Al Watan Dabke Group stomps their feet for Palestinian resistance

Photo courtesy of Khaled Hamed

Current Al Watan troupe, from left to right, Khaled Hamed, Ahmad Ahmad, Zain Jaber (in the back), Sumbol Jaraba, Karim Jaber, Hamza Jaber, Qatada Banifadel, Amir Hamed, Saif Ahmad and Obada Aljabali. Members not shown: Jowad Fares, Abood Jabr, Nouh Mahmoud, Ahmad Mahmoud, Kais Jaraba and Kais Ahmad.

Al Watan Dabke Group performs the traditional Levantine folk dance dabke at weddings and cultural events. The Milwaukee-based troupe formed in 2018 and are active both locally and nationwide, now 14 members strong with four more in training. Every member of Al Watan Dabke Group is Palestinian Muslim, and their performances always have Palestinian flags flying and the dancers all wearing keffiyehs, reflecting an unwavering sense of pride and unity.

Khaled Hamed, co-founder of Al Watan Dabke Group, explains that what started as a hobby for him gradually evolved into something bigger. He first learned the dance while growing up in his hometown of Beitin, Palestine. “Me and my cousin Mahdi love doing dabke,” he shares. “It’s in our nature and has always been in our family.”

Khaled Hamed, co-founder of Al Watan Dabke Group.

They would just do it for fun, but as time went on, more and more people started asking the two to teach them dabke. “My brother’s wedding was coming up and we ended up performing at it,” Hamed continues. “Then other people started asking us to perform at their weddings too. It became a thing where it wasn’t just for fun anymore.”

To Hamed, being a dancer is an important act of Palestinian resistance, noting. “Dabke literally translates to “stomping of the feet,” so whether it’s a joyous occasion or a charity or anything, it all comes back to the same thing. We are stomping our feet as an act of resistance for Palestine. It will always sit heavy in all of us.”

Khalid and Mahdi Hamed originally named their troupe Al Ghurba, which in Arabic means “the foreigners.” They rebranded as Al Watan – meaning “the homeland” – in 2021 to better reflect their commitment to preserving the group’s rich Palestinian heritage. Khalid Hamed is the only remaining original member.

“A lot of the guys from the beginning got older, got married, or they just don’t have time,” he adds. “But there are some guys who are still with me who have been there for a while.”

Al Watan travels nationwide to perform at cultural events and weddings in Arizona, New Mexico, Louisiana, and Toronto, Canada. This photo was taken at the University of Tennessee’s multicultural event in Knoxville.

Al Watan member, Hamza Jaber

Al Watan Dabke Group has weekly hour-long practices during the summer. Many of the younger members will bring friends from school who want to learn the dance. “We’ll have them try to do what they know,” Hamed explains. “Most of the guys don’t know anything, but we like to know the rhythm of their feet and what level are they on.”

According to Hamed, it takes anywhere from two weeks to a month to get the hang of dabke, and three to six months to have it mastered. Hamed’s younger brother Hamza is a dabke leader and one of the best in the group. “His feet are like fluid,” Hamed attests. “He was built with it in him since he was like four years old.”

Typically, the group’s busy season starts when Ramadan ends in April and goes through October. So far this year they have performed at 51 events, including at the UWM Gaza Encampment in May. In past years they have performed at Drexel Town Square for Oak Creek Culture Celebration, World Refugee Day, at Lynden Sculpture Garden, various high school events and for Hanan Refugee Relief Group.

“For all of that stuff, we don’t ask for money,” Hamed said about local events. “We’re proud to be Palestinian and proud to showcase our culture and our country, no matter what it takes.”

Photo courtesy of Wisconsin Muslim Journal

Members of Al Watan performed at the Marcus Performing Arts Center for the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalitions annual gala in 2022.

Although they are very busy, the troupe is certainly approachable. They have organically built a following primarily between social media and word-of-mouth. Hamed elaborates, “We have business cards that we hand out and I give my contact information out to a lot of people. A lot of the guys are in school and know people who are having weddings so we’ll get in touch with them from there. And our work speaks for itself; once we perform, a lot of people come up to us after.”

Such a following has taken the troupe across the nation with performances as far as Arizona, New Mexico, and Louisiana, plus one outside the US in Toronto, Canada. They are currently in talks with someone having a wedding next year in Paris, France.

Al Watan Dabke Group also performs zaffa for weddings, which involves chanting and drumming at the bride and grooms’ houses. “It’s very entertaining but also very meaningful,” Hamed mentions. “I just love going to peoples’ weddings. We enjoy every single minute of it, like it’s the best day ever on repeat, every week.”

Photo by Gazawi Media

Al Watan is available to perform both dabke and zaffa at weddings.

Determined to share the art of dabke with as many who want to learn as possible, Khalid Hamed is working on opening an actual dabke school in Milwaukee, inspired by programs he and his brother have done where they taught kids the dance. “It was an ecstatic time getting to do that,” Hamed says. “The first time we did it, we had about 20 kids. Then the second time I ran it, I had 48 kids.”

As the brothers discussed further, they took into account how Al Watan Dabke Group’s membership has fluctuated over time, ultimately deciding that a dabke school would be their logical next step.

“I want to keep this going on forever,” Hamed said about Al Watan Dabke Group. “This school would be for the people but it’d also be for us. We’d have our own space to practice in, and we’re going to teach dabke and zaffa and drumming. A lot of weddings have DJs, so we’re going to teach how to play piano and how to DJ as well. It will be a way to keep everyone together culturally, religiously and as one community.”

The school will also in time offer lessons for girls to learn dabke. “I know a couple women instructors who can and are willing to help us out,” Hamed confirms.