The Hamas narrative, the one rebroadcast by BDS activists and clueless media outlets, is that Gaza is a giant prison made out of pieces of smashed buildings and crying children.
In reality it has a whole lot of millionaires (many of them affiliated with Hamas), shopping malls, posh neighborhoods and five-star hotels.
And despite this AP story’s attempt to tone down the reality, the parties are back to the frustration of Hamas which wants lots of photos of crying kids.
Not men and women having a good time. Especially not together.
After a ruinous war, Gaza is rushing back to a veneer of normalcy at astonishing speed. Street cafes and beaches are packed with people until late at night. Families crowd the few public parks. Wedding halls are booked solid.
The burst of liveliness is startling. Cafes on the streets or on Gaza’s Mediterranean beaches are a main venue for nightlife, since under Hamas there are no cinemas or theaters. In the three weeks since fighting ended, coffeehouses have thronged with men, women and families. Commercial streets are choked with shoppers.
The Hamas government appears to have been caught off guard. Last week, authorities banned street parties, saying it was acting out of respect for the families of the dead. That put an end to bachelor celebrations traditionally held in the streets ahead of weddings — but not other forms of nightlife.
Hamas has run Gaza with an iron fist, tolerating little or no dissent and weighing heavily on people’s lives with an overwhelming narrative of religious piety and resistance against Israel.
Its security agents are so omnipresent people nickname them the “ground drones” — a play on the Israeli drones that often hover over Gaza. Hamas at times intervenes to separate mixed-gender activities among young people or to halt cultural programs it deems immoral or influenced by the West. Most main squares are adorned with giant billboards extolling jihad against Israel.
Gaza isn’t destroyed and it’s being weighed down by Hamas and its insistence on professional misery to manipulate the world’s emotions.






















