Mohammed Hanif, a journalist from Pakistan, decided not to go to the Goethe-conference Institute in Hamburg after they invited and then kicked out a well-known Palestinian writer, Mohammed El Kurd.
Withdrawing from @goerheinstut’s Hamburg conference where they first invited and then disinvited Palestinian journalist and poet Mohammed El Kurd. Reason is even more offensive. Apparently Kurd is not respectful enough towards Israel. How do you say bugger off in German? 1/3
— Mohammed Hanif (@mohammedhanif) June 21, 2022
In a tweet, the journalist told people about the news and said that the institute was rude to El Kurd.
Mohammed El Kurd's house was taken over by settlers when he was elven. 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.2/2
— Mohammed Hanif (@mohammedhanif) June 21, 2022
He typed: “The Palestinian journalist and poet Mohammed El Kurd was first invited to @goerheinstut’s Hamburg conference, but then he was taken off the list.”
“The reason is an even bigger insult. It seems that Kurd does not treat Israel with enough respect. How do you tell someone to go to hell in German?”
He shared the struggles of the well-known Palestinian siblings Mohammed El Kurd and his sister Muna El Kurd in a Twitter thread.
He said that the institute, which is named after the famous author and playwright Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, “should inspect itself.”
I was supposed to speak about Dynamics of Right Wing Structures. While doing a survey of such structures around the world, may be @goetheinstitut should have a good look at itself. Can you really have such a conversation after silencing a key witness like Mohammed El Kurd? 3/3
— Mohammed Hanif (@mohammedhanif) June 21, 2022
The author of “A Case of Exploding Mangoes,” said, “I have read little Goethe, but I do not think he wanted the world to be polite to a cruel apartheid regime.”
The Goethe-Institut is holding a conference called “Beyond the Lone Offender – Dynamics of the Global Rights,” at Kampnagel. The conference will “focus on the effects of far-right movements and how they are connected around the world,” according to the Goethe-Institut.
Mohammed El Kurd, a well-known Palestinian author and activist, was asked to take part in one of the panel discussions. But later, he was not allowed to come because he made “comments about Israel” that the institute thought were “unacceptable.”
The institute’s official tweet said, “Unfortunately, the necessary internal coordination didn’t happen until after a premature commitment had already been made.”
One panel was to be curated by Moshtari Hilal and Sinthujan Varatharajah, who had planned to feature Palestinian author Mohammed El-Kurd as a speaker. (2/6)
— goetheinstitut (@goetheinstitut) June 17, 2022
Hanif said that he was going to talk about how right-wing structures work.
He responded to Goethe-decision Institut by dropping out of the conference and asking, “Can you really have a conversation like this after leaving out an important witness like Mohammed El Kurd?”
“Mohammed El Kurd’s house was taken over by settlers when he was a child,” he said, emphasising how hard it was for the siblings.
Works at The Truth International Magazine. My area of interest includes international relations, peace & conflict studies, qualitative & quantitative research in social sciences, and world politics. Reach@ aimen.bukhari@tti.org.pk
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