Hammas forbides it but this time look other way

Gazans managed to mark “Eid el Hob,” or the Feast of Love, with a few splashes of red Thursday. Flower shops in Gaza City’s better neighborhoods, displaying rows of flower-filled buckets and heart-shaped decorations, sold homegrown carnations to women in Islamic head scarves and dutiful husbands.

Hamas police looked the other way despite the religious taboo, reflecting the Islamic militants’ policy of not going against popular consensus when it comes to social norms.

In Bahrain, which is more open than Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, flower shops imported about 150,000 roses in one week, or 20,000 more than last year, according to the Web site of the Al Arabiya TV station. In Cairo, small cruise boats on the Nile were decorated with red ribbons and hearts made of flashing red bulbs.

Dubai, a conservative Muslim city-state with a modern outlook and a pro-Western attitude, has been taken over by a Valentine craze in recent days. Malls, cafes and even offices were decorated with giant hearts. Five-course dinners and romantic getaways were sold out, and spas offered Valentine specials.

Valentine’s Day was introduced to Gaza about a decade ago by Palestinian exiles returning from more cosmopolitan places such as Beirut and Tunis, following interim peace deals with Israel. The Internet and Arab satellite TV helped spread the idea, mostly among the young, educated and secular.

Yet in Gaza, the holiday of love remains a relatively modest affair, in part because few Gazans can afford to spend on extras, such as candy and flowers.

At a flower shop in Gaza City’s Rimal neighborhood, 24-year-old Mohammed al-Wakid bought a rainbow-colored bouquet of carnations for his wife for $1.30.

That’s a steal, even for Gaza, mainly because the territory is flooded with carnations that had been grown for export to Europe.

Hamas police spokesman Islam Shahwan said Valentine’s Day might go against Gaza’s traditions, but Hamas is not trying to replace civil with Islamic law. “We are by nature a religious people and hate and reject all strange things,” he said. “(But) we don’t kill adulterers or gays or cut off the hands of thieves.”