that the Israeli regime is committing in Gaza are some of the most horrific, brutal actions we will ever see in all of our lifetime.”
Blaming Zionism, he further 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. 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 - אמילי שריידר امیلی شریدر (@emilykschrader) January 13, 2024
“We must dezionize. 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.”
Moreover, quoting from a statement by a Gazan group, he called to “engage in tangible actions,” given that “language alone no longer suffices.”
He later posted on X that his comments regarding the massacre were misunderstood.
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 this east Jerusalem neighborhood.
He 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 nominated in 2021 as one of Time’s 100 most influential people for “helping to prompt an international shift in rhetoric in regard to Israel and Palestine.”