To: Joey Hood
Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs
U.S. Department of State

Ata Khattab, cultural worker and choreographer with the world-renowned El-Funoun Palestinian Popular Dance Troupe, was arrested by Israeli military forces in an early morning raid on his home in Al Bireh, West Bank, Occupied Palestine, on February 2nd, 2021. Since then, he has been held without trial or charge at the infamous Israeli interrogation compound in Jerusalem known as Al-Moscobiyeh. On Wednesday, February 24th, the Israeli military court extended Ata's interrogation by nine additional days. Israeli law unbelievably states that he can be held with no charges for up to 78 days.

The detention center where Ata is currently held is notorious for its use of torture and inhumane tactics against Palestinian prisoners. Addameer Prisoners Support and Human Rights Association, the most prominent Palestinian political prisoners’ advocacy organization in Palestine, has documented – through first-person interviews with prisoners held in Al-Moscobiyeh – numerous cases of human rights abuses, including beatings, the use of stress positions, sleep deprivation, and prolonged periods of isolation/solitary confinement .

Ata is a cultural worker, choreographer, trainer, and performer with El-Funoun, and the director and primary choreographer of its youth program, dedicating his time to mentoring and training the next generation of Debka (a traditional, folkloric Palestinian dance) performers. Besides the viciousness of the Israeli occupation that should already know much about, Ata’s arrest is yet another example of Israel’s continued, specific attacks against cultural workers and artists across Palestine. Many have been arrested in the past few months, including two Birzeit University students who are members of the Wishah Popular Dance Troupe, an Al-Bireh-based cultural organization.

Israel’s criminalization and repression of every sector of Palestinian society, including arts and culture, must be condemned by the U.S. Department of State.

Ata is a pillar of his community and his family, and a mentor to an entire generation of young students and future artists, dancers, and performers. He has visited the United States twice, most recently in November 2016 as part of an international tour with El-Funoun.

We are asking that you please:

1) help us secure Ata’s immediate release by requesting that the Secretary of State pressure Israel to safely return Ata to his family;

2) help ensure that Ata’s human and civil rights under international law are not being violated during his time as a political prisoner in Israeli detention.

Thank you for your expedited attention to this issue. As you can imagine, we are very concerned about the documented use of torture at Al-Moscobiyeh, and the fact that Ata may be subjected to it right now.