A performance at the Palestine Cultural Festival at Katara.
As one of the oldest expatriate communities in Qatar, the Palestinian community, which has been living here peacefully and safely for over 60 years, organises events throughout the year to preserve their culture, heritage and national identity.
The programmes also aim at updating Palestinians residing in Qatar especially the young children about the situation of Palestine and its causes.
“The cultural events provide great opportunities to Palestinian expatriate community to celebrate culture in different occasions as a big number of the population do not travel to Palestine for certain reasons,” Dr Yehia Z. El Agha, Senior Adviser and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Palestine told The Peninsula.
He said that programs are being organised by Palestinian expatriate community in collaboration with Embassy of Palestine represented by Cultural Attache, Palestinian School and local partners like Katara Cultural Village.
“Recently, the Palestinian expatriate community organised a big cultural event at Katara. Rich culture and tradition of Palestine, delicious cuisine and food items including Zaitoon and Zatar were showcased during the event,” said El Agha.
Palestinian residents performed a number of cultural programs during the event like Palestinian Dabke- a native Levantine folk dance which combines circle dance and line dancing and is widely performed at weddings and other joyous occasions.
“The event attracted large number of Palestinian expatriates including women and children,” said El Agha.
A big cultural event will be held on May 3 in Abdul Aziz Nasser Theater to connect Palestinian people with their land, identity and culture. He said that a big percentage of Palestinians residing in Qatar do not go to Palestine but they celebrate the culture and heritage of their forefathers through such cultural activities.
“The Palestinian School which has about 2,400 students including boys and girls from Palestinian expatriate community and other nationalities has emerged as largest platform in term of holding cultural events,” he said.
He said that the school organizes about 30 events on different occasions during an academic year which help connect Palestinian students with their culture and tradition in a big way. The school is an integral part of the Palestinian community in Qatar and it plays key role in promoting Palestinian culture among Qatari citizens and expatriates.
“The curriculum of the school is designed to preserve the culture and heritage of Palestine. Teachers make special focus in this regard to ensure students are kept connected with their culture and heritage,” said El Agha. He said that the school is not only dealing with 2,400 students but also to their parents and around 8,000 Palestinians residing in Qatar.
Dr. Yehia Z El Agha, Senior Adviser and Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy of Palestine Pic: Baher Amin /The Peninsula
El Agha said that in universities operating in Qatar like Qatar University and those in Education City a number of events are being organised by Palestinian students to promote culture of Palestine, such as Dabka and exhibitions showcasing a complete cultural village of Palestine.
Speaking about the role of Embassy in organising cultural event, El Agha said: “The Embassy of Palestine cares for all Palestinians residing in Qatar. Whoever from the Palestinian community who wanted to organise any program he/she goes through the embassy. We support the events and try to facilitate as much as we can.”
He said that the embassy also participates in many activities like art and cultural exhibitions, and programs and those related to hosting famous poets and laureates.
“The cultural attache of the Embassy played key role in bringing the people of Qatar and Palestine closer,” said El Agha, adding that the attache participated in book fair which is held in Qatar and those events which are organised by the Ministry of Culture and Sports of Qatar.
He said that Embassy of Palestine plays a key role in preserving national identity of Palestinian people in Qatar. “We update the the new generation about the situation and causes of Palestine and Arabs and other nationalities seeking their support for Palestine,” said El Agha.
He said that Palestinians are working in different sectors in Qatar and most of them as doctors, engineers, teachers, and pharmacists.
“They love working in such professions. There are business owners and entrepreneurs. Very few people are working other than said sectors,” said El Agha.
He said that Palestinians residing in Qatar feel as if they were living in their own country. “Palestinian community consider themselves part of Qatari people,” said El Agha.
He said that Palestinians are very fond of football match. “There is football team of Palestinian expatriate community in Qatar. Their matches pull large number of crowds of Palestinians,” said El Agha.
