Special to WorldTribune.com

GAZA CITY — Hamas has ordered security agencies to quell Western
fashion in the Gaza Strip.

Officials said the Interior Ministry has outlined standards of dress for
young Muslims that rule out Western styles or haircuts. They said the
ministry has recruited both the police and security forces for the campaign.

“They should monitor those involved in reducing the standards of
manhood,” Interior Minister Fathi Hamad said.

In a graduation ceremony for officers on May 21, Hamad, deemed one of
the most powerful security officials in the Hamas regime, said the ministry
drafted measures to stop non-Islamist dress and behavior among young people. The minister said security forces would enforce dress and hair codes on Gaza streets.

“They have their own methods which will be used very openly,” Hamad
said.

The Interior Ministry oversees some 20,000 police and security troops.
In April 2013, the ministry launched a crackdown on Western hairstyles as
security forces arrested and assaulted suspects.

“Those young men were forced to get haircuts in a humiliating way, and
several of them were beaten,” the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said.
“They were also forced to sign statements saying they will never grow their
hair or have strange hairstyles or even wear low-waist trousers.”

In his address, Hamad said Gazans should look to police and security
personnel as their model. He said followers of Western fashion were “slaves
for the Americans and Israelis.”

  Fashion watch: Hamas won’t allow Western styles that lower ‘standards of manhood’, Fathi Hamad, haircuts for Gaza youth, Hamas rules out Western fashion, non-Islamist dress and behavior, Palestinian Center for Human Rights