The Hamas-led government in Gaza has shut down an English-language club amid several recent steps to limit cultural activity within the Strip, writes Khaled Kraizim.
Palestinian students take part in a military-style exercise in the courtyard of a high school in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, March 6, 2013.
Mohammad al-Saleh, a 16-year-old from Gaza, loves reading. He is a student intent on studying the English language as soon as he enrolls in college. Bending his head down, he carries his books and walks out of Gaza’s municipal library. He had been working in the library with his peers to put the final touches on a project.
Most young men in Gaza usually try to avoid studying English before college, due to the common perception that it is a hard and complicated language. However, Saleh’s case was different, and his interest in the language was quite peculiar. Yet, the Hamas-affiliated municipality in Gaza stepped on Saleh’s hopes to perfect his language skills — voluntarily and freely, with the help of a trainer — by shutting down an English-teaching club that he was part of.
Gaza’s municipality prides itself on several libraries and public cultural centers, which were initially designed for citizens so that they could visit them and benefit from the books and training sessions held there. However, the municipality issued several sudden decisions this week forbidding visitors from bringing their laptops to the library and banning interaction between girls and boys above the age of 9. Moreover, the meetings of the English-language club, which was part of the “Raise a Reader” initiative to enforce the role of public libraries in Gaza, were suspended.
This youth initiative aims to reinforce the importance and vitality of books and their role in developing the abilities of individuals, family and society. Youngsters participate in many events and cultural activities that contribute to enriching society through knowledge and promoting a culture of reading among Palestinians by targeting widely-visited public and civil institutions.
Seven months ago, anyone who was interested could participate freely and voluntarily in the English-language club by attending the club’s weekly meeting held in an open space in Gaza’s public municipal library. Around 50 students and graduates used to benefit from its activities.
Saleh, speaking to Al-Monitor, said that the decision to ban the English-language club came as an unexpected shock to students, without any compelling reasons for such a move.
Alaa Masaab, a student in his 20s, says that the club helped him with many skills and to gain new knowledge, especially in speaking with others. It was able to do this through direct practice, whereby participants would be given different subjects to be discussed in an organized manner among themselves.
When the head of the English-language club, Saad Habib, asked library officials for an explanation for the club’s closure, their answer was that they were holding training sessions in the same place, knowing full well that the club met in an open area where no such sessions were held by the library, said Habib.
Habib continues, “When I asked those in charge of the place for a reason that the use of laptops was not permitted, they answered that some misuse them, even though the public library does not offer Internet service to visitors.
He confirmed that there was no justification for closing the English-language club. “It met for only two hours each week. It is impossible and illogical to say that the library is overcrowded with activity because of a training session for students held two hours a week,” he noted.
At the end of 2012, the Hamas' government Land Authority demolished one of the most well-known cultural centers in Gaza — the Union Gallery Forum, owned by the Palestinian Contractors Union — without prior warning. The Land Authority’s plows, which had become part of the police force, demolished and tore down the building.
Khaled Kraizim is an independent journalist in Gaza, published in many media outlets including Felesteen, Al-Resalah, Al-Shabab, Al-Eqtisadiya newspapers and Safa press agency. He graduated from the Islamic University of Gaza with a degree in media.