Worst Job: Selling Western Clothes In Pallyworld

[JStone]

Sorry, Hamas, I'm Wearing Blue Jeans

Palestinian feminist Asma Al-Ghoul arrived to our meeting at a Gaza coffee shop sporting blue jeans and a T-shirt—in stark contrast to the Islamic headscarves and tent-like dresses worn by the vast majority of Gazan women.

It's not just clothing that sets this 28-year-old secularist apart. She once publicly chastised a senior Hamas military leader—her uncle—who threatened to kill her, and she continues to publish gutsy articles, read banned books, and defy discriminatory policies. "Gaza needs all the liberal, secular people to stay here," she insisted, when I asked why she had declined opportunities to live abroad.

For three years, Israel has enforced a devastating blockade of the Gaza Strip aimed at isolating Hamas, the Islamic militant group that won Palestinian parliamentary elections in 2006 and seized control of this Palestinian territory in a 2007 civil war. (Fatah, a more moderate Palestinian faction, retained control of the West Bank.) Since then, Hamas has introduced restrictive new laws, including prohibitions against women using male hairdressers or smoking hookah in public. Hamas police have shut down musical concerts and interrogated suspected couples. Principals at government schools have reportedly pressured even Christian girls to wear the Islamic headscarf. Through it all, Asma has remained devoted to secularism, and was recently awarded a prestigious Human Rights Watch grant for her "commitment to free expression and courage in the face of political persecution." But will she be able to help build the inclusive civil society she seeks?

Her brother Mustafa was arrested and jailed by Hamas police last week for participating in street protests against Hamas's recent shutdown of Sharek Youth Forum. The nonprofit, which organized camps and afterschool programs for more than 60,000 Gazan children, is accused of storing pornography on its computers.

These days, when Asma is not overcome with worry about her imprisoned brother's fate, she is reading, writing, and following the news, including coverage of the failing peace negotiations between Israel and Fatah. She regards these talks as a "sad fairytale where everyone knows the ending." She's acquired a smuggled Arabic copy of Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie and insists, "We should read it before we judge it." She's also finishing the manuscript to her novel, titled City of Love and Taboo, which explores the Islamization of Gaza. She's hoping to publish it in both Arabic and English.

"Everything is taboo in Gaza now," she says, explaining the book's title. "Yet, at the same time, people still touch and feel and love."
Sorry, Hamas, I'm Wearing Blue Jeans | Mother Jones