Palestinian dancer jailed in Israel
Palestinians are accusing Israel of arbitrarily cracking down on cultural expression.
Israel’s policies inside the Palestinian territories are not limited to settlement expansion, confiscation of lands and political detention, but these arbitrary and racist measures rather extend to fighting Palestinian culture, history and arts, to the point of imprisoning people for expressing their ideas, values and messages through contemporary Palestinian culture and dance.
Atta Khattab is the head of training, choreography and dance of El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe. Khattab’s family was shocked to see Israeli forces storm their home and take their 31-year-old son to Israeli prison without any charges being brought against him.
Khattab’s father, Mohammed Khattab, told Al-Monitor, “On Feb. 2, at 4 a.m., Israeli forces came to our house in the city of al-Bireh in the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate in the West Bank, and woke him up, then blindfolded and handcuffed him. He was put in a military vehicle and taken to the Israeli al-Moskobiya detention center in occupied Jerusalem.”
He said, “After his arrest he was not able to see his lawyers for 21 days. The military court extended his detention again on Feb. 24. He is currently still under administrative detention and the [Israeli] occupation forces refuse to release him, without telling us the reasons for his arrest. Israel is showing its true face and the persecution it is practicing against the Palestinian people violates international laws and human rights conventions.”
