Sheikh Jarrah is no longer just a Jerusalem neighbourhood, its story of survival is now global

For decades, Sheikh Jarrah was just another neighbourhood in Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, but its story has gone viral online since protests flared against the planned expulsion of Palestinians from houses there.

"We have managed... not just to shed light on settlement in Jerusalem but also on the rights of Palestinians to defend themselves, their right to resist the occupier, and their right to their own narrative," said Muhammad el-Kurd.

The 23-year-old poet and writer, one of those facing the loss of their homes, has worked tirelessly to publicise the issue and in the process gained more than 180,000 Twitter followers and more than half a million on Instagram.

The protests in Sheikh Jarrah spread early last month to the Al-Aqsa mosque compound, sparking a crackdown by Israeli security forces against Palestinians there.

The hashtags #SheikhJarrah and #SaveSheikhJarrah went viral.

Celebrities from actors Mark Ruffalo and Viola Davis to Manchester City footballer Riyad Mahrez have posted about the neighbourhood on social media.

'Unprecedented change'

Kurd called the situation in Sheikh Jarrah "a tiny sample of Zionist settler colonialism in Jerusalem and Palestine in general" that reflected "the balance of power".

 A lady holds a board in a protest.

Palestinians whose ancestors became refugees in the 1948 war have no means to retrieve their homes or land in modern-day Israel.

Israeli right groups Ir Amim says up to 1,000 Palestinians in Sheikh Jarrah and the nearby Silwan district face being displaced.

Outside his house, half of which was taken over in 2009 by a Jewish settler, Kurd said he was online from morning until night.

Behind him, Israeli flags fluttered on a home taken over by settlers after his neighbours were evicted.

 Platforms 'silencing Palestinians'

Kurd said the huge uptick in viewership and followers showed there was a "thirst for the Palestinian reality".

Palestinian families in the neighbourhood say they were given the keys to their homes by the UN Palestinian refugee agency and Jordan, which controlled east Jerusalem from 1948 to 1967.

Digital rights group Sada Social says it has documented more than 700 instances of such networks restricting access to or removing Palestinian content in May alone.

Despite such barriers, he said the impact of the campaign had surprised him.

And for the residents of Sheikh Jarrah, it is not a fight they can afford to lose.