by Jana Al-Obeidyine & Zena Takieddine
May 2021
In the Furor issue of a Dance Mag, Anas Abo Oun wrote about the transformation of the traditional Dabke dance in Palestine. The Dabke, originally an expression of engaging with the land's fertility, sowing and harvesting the earth, arms interlaced and feet pounding, was transformed into an expression of collective defiance against the stealing and appropriation of the land. In modern times, with the creation of the Israeli state, Palestine's Dabke became a response to the apartheid government, dancing ever more boldly as their homes, towns, farms and fields shrunk beneath their feet, bisected and suffocated but dancing nonetheless.
Where dance became a way of affirming existence, identity and physical presence, Oun tells us the story of the emergence of the El-Funoun Palestinian Dance Troupe which came together in 1979 on the initiative of three talented young men: Mohammed Ata Khattab, Wassim Al- Kurdi, and Mohammed Yaacoub.
Two generations later, the forty-year-old Palestinian dance group is still active and growing, challenging Israeli claims to the land and rising against the systemic wiping of Palestinian homes, identity and culture.
On February 2, 2021, an Israeli armed force raided the home of one of the troupe's founders, Mohamed Ata Khattab, in Ramallah. They seized his son, Ata, age 31, who is the artistic coordinator of the troupe. He is being detained without charge. To date, and despite uproar from dancers, artists and human rights activists worldwide, he has not been released nor is there any indication of when he will be.
These oppressive practices are not surprising to the Palestinians nor to the Khattab family; the father himself had spent several years in Israeli prisons for no reason other than holding to his dance.
In Israel, dancers are threats to national security. Israeli armed forces are intimidated by unarmed dancers.
While Ata is still in detention, Palestinian families in Jerusalem are now being forcibly removed from their homes, many of which are older than the very State that is removing them.
The universal declaration of human rights and the international human rights law were not made to be used "à la Carte."
In most cases of human rights violations worldwide, the international community condemns the violation and may take action to stop it. Except when it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian case, then human rights become a point-of-view and crimes against humanity become justified or better yet, ignored.
Palestinian lives matter and the dance for their freedom will continue until there is justice. Racial cleansing and systemic discrimination are crimes against humanity. There are no gray areas here.
By staying misinformed, the power to stop human rights violations is subdued. If you would like access to more information about the history of the Palestinian rights struggle, here is a resourceful UK-based educational organization on Palestine. If you would like to stay up-to-date, here is a helpful site.
By staying silent, we are giving up our own rights everywhere.
Free Ata Khattab Save Sheikh Jarrah
