To escape the difficult circumstances of life
Gaza beach..a place for women in the hot summer, away from the daily pressures
Women from Gaza sitting in a cafe on the beach to pass the time.
AFP
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On the shore of the Gaza Strip, women meet every evening to play cards, play sports or just chat, which constitutes an outlet for them during the hot summer nights to escape the pressures of daily life in a geographical area that has been exhausted by wars and poverty.
"We are waiting for the sun to set to escape to the sea," said Yusra Hmeidat, 43, as she sits with her friend Nawal Yusra, 66, in a cafe on the beach in Gaza City.
This woman, an employee in the Palestinian National Authority, explains: “Going out of the house is an escape, as women leave the house to escape life’s difficulties, and they stay outside for as long as possible.”
As for Yousra, who was puffing "hookah" smoke, she said, "I go home at two or three in the morning. Women try to adapt and overcome circumstances more than men."
The laughter of the participants in the game rises after Nawal decided the round for the benefit of her team, which also includes her husband.
Yusra Hmeidat points to the distribution of playing cards, then continues: "There are no options in Gaza, so I come every day to play with friends. This is the only hobby I can do."
2.3 million people live in the Gaza Strip amid an air, land and sea blockade imposed by Israel since 2007, after Hamas took control of the Strip.
The Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border is opened irregularly, and the Palestinians need permits and large sums of money to use it.
In another café northwest of Gaza City, (Um Saeed Saq) says while sitting with her friend and two of her sisters: “We are trying to overcome the pressures by going out and exchanging concerns.
The country is dead, people are laughing, but everyone is psychologically destroyed from the inside.”
This woman, who is a housewife, says that she spends her personal expenses on her daily visits to the café, at an average of at least 15 shekels a day (four dollars) for coffee and a hookah.
For others, this amount is considered a large amount and a kind of luxury in the sector, where more than two-thirds of the population suffers from poverty, while the unemployment rate exceeds 47%.
As for Faten Abdel Rahman, who sits with her daughters and neighbors in front of her house in the Shati refugee camp overlooking the beach of Gaza City, she says, "The costs of leaving the house are beyond our means."
The mother of five daughters and two boys explains: "Her family depends on the help of the Ministry of Social Affairs for the poor families in the Strip."
She added, "Most of the camp's women gather at the doors of their homes, because they do not have anything to spend on entertainment because of the difficult economic situation."
The woman complains about the electricity crisis in the Gaza Strip, noting that she is forced to receive her guests outside her tin-roofed house, saying: “The heat is unbearable at home. We sleep on the beach and sit with the guests there, as it is the only free means of entertainment.”
Israel destroyed Gaza's only power plant in 2006. Since then, the residents of the Gaza Strip have been suffering from a severe electricity crisis, with power outages amounting to more than 12 hours per day.
On the fifth of this month, Israel launched a bloody military operation targeting the "Jihad Movement" in the Gaza Strip, which resulted in the killing of at least 49 Palestinians, including children, according to a Palestinian toll.
Figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) showed that the number of hours of current feeding fell to only five hours on the seventh of August, during the last round of fighting.
Um Jaber Abu Assi, 43, chose to spend her evening with her friends in a public park west of Gaza City crowded with dozens of people, mostly women and children.
"Sitting on the chair here for a shekel ($0.30), if we go out to sea, I'll need to pay more," she says.
And this woman continues, as she placed on the table in front of her some of the baked goods that she prepared at home: "The options are non-existent in Gaza. Going out of the house makes us feel that we are human."
Abu Assi does not hide that she has been criticized in a conservative society for returning home after midnight, but she says: "I don't care about criticism, I walk with my daughter without fear, the streets are overcrowded and the police are everywhere."
For some women, practicing various types of sports, including horse riding, is a nice option for entertainment at night in a family sports club southwest of Gaza City.
Among them is Menna Kahil (22 years), who speaks while feeding her horse "Rebel": "I spend most of my time in the evenings here, I'm afraid to go out at night in public places alone, for fear of shelling or rocket fire."
Although the young woman has been riding horses for about 10 years, she admits that she has been criticized in Gaza's conservative society.
"When I go out for a ride on the sea, I get a lot of criticism for not wearing a headscarf," she explains, holding the saddle of her gray horse.
"Even a horse needs a change of weather," she says.
Outside the Equestrian Club, Mervat Al-Ghalayni, 41, plays pickleball, which is one of the racket sports that is unique to the club in the Gaza Strip.
Al-Ghalayni says: "As women, we like to be happy, and I like to join everything that is new."
The woman continues with enthusiasm: "I work in the morning and exercise in the evening. I go out of the house to go to a place where there is light and people."
2.3 million people live in the Gaza Strip amid an air, land and sea blockade imposed by Israel since 2007, after Hamas took control of the Strip. The Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border is opened irregularly, and the Palestinians need permits and large sums of money to use it.
For some women, practicing various types of sports, including horse riding, is a nice option for nighttime entertainment in a family sports club southwest of Gaza City. Among them is Menna Kahil (22 years), who speaks while feeding her horse "Rebel": "I spend most of my time in the evenings here, I'm afraid to go out at night in public places alone, for fear of shelling or rocket fire."
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