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Hamas harasses woman journalist, beats men for being on a Gaza beach together
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Thoughtful people understand that Hamas inflicts suffering on Gaza through its war of rockets and terrorism, which requires Israel to respond. (If Gazans stopped trying to kill Jews, Israel would be more than happy to leave Gaza alone.) However, surprisingly little attention is paid to the ways that Hamas directly and intentionally makes life miserable for the people of Gaza. As an Islamist organization (a branch of the Muslim Brotherhood with major funding from the Iranian mullocracy), it aims to replicate the inhumane social conditions of Taliban Afghanistan or Wahabi Saudi Arabia.
A recent incident is representative of the growing climate of fear and repression Hamas has been creating since it seized power in Gaza by force. Asma al-Ghoul is a female journalist in Gaza. As the Associated Press puts it, “Al-Ghoul is fairly exceptional in Gaza because she does not wear a Muslim headscarf.” She is, in fact, the sort of modern, independent woman that Hamas loathes. During the last weekend in June she was at a Gaza beach with friends, two women and three men. She was wearing jeans and a T-shirt. She wore the jeans and the T-shirt when she went swimming in the sea. Not good enough—apparently she ought to have gone swimming with a hijab.A group of men approached her and demanded to know why she wasn’t wearing a head scarf. They accused her of “laughing out loud.” They asked if she was related to the men she was with. These nosy gents were from the Hamas Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, modeled after the Saudi organization of the same name. (The Saudi virtue propagators/vice preventers are famous for such feats as pushing girls back into a burning building because they were dressed “improperly,” resulting in 15 deaths.) The Jerusalem Post notes that “Hamas has refrained from publicly admitting that the force exists out of fear of being branded fundamentalist.” (Hamas apologists, take note.)
They followed al-Ghoul to a nearby friend’s house. They took away her identity card. They wanted to take her laptop, but couldn’t find it. (This suggests that her critical journalism, perhaps more than her attire, is what bothers Hamas.) They would have arrested her, but the friend phoned a Hamas official who intervened on her behalf. Nevertheless, the government vigilantes warned that they would be “following her case.” Her male friends were taken to a police station and beaten.
Since then, al-Ghoul has received death threats. She is staying at home. She says: “People are afraid to speak out. But we must speak out in order to stop this. We fear that the government will banish those who speak. . . . You know, when my mother was my age she used to wear short skirts and no hijab. I do not wear hijab. But now, the women cover everything, even their faces. I am a secular Muslim. Theoretically, I believe that Islam and secular values can be compatible. The government has attached themselves to the most extreme facets of Islam, not to Islam as it has been practiced in the past. These morality police think they are god.”
The immiseration of the people of Gaza continues, as Hamas tightens its grip.
For more information: “Palestinian Taliban Arrest Palestinian Feminist”
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