From Jerusalem to Karachi - a Palestinian dancer's art, identity and quiet resistance
As-salamu alaykum. Under the bright lights at the Arts Council of Pakistan, a Palestinian dancer from Jerusalem moves with graceful restraint, playing a little bird that longs for unity in an adaptation of the Sufi poem Conference of the Birds. The 33-year-old artist performs at an international festival that gathered people from many countries, carrying the weight of a home torn by conflict.
He embodies the finch - Hassoun in Arabic - a small bird that holds special meaning in Palestinian folklore as a symbol of freedom, endurance and beauty. “My role is the bird, the finch,” he said, mentioning how cherished the bird is in his culture and how proud people are to keep it.
Though he travels as a freelance artist, he remains closely tied to Jerusalem, where his family still faces hardship and injustice. On stage he feels the realities his community endures; the ensemble’s work for him is a picture of how people might live together in peace, with each life respected equally.
The play is inspired by the 12th-century Sufi poet Farid ud-Din Attar, whose tale follows many birds seeking the legendary Simorgh - a symbol of divine unity and inner realization. The story’s message is that the truth the seekers search for is found within their own collective journey.
The director framed the piece as a universal human passage: we must travel this journey together despite our differences. After the escalation of violence in October 2023, she felt the themes of exile and displacement gained urgent relevance.
When the Palestinian dancer joined the company in 2023 to fill in for another performer who couldn’t travel, his presence changed the work’s context. The director remembered his early rehearsals, how he would dash toward a wall and try to get through it - a powerful image that convinced them he belonged with the company.
With family still in Jerusalem, he lives with a constant tension between his own safety and the suffering of others, a burden he describes honestly. “Sometimes I feel guilty because being alive feels like a privilege for people from my place these days,” he said, while noting that conditions differ across the occupied territories and he can’t compare his situation to those from Gaza.
He has lost contact with artists he once worked with in Gaza and does not know their fate. With communications cut and much of the area devastated, he says he feels powerless, yet believes that artistic expression becomes a duty in such times. Performing abroad, he feels, means carrying the voice of those who cannot speak for themselves: a reminder that Palestinians deserve the same human rights as everyone else.
He emphasized his community’s resilience: despite decades of attempts to erase them, they remain. Palestine, he said, has long been home to educated people who love to share and converse with other cultures - and gatherings like this festival help remind the world of that.
Wa-salaam.
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