UAW news outlet The National has almost outdone itself with a piece about a yoga instructor in Ramallah.
Less like reporting, and more like another pretzel-twisted exercise in anti-Israel proyoganda:
Yoga instructor Sarab Atway never locks the door once her classes begin, here in the occupied West Bank.
Many of the rigid rules and etiquette she learnt during her days of practising yoga in the US do not apply to conditions in Ramallah, she says, including strict policies on late arrivals at the studio.
“In Palestine, being late to yoga is not disrespectful, it’s survival,” she tells The National. “I don’t lock the door because I know students may be navigating winding roads, traffic, or checkpoints just to arrive. Sometimes, even 20 minutes of yoga is the only peace they’ll experience that day,” she says. “I don’t believe in creating yet another barrier.”
Ms Atway, 42, has been teaching yoga since 2014. She took it up professionally after moving from the US to Ramallah, where she wanted to raise her children closer to their “Palestinian roots and family”.
Going through a transformative journey of her own, navigating post-partum and moving across continents, the mother of three says the practice gave her a “sense of self and safety” that she now hopes to offer her Palestinian students.
“Yoga offers consistency – something incredibly rare in Palestine,” she tells The National.
“You can plan your day carefully, only to be stopped by a checkpoint, a military raid, or a general strike that brings everything to a halt. Living under occupation is mentally and physically exhausting,” she says.
As such, the Palestinian-American instructor has learnt to adapt her classes to better cater to her students and the realities of their surroundings. This includes teaching yoga without mirrors and showing up to class even when no one is there.
“Stillness can feel unfamiliar when your body is used to being on alert,” says Ms Atway. “So teaching without mirrors helps my students reconnect with themselves, not their reflection.”
She says she shows up to class “even if no one else is able to make it”.
“I want my students to know that whenever they can arrive, they’ll find me on the mat. That consistency is something life under occupation rarely allows,” she tells The National.
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Aside from Israel’s brutal occupation, other challenges facing the yoga instructor include “creating a quiet space in the middle of Ramallah”.
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She describes practising yoga in the occupied Palestinian territory as a “form of resistance”.
“Living under a brutal military occupation that systematically strips away basic human rights is designed to exhaust and suffocate people. When we choose to show up – whether for our loved ones, our work, or ourselves – we are resisting that erasure,” she says.
“Choosing presence, care, and continuity in the face of oppression is an act of defiance. In that sense, yoga is resistance.”
In other words, the entire piece is just an excuse to demonize Israel.
And note how Atway seems obsessed with complaining about checkpoints. I wouldn’t have thought as a Ramallah resident, she’d need reminding as to why they are needed.
Having said that, if yoga is resistance, let’s sincerely hope more Ramallah studios lean into downward dogs rather than upward knives. Because stretching, breathing, and finding inner peace beats rockets, rape and hostage-taking every single time.
But as bad as this piece was, it did inspire me to think of possible yoga moves that could be taught at a Ramallah studio.
