Hamas tries to punish woman walking with man
JERUSALEM - An attempt by Hamas police to detain a young woman walking with a man along a Gaza beach has raised alarms that the Islamic militant group is seeking to match its political control of the coastal territory with a strict enforcement of Islamic law.
The man she walked with and two of his peers were detained, beaten, and ordered to sign statements promising not to engage in immoral activities, said the woman and one of the men.
The incident was the first known case of Hamas openly trying to punish a woman for behaving in a way it views as un-Islamic since seizing power two years ago. But it follows months of quiet pressure on Gaza’s overwhelmingly conservative 1.4 million residents to abide by its strict religious mores.
Hamas officials in Gaza have publicly urged shopkeepers to take down foreign advertisements showing the shape of women’s bodies and to stash lingerie often displayed in windows. Officials search electronic shops to check whether they are selling pornography on tiny flash drives.
“There’s an open, public program to preserve public morals in Gaza,’’ said local rights activist Isam Younis. “In reality that means trying to restrict freedoms.’’
Hamas denies any crackdown is underway.
Since taking power, it has said it would only try to lead by example and not impose its views on anyone.
However, the group has taken no public action against small, shadowy groups that have attacked perceived hotbeds of Western immorality, such as hairdressers and Internet cafes, fueling criticism that it has not been tough enough on hardline Muslim groups. 