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Palestinian dancer jailed in Israel

Palestinians are accusing Israel of arbitrarily cracking down on cultural expression.
Dancers with El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe perform during the opening night of the Palestine International Festival, Ramallah, West Bank, July 2, 2009.

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.

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