Hey Gals, Check This Out – Palestinian Control Of Gaza Not Going Well For Women

By
Omri Ceren
– December 2, 2006Posted in: Palestinians, Women In Islam

The growth of political Islam in the Gaza Strip turns out to be somewhat less than progressive:

A hitherto unknown group calling itself the Just Swords of Islam issued a warning to Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip over the weekend that they must wear the hijab or face being targeted by the group’s members… The warning was directed primarily against female students in a number of universities and colleges who do not cover their heads in line with Islamic tradition. The group said its followers last week threw acid at the face of a young woman who was dressed “immodestly” in the center of Gaza City… Addressing female students, the group said: “We will have no mercy on any woman who violates the traditions of Islam and who also hang out in Internet cafes.” According to the group, its members used rocket-propelled grenades to attack 12 Internet cafes and a number of music shops in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

Here is some of what’s already happening in Gaza City:

And this is a picture from a rally held with the radical feminist group Code Pink:

You know, we don’t think that all opposition to Israel is rooted in anti-Semitism. But we do question how somebody could look at the situation in Gaza and conclude that the most important thing that a feminist can do is urge that Israel should get out of the way and let Muslim radicals take over. Because we don’t think that Muslim radicals are very good for women’s rights, and so we question what women’s rights activists are doing siding with Muslim radicals. We think that there might be something else going on, ya know?

Previously: Hey Gals, Check This Out: Bahraini Women’s Rights Activist Dismantles Religious Zealots, Hey Gals, Check This Out – Joyful Israeli Girls A Stark Contrast To Girls In Arab And Muslim World, Muslim Culture In Germany Not Great for Women

Related Mere Rhetoric Posts: