Tayside Justice for Palestine organised a festival in Dundee. There was a mixture of political speeches and cultural performances concerning Palestine. There were a few musical acts and an art display. The highlight of the festival were the two sessions of Dabka dances performed by young Palestinians from the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem who are involved with the Lajee Cultural Center. Dr Colin Cooper, a medical aid worker recently returned from the Gaza strip, speaks in this video just after the final dance by the Lajee troupe. He starts off by praising their brilliant and unbeatable performance. He speaks of how Gaza is not far from where the young dancers live but they can’t go there because Gaza is like a huge prison camp with 1.6 million people living in an area 20 miles long and 5 miles wide. As a doctor he is interested in the healthy effects that dancing and singing can bring in in what would otherwise be a soul-destroying environment. Dancing and singing make you joyful. Joy, hope and dignity are conducive to health and longevity. He noticed the beneficial health effects of music and dance when he was working in the Red Cross in a refugee camp in Cambodia, probably the worst conflict in the last 150 years. Dignity and knowing you’re heard matter. It’s not uncommon in the West to hear of people dying alone and being found dead in their house after several days or longer, who despite staying in a relatively safe environment, lack hope and joy due to loneliness …