{"id":62970,"date":"2026-07-28T18:04:21","date_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:04:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/62970\/"},"modified":"2026-07-28T18:04:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T18:04:21","slug":"a-dance-group-defies-the-attack-on-berlins-pride-festival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/62970\/","title":{"rendered":"A dance group defies the attack on Berlin’s Pride festival"},"content":{"rendered":"

BERLIN (AP) \u2014 Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer and artist, took the stage at Berlin\u2019s Museum Island wearing a flamboyant hoop skirt and red fez. He asked the audience for a moment of silence and then said the show must go on \u2014 despite a fatal attack<\/a> on the city\u2019s Pride celebrations<\/a> that has plunged the LGBTQ+ community into mourning.<\/p>\n

\u201cYesterday there was an attack<\/a> and a hate crime on our community in Berlin during the Pride Parade,\u201d he told the crowd Sunday night, struggling to keep his emotions in check.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s heavy on our community but we are pushing through, and we are here specifically today, myself and my artists, to show up and be visible,\u201d Darwish said.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Haidar<\/p>\n

Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer with the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, performs during an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)<\/p>\n

Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer with the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, performs during an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)<\/p>\n

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Saturday night\u2019s van ramming and stabbing near Berlin\u2019s Pride festival<\/a> that left one person dead and almost 30 wounded was an extremist terror attack, authorities said.<\/p>\n

The suspect was killed<\/a> by police Sunday evening. Authorities said Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German-born citizen with Lebanese roots, apparently ran toward officers with a sharp instrument and police fired at least one shot. <\/p>\n

Some officials question how Ballout had been able to move freely in Germany following a conviction linked to his ties to the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n

Darwish, who fled from Syria in 2016, was on stage Sunday with Queens Against Borders, a performance group created to build solidarity with refugees, migrants and immigrants from the LGBTQ+ community. Also on stage were an Egyptian belly dancer, Aleya, and a Nigerian drag performer, Countess Sasha Seduction.<\/p>\n

\"Haidar<\/p>\n

\n Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer with the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, prepares backstage before an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n <\/p>\n

Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer with the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, prepares backstage before an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)<\/p>\n

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\"Kekik<\/p>\n

\n Kekik a member of the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, prepares backstage before an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n <\/p>\n

Kekik a member of the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, prepares backstage before an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, Friday, July 17, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)<\/p>\n

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Pushing aside the pain, Darwish began spinning like a traditional Anatolian dervish, his red skirt billowing in a graceful cone. Traditional Arabic melodies filled the space, growing louder and faster as Darwish stripped off his skirt and, to cheers, began performing belly dance moves.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re trying our best, to be honest, in these weird, horrible times to create a stage where we can be present,\u201d the 30-year-old Darwish, who goes by \u201cThe Darvish,\u201d told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

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He stressed that it was especially important for them to perform on the night after the attack for a wider audience outside their LGBTQ+ community that included Berliners of all backgrounds as well as many foreign tourists.<\/p>\n

\"Haidar<\/p>\n

\n Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer with the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, performs during an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)\n <\/p>\n

Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer with the Berlin-based LGBTQ collective Queens Against Borders, performs during an open-air show in Berlin, Germany, Sunday, July 26, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ebrahim Noroozi)<\/p>\n

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\"Flowers<\/p>\n

\n Flowers and rainbow flags placed in front of the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the victims of a car attack on Saturday’s Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)\n <\/p>\n

Flowers and rainbow flags placed in front of the Brandenburg Gate commemorating the victims of a car attack on Saturday’s Pride March in Berlin, Germany, Monday, July 27, 2026. (AP Photo\/Markus Schreiber)<\/p>\n

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Nonetheless, he said that \u201cwe are tired to constantly be put in a position where we have to fight endlessly.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said the dancers could easily stay home but \u201cwe can also put grief into joy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Darwish and the other performers danced until the audience leaped from their chairs and joined in, transforming an otherwise sad and somber night.<\/p>\n

Dancers haven taken the stage in Berlin and urged resilience after a fatal attack on the city\u2019s Pride celebrations. Sunday night\u2019s performance acknowledged the toll on the LGBTQ+ community. Authorities said Saturday night\u2019s van ramming and stabbing near the festival was an extremist terror attack that killed one and hurt almost 30 others. The suspect was killed by police.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BERLIN (AP) \u2014 Haidar Darwish, a Syrian belly dancer and artist, took the stage at Berlin\u2019s Museum Island…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":62971,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[47472,18,24439,1588,47468,122,47767,635,941,41,1491,47467,48290,58,9545,1493,46],"class_list":["post-62970","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-berlin","tag-abdul-ballout","tag-berlin","tag-celebrity","tag-dance","tag-fairs-and-festivals","tag-general-news","tag-haidar-darwish","tag-immigration","tag-lgbtq","tag-music","tag-political-violence","tag-radicalism","tag-sasha-seduction","tag-terrorism","tag-vehicle-ramming-attacks","tag-violence","tag-world-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/62971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}