Jerusalem Profile: Fawzia Sutki Umm Kaamil al-Kurd

Background

Fawzia al-Kurd is a 58 year old resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. She is a mother of five. Mrs. al-Kurd was born and raised in the Old City of Jerusalem, very close to the Haram Al Shareef (Dome of the Rock).

Her parents lived in Talbiyeh in West Jerusalem, but moved to the Old City following the 1948 war and have been living there ever since. Al-Kurd's parents were very loving and caring to her as a child and gave her the freedom to do what she wanted. In 1970, al-Kurd married and moved to Sheikh Jarrah, the neighborhood of her husband.

Eviction from Home

In the middle of a November night in 2008, Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli police and soldiers, entered Mrs. al-Kurd’s home. About 50 Israelis in total suddenly entered her bedroom where she and her handicapped husband, Mohammad, were sleeping. The Israelis threw Mrs. al-Kurd out of her house into the street. Mohammad attempted to go to the neighbor’s home for assistance, but fell and suffered from a heart attack. The Israelis prevented the ambulance from coming to give him medical attention, so he remained in his neighbor’s home for five and a half hours until his children arrived and took him to the hospital. The Israelis ended up seizing Mrs. al-Kurd’s home and confiscating all the furniture.

Although settlers would live in Mrs. al-Kurd’s home from that point onward, she decided to stay and set up a tent near her home in order to keep her case alive. The settlers claim they purchased the home long ago and have documents to prove it, but al-Kurd believes the documents are false and that the land was never actually sold to them. The Israeli court has accepted the settlers’ documents, and al-Kurd is currently appealing this decision on the basis of documents from the Turkish and Jordanian rule which demonstrate her claim to the land. al-Kurd believes that Israel’s aim is to “empty” Jerusalem from its Palestinian residents, and that her story is simply one of the ways for them to achieve their goal. “They want to expel us from our homes,” she claims.

Activism

From the moment she was expelled from her home, Mrs. al-Kurd began not only working on her individual case, but also on additional issues in which the Israeli authorities violate Palestinian rights in Jerusalem, whether through the revocation of residency, expelling them from their homes, or demolishing the homes altogether. al-Kurd has dedicated her life to activism. She does not miss a demonstration in Jerusalem, including those held every Friday in Sheikh Jarrah. al-Kurd also travels to Palestinian villages facing threatening situations, such as Silwan, to express her solidarity with the people. She is willing to share her story with anyone in the world who will listen, and has consequently traveled abroad to Turkey, Yemen, and Kuwait. Although Mrs. al-Kurd does not belong to any particular organization and works as an individual activist, she visits and builds ties with various groups and organizations.

Role of Palestinian Women

al-Kurd believes that the role of women in the struggle for Palestinian rights in Jerusalem is no different from that of men, which is to “stay put in Jerusalem, encourage other Palestinians to do the same, fight all Israeli actions against us, and teach our children about our historical rights in Jerusalem” so that the next generation knows their history.

al-Kurd believes that the role of women in the struggle now is different than in the past. She explains that women did not have the opportunity to play a role in the Palestinian case and community since their main role, an important one nonetheless, was to care for their families. al-Kurd claims that women are now involved in so many fields in the community, standing side by side with men, and that the ability for women to learn and attain an education has enlightened the Palestinian community. al-Kurd hopes that women will play an even greater role in the future, especially since the “on-the-ground situation forces us to take action.” She tries to instill in her children a love for their homeland. al-Kurd reveals that she tells her daughter that “until the last drop of her blood,” she must defend her rights, country and dignity.