Islamism in the Gaza Strip involves efforts to promote and impose Islamic laws and traditions in the Gaza Strip, both by the ruling Hamas government and other Islamist anti-Hamas groups in the region. The influence of Islamic groups in the Gaza Strip has grown since the 1980s. Following Hamas' victory in the 2006 Palestinian elections and a conflict with supporters of the rival Fatah party, Hamas took complete control of the Gaza Strip,Militants torch Gaza water park shut down by Hamas , Haaretz 19-09-2010Gunmen torch Gaza beach club shuttered by Hamas , AFP 19-09-2010 and declared the "end of secularism and heresy in the Gaza Strip".Khaled Abu Toameh, "Haniyeh Calls for Palestinian Unity", Jerusalem Post, June 15, 2007 Gaza human-rights groups accuse Hamas of restricting many freedoms.
In 2009, Ismael Haniyeh officially denied accusations that Hamas intended to establish an Islamic emirate. However, Jonathan Schanzer wrote that in two years following the Hamas takeover, the Gaza Strip had exhibited the characteristics of Talibanization, a process whereby the Hamas government had imposed strict rules on women, discouraged activities commonly associated with Western culture, oppressed non-Muslim minorities, imposed sharia law, and deployed religious police to enforce these laws.
According to a Human Rights Watch researcher, the Hamas-controlled government of Gaza stepped up its efforts to "Islamize" Gaza in 2010, efforts that included the "repression" of civil society and "severe violations of personal freedom". "In Gaza, prisoners twice over; Palestinians are being squeezed by the Israeli blockade and Hamas' 'Islamizing' actions," Bill Van Esveld (a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch), June 27, 2010, Los Angeles Times. Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh wrote in 2009 that "Hamas is gradually turning the Gaza Strip into a Taliban-style Islamic entity". According to Mkhaimar Abusada, a political-science professor at Gaza's Al-Azhar University, "Ruling by itself, Hamas can stamp its ideas on everyone (...) Islamizing society has always been part of Hamas strategy."Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push By Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, November 30, 2009
Women
Dress code for women
1970s to 1980s Successful coercion of women by sectors of society to wear Islamic dress or hijab has been reported in Gaza where Mujama' al-Islami, the predecessor of Hamas, reportedly used a mixture of consent and coercion to "'restore' hijab" on urban educated women in Gaza in the late 1970s and 1980s."Women and the Hijab in the Intifada", Rema Hammami Middle East Report, May–August 1990
1980s to 1990s Similar behavior was displayed by Hamas during the First Intifada.Rubenberg, C., Palestinian Women: Patriarchy and Resistance in the West Bank (USA, 2001) p.230 Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab alongside other measures, including insisting women stay at home, segregation from men and the promotion of polygamy. In the course of this campaign, women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'.Rubenberg, C., Palestinian Women: Patriarchy and Resistance in the West Bank (USA, 2001) p.231
2007 Swords of Truth threat In 2007, Islamic group Swords of Truth threatened to behead female TV broadcasters if they didn't wear strict Islamic dress. "We will cut throats, and from vein to vein, if needed to protect the spirit and moral of this nation," their statement said. The group also accused the women broadcasters of being "without any ... shame or morals." Personal threats against female broadcasters were also sent to the women's mobile phones, though it was not clear if these threats were from the same group. Gazan anchorwomen interviewed by the Associated Press said that they were frightened by the Swords of Truth's statement.
2009 rules for female lawyers After taking control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Hamas tried to enforce Islamic law in the territory, imposing the hijab on women at courts, institutions and schools.Women, the Hijab and the Intifada , Middle East Research and Information Project
Some of the Islamization efforts met resistance. When Palestinian Supreme Court Justice Abdel Raouf Al-Halabi ordered female lawyers to wear headscarves and caftans in court, attorneys contacted satellite television stations to protest, including Saudi state media outlet Al Arabiya, causing Hamas' Justice Ministry to cancel the directive.
2009 Detention of Asma al-Ghul
In 2009, Asma al-Ghul, a female Palestinian journalist, stated that Hamas policemen attempted to arrest her under the pretext that she came to a Gaza beach dressed immodestly and was seen laughing in public. "They accused me of laughing loudly while swimming with my friend and failing to wear a hijab," Ghul told "They also wanted to know the identity of the people who were with me at the beach and whether they were relatives of mine." Al-Ghul added that the officers confiscated her passport, and that she had received death threats from anonymous callers following the incident.Khaled Abu Toameh, 'They accused me of laughing in public' , Jerusalem Post 04-08-2009 Regarding the incident, Hamas initially said that al-Ghul and her friends were stopped because they were having a mixed party at the beach. Later, one of the commanders said that al-Ghul was stopped for not wearing a hijab while swimming. Another commander said that the offense was smoking nargilas and partying in a public place. Islam Shahwan, the Hamas police spokesman, denied the detention of al-Ghul.Hamas tries to detain woman walking with man , July 8, 2009, Diaa Hadid, The Guardian
Typical clothing in the 2020s
In the early 2020s women have tended to dress conservatively in the Gaza Strip, but traditionally Islamic dress codes such as head scarves were not mandatory for all. Gazan Christian women do not often wear headscarves, particularly at Christian gatherings or Christian venues like the YMCA in Gaza City.
Jamila al-Shanti
Islamisation of other women's issues
In 2009, Hamas banned girls from riding behind men on motor scooters and forbade women from dancing. , Reuters 8-10-2009
The Hamas-led government briefly implemented, then revoked, a ban on women smoking in public.Gaza ban on women smoking pipes , Reuters, 19 July 2010, The Independent. In 2010, Hamas banned the smoking of hookah by women in public, stating that it was to reduce the increasing number of divorces.
In March 2010, Hamas tried to impose a ban on women receiving salon treatment from male hairdressers, issuing orders by Interior Minister Fathi Hammad and threatening offenders with arrest and trial. The group backed down after an outcry. In February 2011, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights, Hamas attempted to renew the ban, interrogating the five male hairdressers in Gaza City and forcing them to sign declarations that they wouldn't work in women's salons. According to one of the hairdressers, police called the five into a room where an unrelated detainee was chained to a wall by his wrists and told to sign a pledge to give up their profession or face arrest and a 20,000 shekel fine. The man initially refused but signed after his captors threatened "to take you to the cells because what you do is against Sharia". During Hamas's reign over the strip, several beauty parlors and hair salons have been the target of explosions and other attacks, which Hamas has blamed on opposition groups. Male hairdressers for women in the conservative territory are rare.Hamas orders male hairstylists out of lady salons , Associated Press (published in the Jerusalem Post 21–02–2011)Hamas bans men from women's hair salons in Gaza , Reuters 05-03-2010Gaza police order male hairdressers to quit working , The Guardian 23-02-2011
In 2013, UNRWA canceled its annual marathon in Gaza after Hamas rulers prohibited women from participating in the race.
In 2015, Hamas banned New Year's Eve celebrations based on the Gregorian calendar, stating that such celebrations "offended the territory's values and religious traditions." This was after the Islamic New Year had begun in October.
Polygamy Polygamy has burgeoned under the Hamas government, and the overall rate of marriage has decreased. Polygamy was already practised in some Bedouin communities in Israel, and some Palestinians with Israeli citizenship, particularly in the Negev desert (Arabic pronunciation: Naqab) surrounding the Gaza Strip.
Book banning
In 2007, the banning of a book of Palestinian folktales, Speak, Bird, Speak Again, which is a collection of 45 Palestinian folk tales, because of some supposedly lewd content, caused an outcry.Jonathan Spyer, Analysis: The Islamic republic of Gaza , Jerusalem Post 29-09-2009 The Palestinian novelist Zakariya Mohammed warned that Hamas' decision to ban the book was "only the beginning" and he urged intellectuals to take action. He said: "If we don't stand up to the Islamists now, they won't stop confiscating books, songs and folklore".Hamas orders book of Palestinian folk tales pulled from schools , Tuesday, 6 March 2007. By Mohammed Daraghmeh and Dalia Nammari, Associated Press. The decision to ban the book was shortly thereafter reversed due to widespread outcry.
Music and entertainment
One of the most obvious difference between Hamas and the smaller more fundamentalist groups in the Gaza Strip is music. article title: Hamas are not ISIS, date 2023 Hamas do not object to most music, and music has long been a key element of the Palestinian Nationalist movement. al Jazeera documentary about music in prison
Entertainment venue bombings (2006-2007)
Beginning in October 2006, during the Fatah-Hamas conflict, and continuing into mid-2007, dozens of Internet cafes and music shops in Gaza were attacked by unknown assailants who detonated small bombs outside businesses at night, causing damage but no injuries. Ramzi Shaheen, the Gaza police spokesman, told Ha'aretz in 2007 that the method of operation was always the same but that they had no hard proof as to who was behind the attacks and had yet to make arrests. Ramzi Abu Hilao, a pool hall owner whose establishment was blown up said he had received no prior warning but that, "I received a written message after the bombing from a group called 'The Swords of Truth' that began with a verse from the Quran and said they wanted to correct the bad behavior in Palestinian society." Hamas spokesman Ismail Ridwan denied any connection with the group.
Police said that no credible claims of responsibility had been made for the attacks, dismissing a statement that appeared on a news Web site in December from an unknown group with alleged links to Al-Qaeda. Haaretz noted that, "There has been no conclusive proof that Al-Qaida has established a Gaza branch. Observers believe the vice squad is most likely homegrown."
Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice in 2007
In 2007, the Gaza Strip's Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which at the time claimed to be independent of the Hamas government, beat up a local singer in Gaza after he gave a concert in Khan Younis, according to the London-based newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi.Gaza gets its own 'religious police' , Al-Arabiya 08-10-2007
Arab Idol 2013
In 2013, Gazan singer Mohammed Assaf won Arab Idol, a regional singing competition TV show. A Hamas spokesperson initially condemned the name and idea of the show as blasphemous, but later a Hamas legislator praised Assaf as the "ambassador for Palestinian art".
ISIS sympathisers in 2021
In August 2021, ISIS-inspired groups in the Gaza Strip accused Bianco Resort, one of the Gaza Strip's most luxurious seaside tourist sites, of holding a music concert for men and women, before attacking the resort with an explosive device.