By Mel Frykberg
"RAMALLAH, Aug 3, 2010 (IPS) - Gazans are caught between a rock and a hard place. While Israel continues to apply a crippling siege on the coastal territory, Gaza's Hamas government is cracking down on civil and political liberties in what appears to be a campaign to slowly Islamise Gaza.
Last week detectives from Gaza's de facto Hamas government raided several stores and seized clothing which they alleged bore "immoral words".....
This latest crackdown on civil liberties follows a ban last week on women smoking argilah in public places. Hamas authorities say that women smoking the water pipes in public "contradict Palestinian traditions and values."
"I laughed when I heard about it. I wanted to go out immediately and smoke the argilah in public," said Riham Abdul Karim, Middle East Broadcasting's (MBC) feisty female chief correspondent who manages a largely male staff.
"I'm against people being forced against their will to follow certain traditions. Gaza is already a very conservative society, and people can make up their own minds as to what behaviour is right for them," Abdul Karim told IPS.....
"There is no doubt that Hamas is embarking on a major project to Islamicise Gaza and there are several reasons," says Dr Samir Awad from Birzeit University near Ramallah.
"On the one hand they are trying to fend off far-right Islamic extremists in the form of the Jayish Al-Sunna, Jayish Al-Islam and Jund Anser Allah groups in Gaza who want to establish Taliban-style governments," said Awad. "On the other hand Hamas wants to prove to its Fatah foes, particularly the Palestinian Authority (PA) government in Ramallah, that it can successfully establish Islamic rule in Gaza in order to win supporters in the West Bank and prove itself to doubting Gazans."....
Opposition political rallies have been forcibly broken up with sometimes bloody consequences. Several weeks ago ten-year-old Riham Abu Marasa was critically injured after she was accidentally shot while she was standing on the balcony of her uncle's house in northern Gaza city.
Abu Marasa had been observing Hamas police violently breaking up a Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party) gathering with beatings, clubs and shots fired into the air when one of the bullets hit her in the chest....."
"RAMALLAH, Aug 3, 2010 (IPS) - Gazans are caught between a rock and a hard place. While Israel continues to apply a crippling siege on the coastal territory, Gaza's Hamas government is cracking down on civil and political liberties in what appears to be a campaign to slowly Islamise Gaza.
Last week detectives from Gaza's de facto Hamas government raided several stores and seized clothing which they alleged bore "immoral words".....
This latest crackdown on civil liberties follows a ban last week on women smoking argilah in public places. Hamas authorities say that women smoking the water pipes in public "contradict Palestinian traditions and values."
"I laughed when I heard about it. I wanted to go out immediately and smoke the argilah in public," said Riham Abdul Karim, Middle East Broadcasting's (MBC) feisty female chief correspondent who manages a largely male staff.
"I'm against people being forced against their will to follow certain traditions. Gaza is already a very conservative society, and people can make up their own minds as to what behaviour is right for them," Abdul Karim told IPS.....
"There is no doubt that Hamas is embarking on a major project to Islamicise Gaza and there are several reasons," says Dr Samir Awad from Birzeit University near Ramallah.
"On the one hand they are trying to fend off far-right Islamic extremists in the form of the Jayish Al-Sunna, Jayish Al-Islam and Jund Anser Allah groups in Gaza who want to establish Taliban-style governments," said Awad. "On the other hand Hamas wants to prove to its Fatah foes, particularly the Palestinian Authority (PA) government in Ramallah, that it can successfully establish Islamic rule in Gaza in order to win supporters in the West Bank and prove itself to doubting Gazans."....
Opposition political rallies have been forcibly broken up with sometimes bloody consequences. Several weeks ago ten-year-old Riham Abu Marasa was critically injured after she was accidentally shot while she was standing on the balcony of her uncle's house in northern Gaza city.
Abu Marasa had been observing Hamas police violently breaking up a Hizb ut-Tahrir (Liberation Party) gathering with beatings, clubs and shots fired into the air when one of the bullets hit her in the chest....."
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