Hamas held a ceremony over the weekend in which 100 widows of Hamas terrorists were remarried. The women were widowed during Operation Cast Lead earlier this year, when IDF troops battled Hamas in Gaza for three weeks in response to years of terrorist rocket attacks on Israel's south.
In order to round up grooms, Hamas offered each man willing to wed a widow $2,800. Most of the brides married members of their husband's family, particularly brothers-in-law. Only 20 married someone not related to their deceased husbands.
Many of the widows have children. The children attended the ceremony dressed in white dresses or black suits, while the widows, adhering to a strict Islamic dress code, wore black veils, floor-length shapeless dresses and gloves.
Many of the grooms are already married, but are taking on a second or third wife, as is common in Gaza. “I believe I'm the one who should take care of my brother's wife and their children,” one told the Qatar-based Gulf Times in explanation of his actions.
Hamas has held several mass weddings in Gaza in recent weeks, and is planning more in the near future. Prior to the 2007 Hamas takeover of Gaza and the subsequent Hamas-Fatah dispute, the terrorist group arranged several mass weddings in Judea and Samaria as well, including events at which several hundred couples were wed.
The weddings allow Muslim couples to marry without facing the normally prohibitive costs of arranging a wedding, while gaining popularity and political support for Hamas. The families of engaged Arab couples in Judea, Samaria and Gaza are expected to pay for elaborate weddings that are beyond the means of many.
Hamas weddings are much cheaper than traditional weddings. Instead of paying for a gown and stylist, brides appear in black robes, headscarves, and Hamas banners. In some mass weddings the brides have not been seen at all, and young girls in white dresses play the part of bride during the event.
Gaza Men Sentenced for 'Disturbing Revolutionary Security'
In other Hamas news, the organization sentenced eight men to jail this week in Gaza for allegedly “disturbing revolutionary security.” The eight were accused of attempting to form an organized opposition to Hamas.
A Hamas official who commented on the case to Palestinian Authority media said only that the sentences were handed down “after getting the needed evidence.”
