After much controversy, writers Susan Abulhawa and Mohammed El-Kurd have appeared at the Adelaide Festival, despite their history of vile antisemitism.
I decided to see what they said at their panels.
While El-Kurd's session was streamed and uploaded to YouTube, it does not seem like Abulhawa's was (at least as of the time of this post).
So what did El-Kurd say? You won't be surprised to learn he did not tone down his vile views; rather, he felt free to express them to what appears to have been an adoring crowd.
Like when he said Palestinians are the hero, aligned with justice, morality and historical accuracy (!) while Israel is the villain:
Like when he bemoaned people trying to make palestinian Arabs more 'relatable' so they will garner more sympathy - he thinks they should get sympathy no matter how they act, because of their suffering (while outright lying about how journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed):
Like when he similarly says they should not be expected to be "saints":
Like when he admits that he uses "apartheid slur" to describe Israel, not really caring whether it is true. All that matters is that he can villainize Israel.
And like when he also admits to using artistic license in his poetry” accusing Jews of drinking the palestinian Arabs' blood and stealing their internal organs, and thinks it is unreasonable he be called out on this use of antisemitic tropes:
These clips capture the worst of his comments, but not quite the amount of applause he received. And that is the most worrying aspect of it - these views are becoming not just acceptable but praiseworthy among too many.
Posted from my blog with Exxp : https://www.israellycool.com/2023/03/08/mohammed-el-kurd-as-vile-as-youd-expect-at-adelaide-festival/