Human rights activists said Hamas was believed to have destroyed popular
resorts that permitted the mingling of the sexes. They cited the arson of
Crazy Water Park southwest of Gaza City on Sept. 19, conducted by about 25
masked gunmen.
"We are gravely concerned over the unjustified intervention of the
Interior Ministry into public freedoms, closing a number of tourist places
in Gaza City, imposing restrictions on their work and arresting one of these
places' owners under the pretext of gender mixture and non-compliance with
the Islamic customs," PCHR said.
Hamas has banned parties given by non-Islamic resorts. One such Interior
Ministry notice was sent to the Orient House Hotel after Hamas agents from
the General Investigations Bureau had found a woman smoking a water pipe.
"We obtained the license from the police to hold a party on Sept. 12,
2010," Orient Hotel director Ahmed Al Yazji recalled. "During the party,
eight armed persons wearing civilian clothes came and introduced themselves
as members of the General Investigation Bureau. They moved among the
customers and found a lady smoking a water pipe. As a result, they prevented
her from smoking although her husband was accompanying her."
Three days earlier, Hamas's GIB raided the Samak Restaurant along the
Gaza beach and disrupted a film screening. GIB evicted the participants
despite a police license that had been granted the restaurant.
"GIB told me that it was mixed and they are against gender mixture,"
Samark manager Moin Abu Al Khari recalled. "They asked me about my name and
career, and then requested me to go with them. They transported me to Ansar
security compound in the west of Gaza City and imprisoned me until the next
day after beating me. Before I was released, they forced me to sign an oath
obliging me to show commitment to the law and public order and to pay 10,000
[Israeli] shekel in case of a violation."
Human rights groups said Hamas has imposed Islamic law on the Gaza Strip
in an effort to quell unrest by Al Qaida-aligned groups. They said the
crackdown included non-governmental organizations as well as the United
Nations.
"The young people of the Gaza Strip are being prevented from expressing
their views by unchecked armed groups," the Sharek Youth Forum, which has
come under repeated attacks, said.
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