Gazans celebrate Valentine's Day as Hamas looks the other way - Haaretz

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Sun., February 17, 2008 Adar1 11, 5768

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		Gazans walking past a store selling gifts for Valentine's Day on Thursday. (AP)

Last update - 21:47 14/02/2008

Gazans celebrate Valentine's Day as Hamas looks the other way

By The Associated Press

Tags: Palestinians, Valentine's Day

The odds against celebrating Valentine's Day in Hamas-ruled Gaza are almost impossible: The holiday is considered haram, or forbidden by Islam, most Gazans don't have money for frills and even the requisite red roses must be imported.

Yet Gaza managed to mark Eid el Hob, or the Feast of Love, with a few bright splashes of red Thursday. Flower shops in Gaza City's better neighborhoods, displaying rows of flower-filled buckets and heart-shaped decorations, catered to women in Islamic headscarves and dutiful husbands.

Hamas police looked the other way despite the religious taboo, reflecting the Islamic militants' policy of not going against popular consensus when it comes to social norms. For example, since seizing control of Gaza in June, Hamas has upheld a ban on alcohol but has not forced women to cover their hair.

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Across the Arab world, attitudes toward Valentine's Day are a gauge for the level fundamentalism. Devout Muslims believe that only Muslim holidays should be celebrated, opposing Valentine's Day as a Western celebration of romantic love that corrupts Muslim youth.

The holiday is outlawed in Saudi Arabia, where religious police enforce the ban, and conservative lawmakers in Kuwait said Wednesday they want to see Valentine's Day suppressed because it dilutes the nation's Arab and Muslim identity.

In Bahrain, which is more open that Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, flower shops imported about 150,000 roses in one week, or 20,000 more than last year, according to the Web site of the Al-Arabiya TV station. In Cairo, small cruise boats sailing on the Nile were decorated with red ribbons and hearts made of flashing red bulbs.

Dubai, a conservative Muslim city-state with a modern outlook and a pro-Western attitude, has been taken over by a Valentine craze in recent days. Malls, cafes and even offices were decorated with giant hearts.

Five-course dinners and romantic getaways were sold out, and Dubai's spas offered Valentine specials. Gaza was first introduced to Valentine's Day about a decade ago by Palestinian exiles returning home from more cosmopolitan places such as Beirut and Tunis, following interim peace deals with Israel. The Internet and Arab satellite TV have helped spread the idea, mostly among the young, educated and secular.

Yet in Gaza, the holiday of love remains a relatively modest affair, in part because few Gazans can afford to spend on extras, such as candy and flowers.

At a flower shop in Gaza City's Rimal neighborhood, 24-year-old Mohammed al-Wakid bought a rainbow-colored bouquet of carnations for his wife for NIS 5.

Al-Wakid, a policeman who's stayed off the job since the Hamas takeover, said he first started buying flowers for Valentine's Day four years ago, when he was engaged. Since then, his wife has come to expect the annual gesture, he said.

Across the street at the Rose Flower Shop, two young women, one dressed in a black Islamic robe and headscarf, bought a bouquet of roses, a rare sight in Gaza. The shop had managed to bring in 500 roses from Israel, using Gaza medical patients treated across the border as mules, and now had about 50 roses left.

Salesman Mohammed Sussi, 30, said he hadn't received any complaints from devout Gazans about his business. "They didn't tell us anything, whether from the government or anyone else, that it is 'haram'," he said.

But at a third flower shop, a TV crew earned angry glares from salespeople, and shoppers adamantly refused to be interviewed on camera. Asked why the reluctance, one salesman said his customers didn't want to be filmed doing something haram.

Hamas police spokesman Islam Shahwan said Valentine's Day might go against Gaza's traditions, but Hamas is not trying to replace civil with Islamic law. "We are by nature a religious people and hate and reject all strange things," he said. "[But] we don't kill adulterers or gays or cut off the hands of thieves.

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1.	Gaza	22:04	\|	Philippe	14/02/08

2.	If Gazans hadnt ransacked the Hot Houses, TWICE, flowers galore	22:10	\|	David	14/02/08

3.	Lovely,go Gaza,go!	22:30	\|	lakshmi	14/02/08

4.	HAPPY VALENTINE`S DAY!!!!!	22:59	\|	American	14/02/08

5.	spread the love	23:07	\|	gearoid	14/02/08

6.	Valentine`s Day	00:05	\|	Jorge	15/02/08

7.	500 roses in Gaza ...	00:38	\|	Maureen Ann	15/02/08

8.	this is a laugh	01:03	\|	rl	15/02/08

9.	Maureen Ann, you actually said something with which I agree	01:27	\|	akiva (zionist)	15/02/08

10.	Gaza	01:37	\|	Simon	15/02/08

11.	HAMAS PREVAILS ONCE AGAIN	02:31	\|	VIPER	15/02/08

12.	My Murine An, My Valentine one out of four, all 50 roses for you	03:07	\|	Jalal Shahid	15/02/08

13.	the pied Viper, or is it, the window Viper?!	03:59	\|	akiva (zionist)	15/02/08

14.	Humanitarian Crisis	04:39	\|	Jeffrey	15/02/08

15.	maybe they should buy leviev diamonds	06:53	\|	nummle	15/02/08

16.	Jalal, my husband got me a dosen roses for Valentine. BE-A-UTIFUL	09:09	\|	Yaakov Sullivan	15/02/08

17.	It`s a beautiful day in the neighborhood, will you be mine?	13:25	\|	Mr. Rogers	15/02/08

18.	Jeffrey @ 14. Your name does not suit you. Totally uncalled for.	13:30	\|	Virginia	15/02/08

19.	Blessed Yom Ahava (Love Day) to all the ME and the world.	13:08	\|	Virginia	15/02/08

20.	aza kamavet ha-ahava	14:23	\|	Artemio Danate	15/02/08

21.	Hamas	14:48	\|	HARRY	15/02/08

22.	#13, AKIVA	03:55	\|	VIPER	16/02/08

23.	Hamass Killjoy!!	06:42	\|	Cristo	16/02/08

24.	re viper	00:38	\|	Matthew	17/02/08

25.	#24, MATHEW, one eyed zionist supporter	12:11	\|	VIPER	17/02/08

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