Tougher Times for Palestinian Gays?

The Palestinian militant and political group Hamas have said that if they win the Palestinian Authority Parliamentary election, they would ban men and women dancing together and will strip gay men and women of the few rights they have today.

Hamas have been successful in municipal polls and many secular Palestinians fear that it will try to impose its ultraconservative vision on them. Its Gaza heartland has no cinemas or bars, yet the West Bank has a brewery and Ramallah restaurants serve wine.

In an article on an Arabic website, Dr Mahmoud Zahar, the groups leader in Gaza, condemns the rights that gays have in Israel and made it clear that he thinks that gays are perverts. "Are these the laws for which the Palestinian street is waiting? For us to give rights to homosexuals and to lesbians, a minority of perverts and the mentally and morally sick?"

Dr Zahar also said that men and women would no longer be allowed to dance together in public, "A man holds a woman by the hand and dances in front of everyone. Does that serve the national problem? If so, why have the phenomena of corruption and prostitution become pervasive in recent years?"

He also stated that Hamas would gradually seek a withdrawal from the peace settlement with Israel. "Israel is not our God. It was defeated, and those who are defeated cannot set conditions."