When Hamas won political control of the Palestinian Authority in the 2006 elections, there were widespread fears that the new leaders would impose conservative Islamic values on the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
But those fears proved to be largely unfounded at the time.
Three years later, with the West Bank controlled by a pro-Western caretaker government of questionable legitimacy and the Gaza Strip controlled by Hamas militants who routed Fatah fighters in 2007, there are new signs that Hamas is moving to impose conservative values on the Gaza Strip.
Over the weekend, Gaza's top judge said that he has ordered female attorneys to wear headscarves in court.
"We will not allow people to corrupt morals," Judge Abdul-Raouf Halabi told the AP. "This (dress code) will improve work in the courts."
The decision follows news that Hamas vice squads have been stepping up patrols and new steps by border guards to prevent visitors from bringing booze into Gaza.
Now, Fares Akram reports, Hamas virtue police are taking to the streets with posters and signs to encourage conservative Islamic virtue.
"The employee of Hamas' ministry of religious affairs showed a poster of Satan looking at a girl wearing a headscarf but a tight shirt and pants," Akram reported today for China's Xinhua news agency.
"'This is a 100 percent devilish dress,'" the man said about the clothes most of the Gazan girls wear. "'The Satan promoted to her that this is a legal Islamic clothing.'"
Gaza has always been more conservative than the West Bank. There are no movie theaters. You won't find Palestinian women at the beach in bikinis. And no restaurants or stores sell alcohol.
But it is not a Saudi-style society. Single women and men can meet for coffee and dinner. Plenty of women choose not to wear a head scarf. Lots of women work. And many Palestinians in Gaza are against imposing conservative values on their society.
The latest move by the courts is drawing condemnation from the Palestinian Center for Human Rights in Gaza, which called the dress code order illegal.
"This decision constitutes a violation of the law and an unjustified intervention into lawyers' affairs," the group said, "It also undermines personal freedoms and women's rights."
This is as bad as France decreeing no headscarves in schools despite the individual's desires.
Posted by: Edie | July 27, 2009 at 08:37 AM
Hamas' words mean so much more than Fatah's actions to everyone - why? Where's the torture by the Dayton government blog posts? People are desperate for Hamas to act like the Taliban. Easy there.
And Dion, there's a movie theatre in Gaza - didn't we see a movie there together in 2005, right after we saw a hiphop show on the waterfront?
Mustashfa al-Quds.. the PRCS theatre. It's not exactly Paramount, but it's a theatre, eh?
Posted by: Jon | July 28, 2009 at 04:01 PM
Why should anyone be surprised at what Hamas is doing? They are merely enforcing Shari'a law, and tough beans, there is no such thing as civil rights under Islamic Shari'a. of course, Fatah was merely Hamas in slow motion. Hamas is acting essentially like the Taliban and the Saudi Morality Police and the Iranian thugocracy and--well, name any other Muslim nation under the Shari'a.
Posted by: Euskalherria | July 28, 2009 at 10:21 PM
Jon - This isn't just words in Gaza, but new steps by Hamas to impose conservative values.
I don't recall ever seeing a movie in Gaza. While there may a center or two that has periodically shown movies, that's not the same thing as a movie theater.
Posted by: Dion Nissenbaum | July 29, 2009 at 02:46 AM
It is not very clever that Hamas delves into Islam rules. Possibly (although I doubt it) it will work with their supporters, but it will be disasterous for their international support. Especially now, at a time where international support for a Palestinian state seems to grow, this is incredibly dumb.
BTW, found your blog via Blogged.com, nice work.
Wessel
Globalookout - My blog on International Relations
Posted by: Wessel | July 29, 2009 at 11:58 AM
sad for the gazans.. life sux..
Posted by: lirun | July 30, 2009 at 02:53 AM