Forbidden Love On Gaza Beach

JStone

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Jun 29, 2011
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Forbidden Love On Gaza Beach
It seems Palestine, too, has taken a more conservative approach towards local tourists and residents going to the beach, walking along Gaza shores and showing public display of affection. Apparently, Hamas police attempted to arrest 26-year-old freelance reporter Asma al-Ghoul walking with a man along the Gaza beach. The group of friends consisted of two women and three men passing time, walking on the northern Gaza shore.

Miss al-Ghoul was picked up by police on charges of indecent clothing and behavior. On the night of the arrest, she was wearing jeans and T-shirt - attire that is considered fairly provocative in Gaza’s conservative society and which could have easily attracted the attention of the plain-clothed Hamas vice police who patrol the beaches. She also swam in pants, fully dressed, with a girlfriend. Al-Ghoul’s male friends were beaten by Hamas police, kept in jail for several hours and asked to sign statements saying they would not violate public moral standards again, she said. The incident came as a surprise, worst yet, as shock to Palestinians who, for the first time were told about the news and apparent new Islamic law imposed by Hamas on the coastal area.

According to local news, this incident was the first time Hamas has openly tried to punish a woman for behaving in a way it views as un-Islamic since seizing power two years ago. The incident follows months of quiet pressure on Gaza’s overwhelmingly conservative 1.4 million residents to abide by its strict religious mores. The Hamas even ordered shop-owners to tear down ads showing silhouettes of women's bodies on display and pull lingerie off the shelves.

Ironically, the Islamic hardliner’s stance comes to fore – a “culture” imported from ultra-conservative Saudi Arabia (where couples/ lovers innocently strolling on the beach or streets risk getting arrested by the religious police or Mutawa), while Gaza’s beaches are promoted to boost local tourism.

Not long ago, after Gaza’s disengagement, Palestinian tourism experts pinned their hopes high on internal or domestic tourism. One way of tapping the numbers on the Strip was to reintroduce Gaza’s beaches to the people of Palestine. Beaches were getting a lot of attention at the time.

Palestine Tourism Forbidden love on Gaza beach - eTurboNews.com
 
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