Hamas, the fundamentalist group that controls Gaza, has decided to ban women from smoking hookahs (traditional Middle Eastern water pipes) in cafes, partially out of fear that this leads to dissolution of marriages (the government claims that some men have divorced their wives after seeing them smoking and sitting cross-legged). This has angered many male and female residents who have few available leisure activities due to the blockade of Gaza by both Egypt and Israel. Hamas has also been cracking down on all sorts of pastimes, forbidding women from riding motorcycles and often routinely stopping couples and beating them if they fail to produce marriage licenses. while many in this relatively conservative Muslim area have supported the new morality initiatives, those in the secular minority have felt that they are extremely unfair.

The more conservative countries in the Middle East also frown upon hookah smoking, with Saudi Arabia imposing a total ban for both men and women. however, Israel’s more immediate neighbors …

… (Syria, Lebanon and Jordan), which are somewhat more secular, allow women and men to smoke hookahs together. Many of the woman affected by the ban have no problems with not smoking openly in public with other men, but they claim that most of the smoking occurs behind closed doors in private cafes and clubs, which are often intentionally sex-segregated to avoid the wrath of the plain-clothed “morality police.” those that do currently smoke argue that the ban will only make hookahs more desirable as they will be seen as taboo and thus especially appealing to young women who want to rebel against their repressive parents (indeed, this would seem likely as their is also growing demand for hip-hop music and other forbidden items from Western culture). Despite all of the negative press the ban is getting, the Hamas interior ministry has said that they are not trying to make Gaza into an Islamic theocracy:

“if we wanted to make Gaza like the Taliban, then we could have done that very easily.”

What do you think? is this really an anti-divorce measure or are these erosions of freedom really a slippery slope towards an “Islamic republic?” will we see more initiatives like Iran’s recent attempts to stop outlandish male hairstyles and make sure women veil themselves properly?

Hamas Bans Women From Smoking Hookahs, Continues Attempts to Impose Strict Islamic Values – Zelda Lily, Feminism in a Bra