What makes a perfect victim?

For Palestinians fighting to keep their stories alive in the media, it often feels that they must audition for the sympathies of their Western audiences.

If they don’t fit the mould - then their voices are ignored.

In 2021, Mohammed al-Kurd was catapulted into the spotlight when his family’s home in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah was being forcefully evicted by Israeli settlers.

Since then, he’s been one of the most outspoken and unapologetic Palestinian voices, using his social media presence, as well as his poetry and journalism, to push back against the media’s skewed narratives of his people.

He is the author of the celebrated poetry collection 'Rifqa', and the upcoming book 'Perfect Victims'.

This week on The Big Picture Podcast, we sit down with Mohammed al-Kurd to talk about flipping the script on how Palestinians are expected to speak and behave in the public eye.

We'd love to hear your thoughts on this episode, and any guests you'd like us to have on our show. Reach us by email at mh@middleeasteye.org or find us on instagram @BigPictureMee.

You can also watch all our episodes on our YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMyaP73Ho1ySj3cO0OSOHZAOgD1WTDixG

Max Rauner

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