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Writer Mohammed Hanif withdraws from Goethe Institut conference over Mohammed El Kurd being disinvited

Writer Mohammed Hanif withdraws from Goethe Institut conference over Mohammed El Kurd being disinvited

The British-Pakistani author took to Twitter and asked how one can have a conversation after silencing a key witness.
21 Jun, 2022

British-Pakistani writer Mohammed Hanif has announced that he will no longer participate in a conference held by Goethe Institute in Hamburg, Germany after the conference disinvited Mohammed El-Kurd, a Palestinian writer and poet.

According to the writer, Kurd was invited and then disinvited from the “Beyond the Lone Offender – Dynamics of the Global Right” summit, scheduled to be held from June 23 to 26 in Hamburg, because he was not "respectful enough towards Israel."

In another tweet, Hanif wrote, "Mohammed El Kurd's house was taken over by settlers when he was eleven. Kurd and his sister Muna have been protesting since they were children. Haven’t read much Goethe but I don’t think he wanted the world to be respectful towards a ruthless apartheid regime."

Hanif said that he was supposed to speak about the dynamics of right wing structures and asked how one could have a conversation after silencing a key witness like Kurd. He also suggested that Goethe Institute should have a "good look" at themselves.

In a tweet he also attached a link to read Kurd's poetry collection and asked the public to decide who's being "disrespectful" in this case.

Kurd has been raising his voice against the apartheid for years. Last year, his story about Sheikh Jarrar, his hometown, went viral online when protesters staged a demonstration against the planned expulsion of Palestinians.

The Institut announced that it was disinviting him on June 17.

The 24-year-old has about 790,000 followers on Instagram and almost 249,000 on Twitter.

Comments

Daanish Jun 21, 2022 04:31pm
West has double standards about freedom of speech l
Recommend 68
HashBrown® Jun 21, 2022 04:32pm
Excellent move by Hanif - not just withdrawing, but doing so with a bang. This is how voices become heard.
Recommend 76
Dr. Salaria, Aamir Ahmad Jun 21, 2022 04:37pm
Brave move and great news to stand united with the oppressed, suppressed, subjugated and depressed land and people of Palestine and to show the guts, courage, resilience and the grit, by calling a spade, a spade.
Recommend 36
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