Mission Statement
Al-Juthoor (“roots” in Arabic) is a dabke dance collective rooted in Arab and Palestinian culture and resistance. Practiced across the Arab Levant (Bilad al-Sham), dabke is both celebration and testimony.
We empower community members and youth to embrace their heritage, honoring history while carrying it forward across the diaspora and back home. For Al-Juthoor, culture and art are inseparable from existence itself, serving as acts of resistance to oppression and settler colonialism.
Our songs and movements carry the stories of our people and express our collective aspirations for dignity and liberation. Rooted in olive groves and villages, our art is inspired by the struggle and steadfastness of those who remain in the land despite ongoing dispossession.
This commitment to culture as resistance naturally extends beyond our own community. We recognize connections between struggles across history and borders and seek partnerships with other artistic and cultural projects aligned with our mission. Through our work in the diaspora, we collaborate with Indigenous peoples and communities of all backgrounds who use art as a tool for justice and liberation.
None of us are free until we all are.
WE WILL RETURN!
PACBI
Al-Juthoor firmly supports the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and urges other performance, dance, and arts organizations to heed its call. PACBI is one tactic among many aimed at pressuring the occupation and furthering the goals of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions Movement (BDS). As organizers, artists, and cultural workers for the Palestinian cause, we are honored to make this pledge, setting a precedent for other arts organizations to learn more and follow suit. Following the PACBI guidelines, we will begin and/or continue to:
- Refuse to participate in programs or collaborations that have received funding from Israeli state institutions.
- Refuse to work or collaborate with institutions that seek to whitewash and normalize Israel’s violations of international law.
- Call on cultural workers, dancemakers, artists, and institutions to sign onto PACBI, especially those with greater power.
- Insist that those who benefit from Palestinian culture and dance prioritize its liberation as inherent to its form.
This boycott serves to distance Al-Juthoor from any activities, institutions or funding that promote Zionist ideology. This is not a boycott of individuals based on their identity such as citizenship, race, gender, sexuality, or religion. Learn more about BDS and PACBI here.