Gazans Slam Hamas Decision To Ban New Year Celebrations
Page 1 of 1
Gazans Slam Hamas Decision To Ban New Year Celebrations
On December 30, 2015, Hamas' police force announced a ban on holding New Year celebrations in restaurants, hotels and cafes in the Gaza Strip. Police spokesman Ayman al-Batniji explained that the ban was "meant to minimize as far as possible phenomena that contravene the heritage, customs, values and directives of Islam" and also to demonstrate solidarity with the martyrs of the "Al-Quds intifada" by avoiding celebrations. He condemned those who "are planning new year celebrations at a time when the Palestinian people are enduring hardship, a suffocating siege, and the death of martyrs in the intifada."[1]
Gaza restaurateurs expressed displeasure at the ban due to the financial loss it will cause them, especially considering that Hamas recently raised taxes on restaurants.[2] The ban also evoked harsh criticism from Gaza residents, who voiced their complaints on social media, and also from public figures, such as a member of the Palestinian People's Party who advised the Hamas members to put aside their cars and start riding donkeys instead.
The following are examples of criticism leveled at Hamas for this decision.
In a post on his Facebook page, human rights activist Mustafa Ibrahim accused Hamas of hypocrisy and of disregarding the wishes of the Gaza residents: "Hamas has a new surprise for us every day, and at the end of the year it insists on a new addition to its bad human rights record. Seeking anything that can harm it and us, it cleaves to its customs and heritage which it is trying to impose and to realize in the name of religion, and attacks the public's freedoms. To the West it says, 'we are a moderate Islamic movement,' while in the domestic arena, it tries to tell many of its members that it governs [the Gaza Strip] based on religious Islamic law, rather than state law, and that, it if could, it might [even] implement the Koranic punishments... Its claim [that it has banned new year celebrations due to] the siege and the martyrs is not true. Hamas is the last one who should talk about the siege. It is the one that is preoccupied with appearances and arrogance and giving no weight to the siege [itself, only] to cries for help. All our lives we have been sacrificing martyrs but [also] celebrating. [Besides], how many celebrants [are we talking about]? Hearing about Hamas' decision [to ban the celebrations], one might think that tens of thousands celebrate [this occasion in Gaza]. By the way, celebrating the new year is not a religious matter, but a global human tradition. It's as though we are not part of the world, or as though we have lost our humanity."[3]
Mustafa Ibrahim's post
Ibrahim's post evoked many responses on his Facebook page. A reader called Mohamed Weshah wrote: "You are absolutely right. Islam has become a [smoke]screen used to justify positions."[4] Another reader, 'Adnan Al-Laham from Egypt, wrote: "Brother, celebrate international heritage as you wish, but stop this exaggerated [criticism of] Hamas. What [bad human rights] record are you talking about?" A third reader responded to Al-Laham's reply, saying: "We don’t need the quibbles of someone who lives outside Gaza. Come to Gaza and see how we live under Hamas, and then you can talk."[5]Responding to Ibrahim's post, some readers posted a photo showing Hamas officials, including Moussa Abu Marzouq, standing beside a Christmas tree and a figure of Santa Claus during their visit the Saint Porphyrios Church in Gaza last year (see below).[6]
In fact, many Palestinians posted this photo on social media to demonstrate the hypocrisy of Hamas officials, who participated in New Year festivities yet now ban the public and the restaurateurs from celebrating. Posting on the Amad website, an individual named Yasser Al-Najjar asked sarcastically: "Is Santa Claus perhaps a member of the Muslim brotherhood?" Abu Ahmad Al-Dweik criticized the Hamas officials for visiting the church, writing that "it is prohibited to share in the Crusaders' festivities during their holidays, since they claim that Jesus was the son of God and participating in their holidays is an act of supporting their faith."[7]
Palestinian People's Party Member: Stop Making Society Resemble ISIS
Nafez Ghneim, a senior member of the Palestinian People's Party (PPP), accused Hamas of violating collective and individual liberties on the pretext of minimizing Western influence on the lives of Gaza residents, and added: "Why do some people describe certain human [customs] as a Western tradition that contravenes the tradition of [Muslim] society? If such is the case, they should get out of their cars and ride on a donkey, or smash their mobile phones and return to antiquated modes of communication. Also, they should not follow the West or imitate it in their dress. They should burn their suits and ties and return to robes and wooden clogs." He wondered further: "Aren't the insurance companies an imitation of the West? Isn't trading in cigarettes and levying taxes an imitation of the West? What about the tourist resorts that are managed and controlled by all those who govern the Gaza Strip...?
Nafez Ghneim and the PPP emblem
He added: "Modesty will be attained [only] when justice is attained, when the poor can earn their crust of bread in dignity, when people gain freedom of expression in the framework of modern law, and when all men are equal before the law. Only then will celebrations be sweet, whereas today the joy that everyone seeks is but an escape from a living hell, and despite this, [those who wish to celebrate] are being persecuted under the pretext that they are imitating the West and deviating from social traditions."
Ghneim urged the Gaza authorities to leave people in peace and stop molding society, bit by bit, in the image of ISIS. He urged them to seek ways to restore to the Gazans their dignified lives, and address the roots of the poverty, despair and frustration felt in every Gaza household."[8]
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8921.htm
Gaza restaurateurs expressed displeasure at the ban due to the financial loss it will cause them, especially considering that Hamas recently raised taxes on restaurants.[2] The ban also evoked harsh criticism from Gaza residents, who voiced their complaints on social media, and also from public figures, such as a member of the Palestinian People's Party who advised the Hamas members to put aside their cars and start riding donkeys instead.
The following are examples of criticism leveled at Hamas for this decision.
In a post on his Facebook page, human rights activist Mustafa Ibrahim accused Hamas of hypocrisy and of disregarding the wishes of the Gaza residents: "Hamas has a new surprise for us every day, and at the end of the year it insists on a new addition to its bad human rights record. Seeking anything that can harm it and us, it cleaves to its customs and heritage which it is trying to impose and to realize in the name of religion, and attacks the public's freedoms. To the West it says, 'we are a moderate Islamic movement,' while in the domestic arena, it tries to tell many of its members that it governs [the Gaza Strip] based on religious Islamic law, rather than state law, and that, it if could, it might [even] implement the Koranic punishments... Its claim [that it has banned new year celebrations due to] the siege and the martyrs is not true. Hamas is the last one who should talk about the siege. It is the one that is preoccupied with appearances and arrogance and giving no weight to the siege [itself, only] to cries for help. All our lives we have been sacrificing martyrs but [also] celebrating. [Besides], how many celebrants [are we talking about]? Hearing about Hamas' decision [to ban the celebrations], one might think that tens of thousands celebrate [this occasion in Gaza]. By the way, celebrating the new year is not a religious matter, but a global human tradition. It's as though we are not part of the world, or as though we have lost our humanity."[3]
Mustafa Ibrahim's post
Ibrahim's post evoked many responses on his Facebook page. A reader called Mohamed Weshah wrote: "You are absolutely right. Islam has become a [smoke]screen used to justify positions."[4] Another reader, 'Adnan Al-Laham from Egypt, wrote: "Brother, celebrate international heritage as you wish, but stop this exaggerated [criticism of] Hamas. What [bad human rights] record are you talking about?" A third reader responded to Al-Laham's reply, saying: "We don’t need the quibbles of someone who lives outside Gaza. Come to Gaza and see how we live under Hamas, and then you can talk."[5]Responding to Ibrahim's post, some readers posted a photo showing Hamas officials, including Moussa Abu Marzouq, standing beside a Christmas tree and a figure of Santa Claus during their visit the Saint Porphyrios Church in Gaza last year (see below).[6]
In fact, many Palestinians posted this photo on social media to demonstrate the hypocrisy of Hamas officials, who participated in New Year festivities yet now ban the public and the restaurateurs from celebrating. Posting on the Amad website, an individual named Yasser Al-Najjar asked sarcastically: "Is Santa Claus perhaps a member of the Muslim brotherhood?" Abu Ahmad Al-Dweik criticized the Hamas officials for visiting the church, writing that "it is prohibited to share in the Crusaders' festivities during their holidays, since they claim that Jesus was the son of God and participating in their holidays is an act of supporting their faith."[7]
Palestinian People's Party Member: Stop Making Society Resemble ISIS
Nafez Ghneim, a senior member of the Palestinian People's Party (PPP), accused Hamas of violating collective and individual liberties on the pretext of minimizing Western influence on the lives of Gaza residents, and added: "Why do some people describe certain human [customs] as a Western tradition that contravenes the tradition of [Muslim] society? If such is the case, they should get out of their cars and ride on a donkey, or smash their mobile phones and return to antiquated modes of communication. Also, they should not follow the West or imitate it in their dress. They should burn their suits and ties and return to robes and wooden clogs." He wondered further: "Aren't the insurance companies an imitation of the West? Isn't trading in cigarettes and levying taxes an imitation of the West? What about the tourist resorts that are managed and controlled by all those who govern the Gaza Strip...?
Nafez Ghneim and the PPP emblem
He added: "Modesty will be attained [only] when justice is attained, when the poor can earn their crust of bread in dignity, when people gain freedom of expression in the framework of modern law, and when all men are equal before the law. Only then will celebrations be sweet, whereas today the joy that everyone seeks is but an escape from a living hell, and despite this, [those who wish to celebrate] are being persecuted under the pretext that they are imitating the West and deviating from social traditions."
Ghneim urged the Gaza authorities to leave people in peace and stop molding society, bit by bit, in the image of ISIS. He urged them to seek ways to restore to the Gazans their dignified lives, and address the roots of the poverty, despair and frustration felt in every Gaza household."[8]
http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/8921.htm
Guest- Guest
Similar topics
» Report: Hamas discussing 5-year truce
» Analysis: As Gazans suffer through winter, Hamas' face is to war
» Hamas preventing Gazans from rebuilding homes. NGOs silent.
» Gazans Not Allowed To Celebrate New Year’s Eve
» Israeli forces raid Beit Jala during Palm Sunday celebrations
» Analysis: As Gazans suffer through winter, Hamas' face is to war
» Hamas preventing Gazans from rebuilding homes. NGOs silent.
» Gazans Not Allowed To Celebrate New Year’s Eve
» Israeli forces raid Beit Jala during Palm Sunday celebrations
Page 1 of 1
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
Sat Mar 18, 2023 12:28 pm by Ben Reilly
» TOTAL MADNESS Great British Railway Journeys among shows flagged by counter terror scheme ‘for encouraging far-right sympathies
Wed Feb 22, 2023 5:14 pm by Tommy Monk
» Interesting COVID figures
Tue Feb 21, 2023 5:00 am by Tommy Monk
» HAPPY CHRISTMAS.
Sun Jan 01, 2023 7:33 pm by Tommy Monk
» The Fight Over Climate Change is Over (The Greenies Won!)
Thu Dec 15, 2022 3:59 pm by Tommy Monk
» Trump supporter murders wife, kills family dog, shoots daughter
Mon Dec 12, 2022 1:21 am by 'Wolfie
» Quill
Thu Oct 20, 2022 10:28 pm by Tommy Monk
» Algerian Woman under investigation for torture and murder of French girl, 12, whose body was found in plastic case in Paris
Thu Oct 20, 2022 10:04 pm by Tommy Monk
» Wind turbines cool down the Earth (edited with better video link)
Sun Oct 16, 2022 9:19 am by Ben Reilly
» Saying goodbye to our Queen.
Sun Sep 25, 2022 9:02 pm by Maddog
» PHEW.
Sat Sep 17, 2022 6:33 pm by Syl
» And here's some more enrichment...
Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:46 pm by Ben Reilly
» John F Kennedy Assassination
Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:40 pm by Ben Reilly
» Where is everyone lately...?
Thu Sep 15, 2022 3:33 pm by Ben Reilly
» London violence over the weekend...
Mon Sep 05, 2022 2:19 pm by Tommy Monk
» Why should anyone believe anything that Mo Farah says...!?
Wed Jul 13, 2022 1:44 am by Tommy Monk
» Liverpool Labour defends mayor role poll after turnout was only 3% and they say they will push ahead with the option that was least preferred!!!
Mon Jul 11, 2022 1:11 pm by Tommy Monk
» Labour leader Keir Stammer can't answer the simple question of whether a woman has a penis or not...
Mon Jul 11, 2022 3:58 am by Tommy Monk
» More evidence of remoaners still trying to overturn Brexit... and this is a conservative MP who should be drummed out of the party and out of parliament!
Sun Jul 10, 2022 10:50 pm by Tommy Monk
» R Kelly 30 years, Ghislaine Maxwell 20 years... but here in UK...
Fri Jul 08, 2022 5:31 pm by Original Quill