Israeli and Palestinians dancers come together in ’Swing for Peace’ initiative

In a bar in Cork, Israeli and Palestinian swing dancers jived and cha-chaed as part of a groundbreaking ‘Swing for Peace’ initiative, writes Ellie O’Byrne

IN THE Porterhouse on Cork’s Mardyke, it was all smiles and jazz hands at the final night of Cork’s “Lindy Express”, an annual weekend of workshops and social dancing that’s putting Cork on the map in the international swing dance scene.

Thanks to a crowd-funding campaign launched by Daragh O’Regan, Lindy Express’s organiser, a group of Palestinian and Israeli swing dancers met here in Ireland for the workshop, to share their love of dancing and to “Swing for Peace.”

Remy beats out the syncopations at #LindyExpress https://t.co/QYgEFMJ1C7

— Daragh Regan (@DaddyDaragh) February 8, 2015

Although the Palestinian dancers’ classes are held in Beit Jala, close to Bethlehem and just 59 km from Tel Aviv, travel is restricted and the dancers can’t go to Tel Aviv, where there is a vibrant and well-established swing scene.

During last year’s ‘Operation Protective Edge’, a conflict in which over 2,100 Palestinians and 71 Israelis died (the exact number of Palestinian dead remains contested, with human rights organisations, the Gaza Health Ministry and the Israeli security forces recording anywhere between 2,310 and 2,140), the Palestinian West Bank swing dancers discussed cancelling their classes. Fears for their safety aside, the shock and trauma of war was taking effect and spirits were low.

Tal Engel, a swing dance enthusiast from Tel Aviv, wrote a letter of support for the dancers in Bethlehem. In the letter, he urged his Palestinian counterparts to keep dancing and signed off,

“And of course, please save us a dance. We hope to join you as soon as possible. Yours, the Israeli Swing Dancing Scene.” Tal read his letter to Israeli swing classes in Tel Aviv, where he was met by applause.

Pushing back his fedora and taking a seat in between dances in The Porterhouse – he’s an aficionado of Lindy Hop, a fast, energetic form of swing, and dresses the part while he’s dancing – Tal said that the Israeli response to his letter was gratifying but not surprising.

“The majority of young Israelis do not support the occupation,” he said. Obviously that’s a complicated subject but at the end of the day, people want to co-exist.”

Two of the Palestinian dancers hung back; they didn’t want to be interviewed. Ha’aretz, the Israeli broadsheet, recently reported on the “Swing for Peace” initiative’s plans to meet in Cork and the attention was making them fearful of repercussions, both from the Israeli right wing and their own community.

Sinan AbuShanab was willing to talk. A university assistant from Bethlehem, he said that politics is an inescapable part of being Palestinian: “Of course I feel strongly. Politics is in every part of your being when you live with such restrictions, but sometimes humour is the only way to survive.”

Sinan began swing dancing six months ago at German teacher Birte Brodkob’s classes in Beit Jala and has been bitten by the dancing bug. “I never considered myself a dancer but you just get more and more into it,” he said. For the Palestinian dancers, the lack of opportunities for social dancing is hindering their progress. “Imagine training in football all the time without ever having a match,” Birte, who travelled to Cork with the group, said. “That’s what it’s like to go to swing classes and never get to go and use your moves on the dance floor.”

For Palestinian Muslims, isn’t swing, an American dance with lots of physical contact, simply off limits, especially for girls? “At first I fell for that stereotype too, but their society is also very diverse,” Birte said. “I guess they are more traditional than Europe, but it hasn’t stopped Palestinian girls from coming to our classes.” No Palestinian girls came to Cork for the Lindy Express; one girl did plan on coming but she had problems with her Visa application.

Tal has gone to the West Bank to attend Birte’s classes and danced with Palestinian girls there. “These were the first Palestinians in my life that I met and interacted with,” he said. “It’s a way of reaching out to each other. Swing developed in America in an age of segregation, and blacks and whites could dance with each other, and we’re really doing something similar here.

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“We really enjoyed this whole weekend full of dance and meeting new people. The classes were great. There was a lot of learning but then you go at night for the social dancing and you take what you learned in class and use it. All in all, this has been one of the best weeks of my life,” Sinan said.

Daragh O’Regan, Lindy Express’s organiser, was delighted to see the Palestinian and Israeli groups hit it off so well. “Swing dancing is sharing a dance with somebody. You may have differing levels of ability, but you share the joy you have with somebody else. Seeing the two groups together really shows that you can’t tar a nation.”