Around 2am on Sunday, Feb. 9, a fire started in the Old City, for reasons so far unknown, and sadly took Mousa Qous’ life. It was also reported that the fire unit had trouble accessing the site, as they were obstructed by the IOF (Israeli Occupation Forces) when they attempted to reach it through Al-Nazir Gate, which is the closest access point within Al-Aqsa Mosque. More details are still to emerge on the specifics of the fire.
Mousa Qous was born in the Old City of Jerusalem to a father from Chad, who immigrated there in 1942, and a Palestinian mother from Jericho.
Afro-Palestinians have a century-long history in the country. During the Ottoman Empire, Africans were the custodians and guards who were in charge of Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Afro-Palestinian community also fought with the Arabs during the 1948 war -including Mousa’s own father – to defend Al-Aqsa and Jerusalem.
In 1951, the Sudanese Welfare Club started as a group for African immigrants residing in the Old City. However, the club closed when the IOF continued its occupation of Palestinian land and committed massacres against Palestinians and Arabs, during the “Naksa” in 1967. The “Naksa” resulted in the occupation of Sinai Peninsula from Egypt, the Golan Heights from Syria and the west Bank including East Jerusalem.
In 1976, Mousa re-established it under the African Youth Club name. After forming the African Youth club, Afro-Palestinian Mousa Qous was the Executive Director of the African Community Society (ACS) in the Old City, occupied East Jerusalem. During his career, he worked as a writer, journalist, and translator. He was also an activist against the occupation in many forms.
The African Community Society, ACS, is a Palestinian non-governmental non-profit organization founded by the Afro-Palestinian community in Jerusalem in 1983. It is an offshoot of the Sudanese Welfare Club which was active between 1951 and 1967, the year when Israel occupied Jerusalem. It is also a revival of the African Youth Club, which was established in 1978 but was forced to close in the mid-eighties due to financial hardships.
The ACS refused and refuses any donations that were conditioned on renouncing Palestinian struggle against occupation. It aims to pass on the rich heritage of the Afro-Palestinian community and, more generally, to pass on to the younger generations the keys that will enable them to confront and fight against colonialism and daily oppression.
“Life was demanding. But my ‘national and patriotic’ education, in which I was well versed during my years at Bethlehem University, persuaded me to put any personal ambitions on hold and become involved in an uprising that responded to the long-bottled popular frustrations and the demand for freedom and independence.”
Mousa joined the Popular Committee of Resistance, “the grassroots youth body of the (first intifada) uprising.” In early 1988, he was arrested by the IOF and spent 8 months captive in jail.
In 1991, Mousa was arrested again and sentenced to 5 years this time. He watched the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993 while in jail, which he opposed and refused to support. Mousa was then released in 1996 and started a new job, got married, had two children, and got a master’s degree in international studies from Birzeit University.
After the disappointment of Oslo, Mousa decided to focus his time on “engaging Jerusalem’s often marginalized youth to help them create a future that will hopefully be better than our present.” The ACS organizes cultural, art, sports, summer camp, and other events to provide opportunities for youth, as well as for helping women. The Center of the African Community Society has become one of the most important places for people to gather and for kids to have fun and learn.
After a Vilent Raid on the Qous’ home and with her devices seized, Mousa’s daughter Shaden Qous (22 years old), has been in prison under administrative detention since January 6 with no trial or charge. The IOF accused her of “incitement” for social media posts, used to crack down on free speech. Shaden was released on bail on Sunday, after her lawyer spent hours working to make it happen, and will have a trial soon. By the time she got out, it was too late for her father’s funeral.
Shaden is also an artist and activist, she has always been very active with the African Community Society. She is a law student at Birzeit University and was reportedly two weeks away from graduating and planned to work defending political captives after. She had also spoken in interviews on television about the escalated crackdown on Jerusalem after October 7 on all the free voices who reveal the crimes of the occupation. Transferred between multiple jails, Shaden’s administrative detention was extended 4 times, with no charge or trial.
After spending his life defending Jerusalem and its people, a guardian of the Old City, and a fighter who did not know submission in the face of the occupation and its oppressive policies, Mousa passed away, and his departure constituted a great loss for the Qous family and the African quarter of Al-Quds. He did a very important work for youth in particular, educating and empowering them. The revolutionary legacy he leaves behind is significant and will stay on to continue inspiring future generations confronting the occupation.
“Our neighbourhood is the wall of resistance, and our houses are targets for house raids and arrests of young people and children. This confrontation will continue as long as there is an occupation.”
– Mousa Qous.
Most information is collected from the page Visualart4Palestine and the website of the African Community Society in Jerusalem ACS.
