From AFP:
Hamas sponsors mass wedding in Gaza
SHEIKH ZAYED CITY, Gaza Strip — Nearly a thousand Palestinians celebrated marriage on Thursday night in a ceremony organised by Hamas in the north of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas dignitaries including Mahmud Zahar, one of the militant group's top leaders, were on hand to congratulate 450 grooms who took part in the carefully stage-managed event.
"We are saying to the world and to America that you cannot deny us joy and happiness," Zahar told the men, all of whom were dressed in identical black suits and hailed from the nearby Jabalia refugee camp.
Each groom received a present of 500 dollars from Hamas, which said its workers had also contributed five percent of their monthly salaries to add to the wedding gift.
The 450 brides shared none of the glamour, taking seats among the audience of around 1,000 party guests: most couples had already taken part in religious ceremonies elsewhere, with more marriages planned for the next few days.
"We are presenting this wedding as a gift to our people who stood firm in the face of the siege and the war," local Hamas strongman Ibrahim Salaf said in a speech.
The Gaza Strip has been under Israeli blockade since the Islamist Hamas movement seized control there in June 2007. In December and January 1,400 Gazans and 13 Israelis were killed in a 22-day war that left much of the territory in ruins.
Video from LiveLeak
Hat Tip Carl in Jerusalem and Jihad Watch
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6 comments:
With the first take, these could easily be giggling girls reveling in the day of their first communion. But when one realizes that their lambs are only moments away from the trauma of their lives, it'll make one seethe.
Where are pampered feminists and why aren't they howling for the blood of these pedophiles?
Interesting how this story is not landing on any of the major news websites (NY Times, Time Magazine, CNN, Fox News...etc.)....could it be that we are missing something here....i.e. the little girls are not the brides to be, and if anyone understands arabic, they will realize they are the relatives of the bride/groom hoping to one day be a future bride themselves........I love how things can be taken out of context simply because of your personal hatred towards these people
Hi Arijit,
Thank you for coming here and leaving a comment. (I deleted the duplicate.)
Would you please share with us your translation of the video?
I do understand that Tim Marshall is claiming that these are not the brides but merely the bridegrooms' "young nieces and cousins, little girls aged from about 3 to 8, made up to the nines, wearing white wedding dresses," "and that the brides were elsewhere."
Would you also please share with us an explanation of this cultural custom of dressing up the nieces and cousins as brides and parading across the stage with them while sequestering the actual brides elsewhere?
People Please! anybody who has a bit of sanity would realize that the little young angel-girls aren't the brides themselves!.it is ridiculous to manipulate peoples' minds like this .If you ever been to Palestine you know that these girls are the flower girls!
please have a thought in the first place before commenting!
Hi Lea,
Please do tell us more about the wedding customs in Palestine and how the "flower girls" function in the ceremonies. Some of the questions you might help us with:
1) Why do the "flower girls" in Palestine walk with the grooms?
2) Where are the brides?
3) Why do the "flower girls" wear makeup?
Lea, the girls look like Jon Benet Ramsey, all made up and dressed up to look sexual beyond their years. And the men are treating them as the main event.
So, Lea, if have any links to sources that can give us factual information about these Palestinian wedding customs, please do so.
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