UN FOLKLORE. From the UN News Centre, on the UN-supported learning centers in the West Bank and Gaza:

Because most of the 300 youth clubs in Gaza and the West Bank are under-funded and ill-equipped, most adolescents do not have access to safe recreational areas. At the Jabalia centre, however, they are able to socialize with their peers and learn new things, including dabkeh, the traditional Palestinian folkloric dance.

Actually, according to the Center for Arabic Culture, the dabkeh is an Arab, not a Palestinian dance:

Debka is a Middle Eastern folk dance done in a line at happy gatherings like weddings. Often professional Debka troupes perform at festivals, but Debka, an important part of village life, is really a dance for everyone! People stand in a line and hold hands or put their hands on their hips with their elbows out. Debka is done by men only, women only, or mixed. The steps involve stomping rhythmically, fancy footwork and hopping. The leader, the person on the farthest right, may twirl a small white scarf as they dance in a semi-circle. Debka is done in Lebanon, Syria, Palestine and Jordan.

It may be a minor point--especially to the UN--but to say that the dabkeh is a traditional Palestinian dance implies a unique Palestinian national culture, when in fact historically there has never been an independent Palestinian nation, except for the Jewish one.

Technorati Tag: Israel and Dabkeh and Debka and UN.