Syrian Artist Turns to Belly Dancing Following Berlin Pride Attack

Haidar Darwish stood on stage at Berlin’s Museum Island on Sunday night wearing a flamboyant hoop skirt and a red fez. Before the music started, the Syrian belly dancer and artist asked the audience for a moment of silence, then told the crowd the show must go on despite the fatal attack that had plunged the city’s LGBTQ+ community into mourning less than 24 hours earlier (AP India).

“Yesterday there was an attack and a hate crime on our community in Berlin during the Pride Parade,” Darwish told the crowd, struggling to keep his emotions in check. “It’s 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” (AP India).

Saturday night’s van ramming and stabbing near the Christopher Street Day celebrations left one person dead and 29 injured. Authorities classified the violence as an extremist terror attack (AP India). The suspect, identified as Abdul Ballout, a 21-year-old German citizen with Lebanese roots, was tracked down around 6 p.m. Sunday in an allotment garden complex in the Spandau district. Police said he ran toward officers with a sharp instrument; they fired at least one shot and he died at the scene (AP India, Indian Express).

Prosecutors said Ballout had previously sought to join the Islamic State group. He traveled to Lebanon in 2025 intending to reach Syria and made contact with people he believed were members of the militant group. A Lebanese military court sentenced him to three months’ imprisonment for offenses including incitement to religious and sectarian conflict. After returning to Germany, he was arrested at Berlin airport. In May, a juvenile court in Berlin convicted him of preparing a serious act of violence endangering the state and publishing Islamic State propaganda, handing down a suspended sentence of one year and ten months in youth custody that prosecutors had appealed (AP India).

Darwish, who fled Syria in 2016 and performs as “The Darvish,” shared the stage with Queens Against Borders, a group created to build solidarity with LGBTQ+ refugees, migrants and immigrants. Also performing were Egyptian belly dancer Aleya and Nigerian drag performer Countess Sasha Seduction. Pushing aside the pain, Darwish began spinning like a traditional Anatolian dervish, his red skirt billowing in a graceful cone. Traditional Arabic melodies grew louder and faster as he stripped off the skirt and, to cheers, launched into belly dance moves (AP India).

“We’re trying our best, to be honest, in these weird, horrible times to create a stage where we can be present,” the 30-year-old told The Associated Press. He stressed the importance of performing for a wider audience that included Berliners of all backgrounds and foreign tourists. “Nonetheless, we are tired to constantly be put in a position where we have to fight endlessly.” The dancers could easily stay home, he said, “but we can also put grief into joy” (AP India).

By the end of the set, audience members had leaped from their chairs to join in, transforming an otherwise sad and somber night. Earlier Sunday, mourners including U.K. resident Ashley Jump had placed flowers at a memorial near the crime scene in Tiergarten park. “They’ll never erase us, we’ll never be gone,” Jump said. “As long as humanity has existed, we’ve existed. And as long as humanity exists, we will exist. We will not be removed” (AP India).

The attack has reopened debate over how Ballout was able to move freely despite his conviction and known radicalization. Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt said the suspect had a history of criminal offenses and membership in the Islamist scene (Indian Express). Chancellor Friedrich Merz, speaking ahead of a memorial service at St. Mary’s Church, urged residents to defend the country’s liberal values. “We will defend the freedom, openness, and liberal spirit of our lives and our society with everything we can do,” he said (Indian Express). Questions remain over whether the suspended sentence and monitoring mechanisms were sufficient to prevent the violence.