In its latest attempt to try to impose a conservative Islamic way of life on Gaza, Hamas started this weekend to enforce a ban on smoking water pipes in public.
A spokesman for the Hamas police, Ayman al-Batniji, said that the ban applied only to women and that it was in line with “the Palestinian people’s customs and traditions.”
But many cafe owners said they had been ordered to ban water pipes for both men and women.
Smoking large water pipes called shisha, usually with bowls of flavored tobacco, is a longstanding pastime here.
Okay, so now what's a nargilah?
Well,
Depending on locality, hookahs or shishas may be referred to by many names: Arabic language use it as Shisha (شيشة) or Nargeela (نرجيلة) or Argeela (أركيلة\أرجيلة) and they use it throughout the whole of the Arab World...
...The Israeli term for hookah is nargila. Nargila-smoking is prevalent among Palestinians and Middle-Eastern Jewish immigrants (collectively known as Mizrahi Jews). Nargilas are becoming increasingly popular in Israel, particularly among tourists. Shops selling paraphernalia can be found on most streets and markets. In 2005, due to an increase in use among youth, a campaign was launched by The Israel Cancer Association warning of the hazards of nargila smoking, and the IDF has forbidden the use of nargilas by soldiers within its bases....
So, no women in Gaza can use a hookah.
And what do men use?
Is this a human rights violation?
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