"The head of an Islamic Emirate surfaces in Gaza"“When a groom spends a great deal of time looking for shoes of his size and then becomes forced to deal with very bad Chinese shoes smuggled via the tunnels, in this case speaking about fashion becomes pointless in Gaza. When power cut-offs becomes a daily rule and power supply is an exception, and when the internet service in the country is very slow and bad, it becomes ridiculous and pointless to ”filter” porn sites in the era of open spaces and in light of the hundreds of satellite channels that broadcast around the clock.
"Has Hamas started a gradual plan to Islamicize Gaza? This question is repeated by the Gazans who are exposed to subsequent measures by the ousted government led by the Islamic Movement, which all pour into the channel of attaining an Islamic society in Gaza where more than one million Palestinians out of 1.5 million Palestinians rely on coupons and financial aid, in light of the growing rates of poverty and unemployment. The measures of the Hamas government push Gaza’s society towards Islamicization, and these measures have been supported by Hamas mediums and the supporters of small hard-line Islamic groups that continue to criticize the Islamic Movement for not implementing the regulations of the Islamic Shariah, as opposed to man-made laws.
"Hamas’ government has denied, according to its spokesman Taher al-Nono, that it has taken “any decision that contradicts any of the prevailing rules or regulations.” However, this denial is inconsistent with the announcement of Hamas’ Prime Minister Ismail Haniyah in last Friday’s speech, that “the legislative Council (Hamas parliamentary bloc) has ratified new laws to preserve the beautiful image of our people and respect ethics and values and conform to the rules of proper conduct.”
“While Haniyah has affirmed that “there are no attempts to target the freedom of people, individuals, homes, and families,” he called on the Gazans to abide by these laws which aim at preserving public morals, stressing that “the government is committed to protect the people and will implement the laws issued by the Legislative Council.”
“Ever since Hamas's grip on Gaza, it has sought, with its ousted government, to deny any attempts to Islamicize Gaza and establish an Islamic Emirate. But this is no secret today; rather, it has become an issue [discussed] during meetings and workshops.
"A few days ago, the Ministry of Justice held a workshop to discuss the mechanisms of implementing “the list of public ethics” ratified by the ousted cabinet on June 9…The participants came out with a number of suggestions and recommendations, the most important of which is to implement the items of the list gradually, starting with “spreading virtue in the Palestinian society through various media outlets”, with a special emphasis on “wisdom and good advice as a slogan to implement this list.” The participants were keen to avoid a clash with the jurists and human rights activists and concerned sides, by emphasizing “the need to find a specialized department, the job of which is to supervise police and security officers and raise their awareness regarding the implementation of the list’s items in a civilized and wise manner that does not contradict the basic law.”
"But a clash has occurred in the wake of a decision to impose the religious clothing “head scarf and abaya [gown] on female lawyers before the courts in Gaza. The Lawyers’ Union considered this measure as going against the freedom of the lawyers. The decision which was issued by the Supreme Justice Council – which was established by the Hamas government as an alternative judicial body for the Higher Judicial Council of the Palestinian Authority in the wake of the crisis between Gaza and Ramallah – called for “forcing the female lawyers to wear a long gown and a piece of black fabric (the lawyers’ uniform known as robe) and a head scarf…”
"Women and the uses of technology seem to be the focus of the “yes for virtue” campaign launched by the Ministry of Endowment and Religious Affairs in Gaza a few weeks ago. The purpose of this campaign, according to Yousef Farhat, the general director of the Public Administration for Preaching and Guidance in the Ministry, is to “fight the non-ethical occurrences in Gaza.” He said the “idea surfaced after the Interior Ministry informed the cabinet that there are some corruption occurrences in public institutions, mixed night parties, and the widespread [presence] of the closed-down coffee shops, unmonitored internet through which the youths access porn websites and use drugs and sex-enticing gum, as well as the indecent clothing in public places and at the beaches.”
"Farhat added that the women’s clothes displayed by many stores and the pictures of models displayed in the boxes of women’s underwear are “a very indecent phenomena which the campaign seek to eliminate…” - Al-Akhbar Lebanon, Lebanon
