Al-Kurd Family Patriarch Dies, Future of Family Residence in East Jerusalem Unknown

Mohammed al-Kurd, also known as abu-Kamal, patriarch of the al-Kurd family, died on 23 November, only a few weeks after his family was forcefully evicted from their home in East Jerusalem (photo by the AIC, 2008).

This morning at just after midnight Mohammed al-Kurd, also known as abu-Kamal, died. Abu-Kamal, a 1948 refugee from Jaffa, left behind his wife Fawzieh al-Kurd (umm-Kamal), five children and their families.

Abu-Kamal had for weeks been hospitalized due to diabetes and related health problems. People around him for the last couple of months stated that before the evacuation of his family from their home in Sheikh Jarrah on 9 November, he was in a better condition than he had been for a long time. However, the Israeli authority’s forceful evacuation of him and his family from their house, where they had been living since 1956, put him under severe pressure and affected his condition.

The situation for the al-Kurd family has been dramatic the last two weeks. While abu-Kamal was hospitalized, his wife had for two weeks been living in a tent, not far away from their home from which they were evicted, along with international peace supporters. Last week, Israeli police and military personnel came three times to demolish this tent. The last time was Friday, 21 November, when a representative of the Jerusalem Municipality arrived at 9:30 a.m. with an order stating that within two hours the tent would be destroyed. Only ten minutes after this warning, the bulldozer came to demolish the tent and the fence that surrounded the privately owned land.

Because of the lack of electricity, toilet facilities and heating system, umm-Kamal has been sleeping over at friends’ houses some nights.

Palestinian sources told the Alternative Information Center, that the lawyer for the al-Kurd family stated two days ago that the demolition order of the tent came as a direct order from Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. This case is apparently embarrassing for her.

Today, 23 November, at the location where the al-Kurd family has been living for two weeks, numerous family members, neighbors, international peace supporters, some Fatah members and religious figures came to pay their condolences for the passing of abu-Kamal.

The body of abu-Kamal arrived and after the coffin was placed in a tent where all the women were waiting, the men went with the body up to the edge of the lot of the family’s home, where umm-Kamal was waiting. Unfortunately, due to the Israeli authorities, it was not possible for the mourners to reach the home of the al-Kurd family.

Afterwards, the men marched with the body to the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem’s Old City. Tonight, the women will begin the mourning period in one of the neighbor homes.

This situation of the al-Kurd family is quickly becoming a symbol of the Palestinian struggle and during the funeral procession, slogans for Palestinian unity and liberation were chanted.

The future of the al-Kurd family is still unknown. The family has not received a new evacuation order from the tent in which they currently reside, although an eviction order is still pending.

According to the Jerusalem Municipality, there are plans to use the privately owned land on which the al-Kurd family protest tent stands as a parking lot.