New “morality police” has begun detaining Palestinians who eat or drink in public during the fasting month of Ramadan, a first in the West Bank where Muslim custom was always widely observed, but never before imposed. The 12-member squad with special red badges appears to be an attempt by PA President Mahmoud Abbas’s West Bank government to challenge the claim of rival Hamas, the ruler of Gaza, to a monopoly on religious righteousness… In Ramallah, the seat of Abbas’s West Bank government, the deployment this year of a Ramadan police seemed somewhat unexpected. Ramallah is the most cosmopolitan and well-to-do of the Palestinian cities. However, Lt. Murad Qendah of the vice squad said he’s been assigned to stamp out public breaches.… The sudden appearance of Ramadan enforcers is being seen as an attempt by Abbas’s largely secular Fatah movement to challenge Hamas on its traditional turf – religion… “It’s an attempt to ride the wave of religion that is crashing into the Middle East,” political analyst Nasser Laham… Police spokesman Adnan al-Damari said police arrested at least 50 alleged public morality offenders in Ramallah since the start of Ramadan… “The duty of the morality police is to preserve public manners in public places, and to preserve the feelings of the people who are fasting,” he said. “Violating the holiness of Ramadan is a violation of people’s freedom.”
Of course we still managed to get hosed on this. The over/under was the beginning of September, and like idiots we bet the under. Screwed again. Anyway, Abbas is doing a great job creating a secular state in the West Bank. Let’s give him some land and weapons.
References:
* West Bank: `Morality police’ detain Ramadan fast-breakers [JPost]
Previously:
* Mere Rhetoric Evaluates Palestinian Opinion Poll, Walks Away Unsurprised
* The Day After
* AP: Gaza Christians Have Been Living Peacefully, Now Under Attack By Unknown Extremists
