Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Gaza Strip)
هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهي عن المنكر | |
Agency overview | |
---|---|
Formed | 2007 |
Type | Islamic religious police enforcing traditional Muslim codes of behavior (Sharia) |
Jurisdiction | Gaza Strip, Palestine |
Headquarters | Gaza City |
Parent department | Hamas Ministry of the Waqf (Islamic Endowment) |
The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (
In 2009, the Hamas government's "Islamic Endowment Ministry" deployed Virtue Committee members to warn citizens of the alleged "dangers" of immodest dress, card playing, and dating.[5]
The force was aimed to "fight those who are being corrupted by Satan, and do not observe sharia law."[1][2][6][7]
Overview
The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice was mentioned in a 2007 report on
Detention of Asma al-Ghul
In 2009,
Another incident attributed to the group by The Jerusalem Post concerns Asma al-Ghul, a female Palestinian journalist, who stated that policemen from the force:
attempted to arrest her under the pretext that she came to a Gaza beach dressed immodestly and was seen laughing in public..."They accused me of laughing loudly while swimming with my friend and failing to wear a hijab," Ghul told a human rights organization in the Gaza Strip. "They also wanted to know the identity of the people who were with me at the beach and whether they were relatives of mine."
Al-Ghul added that the officers confiscated her passport, and that she had received death threats from anonymous callers following the incident.
See also
- Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Afghanistan)
- Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice (Saudi Arabia); also known as Mutaween
- Guidance Patrol, Iran's morality police
- Muslim patrols, East London Muslim vigilantes in 2013–2014
- Islamism in the Gaza Strip
- Public morality
- Talibanization
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Khaled Abu Toameh, 'They accused me of laughing in public' Archived 2011-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, Jerusalem Post 04-08-2009
- ^ a b c d Jonathan Spyer, Analysis: The Islamic republic of Gaza, Jerusalem Post 29-09-2009
- ^ a b c d Gaza gets its own 'religious police', Al-Arabiya 08-10-2007
- ^ Jonathan Spyer, Analysis: The Islamic republic of Gaza Archived 2011-06-16 at the Wayback Machine, Jerusalem Post 29-09-2009
- ^ Hamas Bans Women Dancers, Scooter Riders in Gaza Push By Daniel Williams, Bloomberg, November 30, 2009
- ^ AKI, Middle East: New Jihadi Cells Multiply in the Gaza Strip, October 8, 2007. "In Gaza, there also appears to be a morality police, or "authority for the propagation of morality and the prohibition of vice," a name frequently used by Saudi Arabia's religious police and used by Afghanistan under the Taliban regime, to impose and respect Islamic rules."
- ^ Hamas Rules: The Talibanization of Gaza. by J. Schanzer, National Review. August 15, 2007
- ^ Hamas tries to detain woman walking with man, July 8, 2009, Diaa Hadid, The Guardian