Adorned with bright patterns faded by the years, part of a belly dancing outfit appears from an old closet. Zoohoor has not worn the outfit for a long time. To be specific, not since the start of the second intifada in late 2000.
Zoohoor used to dance. Her feelings about it are a mix of guilt and pride. She first boasted to Al-Monitor, “I learned to dance by myself, and I was a good dancer. I started dancing when I was 16.” Later, she revealed, “I repented, and now I pray.” Dancing is not the only thing toward which 31-year-old Zoohoor expresses contradictory feelings of pride and shame. These feelings are also fed by her being a Dom girl.