Gaza's Gypsies Face Daily Racism
Gaza's Dom community is looked down upon and discrimated against by the broader population.
Adorned with bright patterns faded by the years, part of a belly dancing outfit appears from an old closet. Zoohoor has not worn the outfit for a long time. To be specific, not since the start of the second intifada in late 2000.
Zoohoor used to dance. Her feelings about it are a mix of guilt and pride. She first boasted to Al-Monitor, “I learned to dance by myself, and I was a good dancer. I started dancing when I was 16.” Later, she revealed, “I repented, and now I pray.” Dancing is not the only thing toward which 31-year-old Zoohoor expresses contradictory feelings of pride and shame. These feelings are also fed by her being a Dom girl.
“I am proud to be a Dom girl, and I say this publicly. Sometimes I feel reluctant because of the shock with which people react, but then I pluck up the courage, raise my head and admit that I am a Dom girl,” Zoohoor asserted.
The Dom are counted among the people commonly referred to as Gypsies, who live around the world. According to a recent study, linguistic theorists have linked Domari, the Dom's language, to the Punjabi dialect of Hindi and therefore believe the Dom's ancestors originated in northwestern India and migrated east. The Dom settled in the Middle East, while those who settled in Europe are Romani.
