GAZA CITY, Gaza — Five years after they seized power in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas movement appears to have entirely backed-off from attempts to impose strict Islamic strictures on life in the coastal territory.
Hamas’ largely bearded police force once aggressively stalked Gaza’s streets and beaches, searching for canoodling, unmarried couples and intimidating shop owners selling risqué lingerie. The government ordered female lawyers to cover their hair in court. Citing Islamic traditions, in 2010 it announced bans on women smoking nargileh — the Middle Eastern water pipe.
But now, locals say, the Gaza Strip is a much more liberal place.
“The government doesn’t bother me at all any more,” said 35-year-old Said Al Helou, the owner of a women’s underwear and lingerie shop in Gaza City.
Indeed, the male hairdressers once ordered by the interior ministry to stop styling women’s hair are also back to work.
In Gaza City, the comparatively liberal, seaside capital of the Gaza Strip, women — many without headscarves — meet more easily with men at upscale cafes, smoking water pipes and wearing t-shirts, skinny jeans and trendy high-wedge heels.
“At first, a few years ago, the [Hamas] police told me to never display a photograph or mannequin that reveals a woman’s body in the window,” Al Helou said. His window display now features a mannequin clad in a white lace negligee. “But now, they’re not concerned.” » | Erin Cunningham | Wednesday, July 11, 2012
