A Palestinian journalist is facing heat after appearing to bemoan not being able to hijack planes.
On Monday, Mohammed El-Kurd, a Palestinian writer and The Nation’s Palestine correspondent, wrote on X, “You can’t protest peacefully. You can’t boycott. You can’t hunger strike.”
“You can’t hijack planes. You can’t block traffic. You can’t throw Molotovs. You can’t self-immolate. You can’t heckle politicians. You can’t march. You can’t riot. You can’t dissent,” he continued.
Finally, El-Kurd insisted, “You just can’t be.”
You can’t protest peacefully. You can’t boycott. You can’t hunger strike. You can’t hijack planes. You can’t block traffic. You can’t throw Molotovs. You can’t self-immolate. You can’t heckle politicians. You can’t march. You can’t riot. You can’t dissent. You just can’t be.
— Mohammed El-Kurd (@m7mdkurd) February 26, 2024
Several community notes were added to the post, including one which read, “In most current democratic states, acts like Molotov throwing and plane hijacking are not only unlawful but severely frowned upon.”
Check out some of the reactions below:
"You can't hijack planes."
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) February 27, 2024
Uhhh, come again? https://t.co/dM4GlOtWoR
You do have to love the equation of "You just can't be" with "You can't hijack planes." Saying the quiet part out loud there. https://t.co/v5eSCKDXDK
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) February 27, 2024
Palestinian beatnik poetry just hits different https://t.co/riVRSraUZL
— David Burge (@iowahawkblog) February 27, 2024
The “Pro-Palestine” discourse on social media is deeply, deeply demented. https://t.co/sLAEc1i1bA
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) February 27, 2024
I laughed really hard at this until I realized he was serious.
— Jonah Goldberg (@JonahDispatch) February 27, 2024
Damn elites and their “don’t hijack planes or throw Molotov cocktail rules. They’re keeping me from expressing myself!” https://t.co/4msEyIiwvx
For a guy who lectured at Princeton, he’s oddly confused about the line between free speech and *terrorism.*
— Dan Crenshaw (@DanCrenshawTX) February 27, 2024
But hey, most Hamas supporters are.. that’s why we’re in this mess in the first place… https://t.co/aLOI7YeQTq
And I just paid Expedia an extra $75 for the hijack option. Such an idiot. https://t.co/6gdBgKpseI
— Jon Gabriel (@exjon) February 27, 2024
The post comes after an active duty Air Force member died after he set himself on fire over the “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
On Monday, the Metropolitan Police Department said 25-year-old airman, Aaron Bushnell after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, D.C.
According to the Associated Press, Bushnell arrived outside the embassy around 1 p.m. on Sunday and started a live stream on Twitch.
He then reportedly lit himself on fire and was heard saying something about not being “complicit in genocide.”
The Air Force said in a statement, “The individual involved in yesterday’s incident succumbed to his injuries and passed away last night.”
