When Palestinian autonomy came to Gaza last spring, many people began having fun for the first time in years. Movie theaters, closed during the seven-year uprising against Israeli rule, opened their doors again. Beachcombers enjoyed the sun and surf. Modest new sporting clubs and a horse-riding stable opened to give kids something to do. Local artists even began painting attractive landscapes instead of bloody street scenes. But Gaza’s renaissance was short-lived.
Muslim fundamentalists are part of the problem. When Palestinian police clashed with members of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) at a Gazan mosque in November, killing at least 14 people, militants went on a rampage. Their targets included video shops and Gaza’s two main theaters: one was wrecked, the other burned. ““Cinema is moral corruption,’’ says Sami Hamdan Abu Zuhry, a student Hamas activist. He says he opposes vandalism – but abhors movies. ““Only the hands and faces of women can be uncovered,’’ he explains. ““Other than that, we call it naked.''
Horseback riding, however, was a favorite activity of the prophet Muhammad. Fundamentalists didn’t oppose the stable that opened in Gaza City earlier this year. Trainers volunteered to teach kids how to ride. They had plans for a Gazan equestrian team. But then the owner of the land used by the stable reclaimed his sandy patch and sold it for nearly a half-million dollars, say neighbors. The trainers are keeping their steeds at home now and appealing to the PLO administration for another piece of land. But in overcrowded Gaza, there isn’t enough turf to go round.
The lack of recreation is perhaps hardest on Palestinians who came to Gaza from exile. Taghrid Senwar, the 22-year-old daughter of a PLO official, was born in Damascus, lived for a time in Beirut and Tunis, and went to university in Cairo. In addition to Arabic, she speaks French, Spanish, English and some German. She likes to read Balzac. In Egypt, she regularly went to the movies and to swimming pools. ““The best thing to do in Gaza is get out,’’ she says, ““and that’s very difficult.’’ Israel controls the permits to visit Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank; for security reasons, officials are stingy about giving them out.
Borno and his friends restarted the bingo games last month, but were quickly forced to shut down again. After the clash between police and fundamentalists, the owner of the bingo hall was afraid that extremists might attack his restaurant if he continued. Now the players are looking for another hall – without much luck. The few entrepreneurs with banquet rooms charge exorbitant rates or refuse to rent them for bingo. ““Somebody has to be the first to do these things,’’ says Borno. ““I don’t want to wait for others to change my society; I want to change it myself.’’ The fundamentalists want to change society, too – and the way things are going, they seem to have the better odds.
